Mantis attack!

[mimic58]

Ok dont hand feed mantis , Bad idea :wall:

The damn thing tried to eat me it had hold of the top of my thumb with its claws , I had to hold its head back with my other hand!!, it didnt get to eat any of me But it was not for want of trying , took me damn 15 minutes to get it back off!

 

[JohnxII]

LOL I heard these guys aren't picky when it comes to food... NOW I believe!

 

[Dark Raptor]

Larger species can bite you very seriously. Fortunately, I was attacked only by Sphoromantis gastrica. This one is pretty small, but I also needed some time to free my finger without hurting my mantis. The worse thing was, that during that "fight" she tried to eat me. That was stupid situation

 

[Raqua]

A lampropeltis triangulum snake (eats also other snakes) once tried to eat my finger .... :?

 

[mimic58]

Larger species can bite you very seriously. Fortunately, I was attacked only by Sphoromantis gastrica. This one is pretty small, but I also needed some time to free my finger without hurting my mantis. The worse thing was, that during that "fight" she tried to eat me. That was stupid situation

It was proper trying to CHOW down on my thumb seriously i was physicaly restraining it with my other hand whilst it tried despratly to pull my thumb to its mouth It would not give up!!! for a while i didnt think id get it of without injuring it the determination was really quite shocking!!!

(Giant African green mantis) almost adult

 

[fantasticp]

Meanie.... how much of your finger could it possibly have eaten anyway?

 

[fantasticp]

Just kidding.

 

[galeogirl]

I've never had any of my mantids get aggressive with me, but then again, I never fed them by hand either.

 

[Sheldy]

I've had it happen a few times, but thats usually because i step in to stop a male getting eaten when he tries to mount a female and she is still hungry...

 

[galeogirl]

Oh yeah, I could definitely see that happening. I've almost been bitten by ts while trying to save the male.

 

[mimic58]

it was really my fault i was hand feeding her a cricket she ate half of it but then started to eye up my finger, before i new she had grabed ahold iv never had it happen before it may have been aggresion but to me it seemed more she just wanted to eat my thumb

 

[galeogirl]

Well, if any invert has eyes bigger than their stomachs (literally), it's mantids.

 

[mimic58]

Well, if any invert has eyes bigger than their stomachs (literally), it's mantids.

I always wondered why it was looking at me like that i guess now i know

 

[Wade]

I had a large female Chinese mantid latch on to the end of my finger once and start chewing. She didn't break the skin, but it was very uncomfortable to say the least.

Wade

 

[mimic58]

I had a large female Chinese mantid latch on to the end of my finger once and start chewing. She didn't break the skin, but it was very uncomfortable to say the least.

Wade

This one managed to break the skin with its claws, but its mouth never actualy make contact with my thumb i didnt experience the bite but im sure it would be pritty unpleasnt!, Iv seen the way she eats crickets

 

[Wade]

Actually, the grip of the spiny raptorial forelimbs (AKA "the claws") was more painful than the mouth parts themselves. The chewing was more akin to what a millipede does when it "test nibbles" your hand, tickles more than anything.

Mantids are capable of exerting surprising pressure with their forelimbs, I would assume more than they could with their mouths. I've probably handled dozens if not hundreds of chinese mantids, and while many will pinch defensively, this was the first time I actullly experienced a feeding response.

Wade

 

[Longbord1]

i grabbed a mantid when i was little not thinking that it would do anything but sure enough i felt a sharp ain and it had bit me!!

i cried of cource but at least now i don't screw around with mantids anymore.

mike

 

[roach dude]

i thought its the claws on a mantis you should be afraid off lol not the mouth!! was the grip with the claws painfull????

 

[mimic58]

i thought its the claws on a mantis you should be afraid off lol not the mouth!! was the grip with the claws painfull????

Suprisingly it didnt actualy hurt that much it was more alarming to see it grip tighter and tighter i guess the claws spikes are so sharp they go in with very little force i didnt realise they had punctured untill after i got it off an noticed a small ammount of blood

It was more of a shock than anything , I was half laughing at the time , But it was very aqaurd to get it off , i couldnt let go of its head so i had to like joust it back with one finger whilst trying to unlatch its claws with the others it was really tricky id get one of an it would just grab another bit of my hand

insanly i decided to hold her again today, She was apsolutly fine and behaved as normal im wondering if i just anoyed her in some way?

 

[Skulnik]

I've always had a great relationship with mantids. I've had them crawling all over me, jumping all over my face, getting caught in my hair and I've hand-fed them.

I recently was releasing a mantis I had raised in my backyard. My son and I were watching it disappear in the bushes when I saw the biggest mantid I've ever seen. I thought it was a branch. Well, I had to have it, so I went to coax it in my hand and it gave me the fight of its life.

By the time I had it captured and secured, my hand was bleeding in six places. They were all, of course, little cuts, but they certainly got my adrenaline pumping. I'd never even heard of anyone being hurt by a mantid. She came out completely unharmed and looking like she wanted to go some more rounds.

I took her home (pretty sure it was a female), and set her up in a butterfly enclosure with a large ball of tumble weed.

An hour later I gave her the largest cricket I had, which was disposed of hastily. I showed her off to some family and friends and let her go that evening.

When I let her out, she hopped on my hand and waited for a second before she hopped back into her bush. I know now - the bigger they are, the more they hurt.

I love 'em, though.:clap: