Feeding
Mantis won't stop eating, attempts to take it away have been unsuccessful.
We greatly misjudged the size of dubia our mantis could take. We've spent the last hour intermittently trying to take it away and he is not for letting go. Will he be okay finishing it, I know we've made a massive mistake giving it to him. Thank you for any advice
NQA I belive it will be okay, and it seems like you already know you shouldnt feed her that amount again. Just make sure her abdomen shrinks before you feed her again. I strongly doubt she will die, at worst she might get really sluggish a couple of weeks
Okay thank you, we're going away for the weekend but are staying to keep an eye on him whilst he finishes the roach. We were meant to be leaving nearly three hours ago now 😅 will not be making this mistake again
That doesn’t happen all the time, I’ve had multiple mantises eat too much to the point I had to take away their food. I think it just depends on the mantis tbh
I mean to say. They will eat beyond what is best for them. A plump mantis and a fall is dangerous and shouldn't be understated. But they won't feed to bursting outright. I think it safer to let them finish on their own.
Thank you I didn't know that, I've seen it suggested multiple times across different posts to try take it away. This was just before we left half an hour ago. He's a lot fuller than in the original photos, lessons have definitely been learnt.
Nah. You don’t want to take food away from a predator eating their prey. This goes for all predators - you risk hurting the animal or getting accidentally bitten yourself
Same! mine always eats to his fullest. I was also very concerned so since I only have rather big roaches I started cutting them in halves so he doesn't overeat. It's impossible to take food from them really. I think when you try they get the instinct that they HAVE to finish it as soon as possible and just keep eating lmao. Mine never fell and even successfully molted once having ate a day prior so I think they can manage
You shouldn’t feed them to your mantis, crickets are very bad for them. Try dubia roaches instead
Crickets are known to be kept in unclean conditions and also are more likely to carry parasites. Even if store bought, usually they aren’t kept in clean conditions and will end up possibly killing your mantis, i’ve seen a few people lose their mantis to this on here
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u/Correct-Airline-8375 1d ago
NQA I belive it will be okay, and it seems like you already know you shouldnt feed her that amount again. Just make sure her abdomen shrinks before you feed her again. I strongly doubt she will die, at worst she might get really sluggish a couple of weeks