# When should I feed my newborn praying mantis



## Wolfspidurguy (Apr 2, 2017)

I know this isn't a sight about mantids but this is the only sight I can think of to help me. I just had a praying mantis pod hatch so I put a mantis into its enclosure. It's a tennis ball case that 3 tennis balls came in with a paper towel at the bottom as well as a stick then I gave the enclosure 2 sprays of water. Now the next step is to feed it its first meal. I just tried but it wouldn't take it. It was a normal black ant
That I tried to feed it. I donthink know when I should feed it or if it will eat ants although I saw a video of someone who fed there newborn an ant. It's a Chinese praying mantis. Please help. Thanks in advance.


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## chanda (Apr 2, 2017)

If the mantis has only just hatched, it will probably not eat for the first few days. After that, I've had good luck with fruit flies for mantis hatchlings. (I prefer to use prey that can't bite or otherwise injure my pets - especially when feeding hatchlings. Ants can be pretty good at fighting back, biting or sometimes stinging potential predators.) As the hatchling grows, you can switch to larger prey like small crickets, flies, or other insects.


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## Wolfspidurguy (Apr 2, 2017)

chanda said:


> If the mantis has only just hatched, it will probably not eat for the first few days. After that, I've had good luck with fruit flies for mantis hatchlings. (I prefer to use prey that can't bite or otherwise injure my pets - especially when feeding hatchlings. Ants can be pretty good at fighting back, biting or sometimes stinging potential predators.) As the hatchling grows, you can switch to larger prey like small crickets, flies, or other insects.


Our local pet store doesn't have wingless fruit flies what else can I feed it


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## Ratmosphere (Apr 2, 2017)

You could always order some online!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## chanda (Apr 2, 2017)

Wolfspidurguy said:


> Our local pet store doesn't have wingless fruit flies what else can I feed it


As Ratmosphere said, you can order them online. Order some fruit fly media and deli cups at the same time, and you can easily start new cultures to keep them going for future feedings.


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## Shazz (Jun 8, 2017)

Mantids will scavenge if you place the food somewhere they will come across it, ive used wax worms that i cut in half so their inards are exposed to feed young mantids, centipedes, spiders and tarantulas, and assassin bug nymphs. I've found that most inverts will scavenge, especially when very young, not sure about adulthood since i feed them live prey so never tried.


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## Thrillhouse (Jun 8, 2017)

Don't feed the nymphs ants, the ants are too strong for them, and then when the mantis is bigger, they're not worth the fight.

You can find melanogaster fruit flies at PetCo and PetsSmart. It shouldn't be difficult to find. If you have to you can look online.

Mantis nymphs can starve pretty quickly, so I would definitely get on that as soon as you can.


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## Salmonsaladsandwich (Jun 8, 2017)

If you live in an area without too much pesticide use one thing I've done to feed baby mantids is use a drinking straw with a piece of cloth taped to the end to aspirate gnats, leafhoppers and other small insects from windows.


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## Shazz (Jun 9, 2017)

Salmonsaladsandwich said:


> If you live in an area without too much pesticide use one thing I've done to feed baby mantids is use a drinking straw with a piece of cloth taped to the end to aspirate gnats, leafhoppers and other small insects from windows.


Never a good idea to feed wild insects, you risk spreading diseases and parasites, mites etc...


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## Salmonsaladsandwich (Jun 9, 2017)

Largely a matter of opinion. I've never heard of anyone having problems with feeding clean wild insects to mantids assuming. Feeding a few gnats to a mantis is better than letting it starve.


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## Shazz (Jun 9, 2017)

Salmonsaladsandwich said:


> Largely a matter of opinion. I've never heard of anyone having problems with feeding clean wild insects to mantids assuming. Feeding a few gnats to a mantis is better than letting it starve.


Its not a matter of opinion its a matter of risk. So if its between letting it starve or potentially getting sick then of course feeding a wild insect will out weigh the risk, but its still always a risk. Captive bred or any foreign species is going to be more susceptible to any of the diseases found among wild insects in your country.


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## Salmonsaladsandwich (Jun 9, 2017)

Shazz said:


> Its not a matter of opinion its a matter of risk. So if its between letting it starve or potentially getting sick then of course feeding a wild insect will out weigh the risk, but its still always a risk. Captive bred or any foreign species is going to be more susceptible to any of the diseases found among wild insects in your country.


It's a chinese mantis. Almost certainly a wild collected ooth or descended from wild US specimens. It might not technically be a native species, but it's been in the US for well over a hundred years and is quite well adjusted to the region.


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## darkness975 (Jun 10, 2017)

Wolfspidurguy said:


> I know this isn't a sight about mantids but this is the only sight I can think of to help me. I just had a praying mantis pod hatch so I put a mantis into its enclosure. It's a tennis ball case that 3 tennis balls came in with a paper towel at the bottom as well as a stick then I gave the enclosure 2 sprays of water. Now the next step is to feed it its first meal. I just tried but it wouldn't take it. It was a normal black ant
> That I tried to feed it. I donthink know when I should feed it or if it will eat ants although I saw a video of someone who fed there newborn an ant. It's a Chinese praying mantis. Please help. Thanks in advance.


gnats and small flying insects that you find in your windowsill.  I am lucky in that I have a greenhouse in my back yard with garden vegetables and the gnats and small flying things get stuck in there by the hundreds.  

_Tenodera sinensis _has been here for over 100 years now and is pretty much a permanent part of the local fauna at this point. 

Also, I tend to keep several nymphs in case a couple don't make it during those early instars.


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