New to the Mantis world, my Question is on Dead Leaf Mantis

[Slater8486]

Hi, my name is Slater and I've recently bought my son a Dead Leaf Mantis, it is only very small. About 3cm at the moment.

I have read up quite a lot on the feeding and I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me. So far we've had him two days and fed him/her two small flies which he gobbled up very quickly.

On research though I have seen people saying feed every other day or some sites saying every 2/3 days and others that say if he eats it add another until they leave the prey alone.

I was wondering if anyone is a bit of a scholar with Dead Leaf Mantis Nymphs and which is the best approach?

Thank you

 

[BenLeeKing]

General rule of thumb of a mantis feeding is looking at the abdomen size and segments.
You'll wanna keep its abdomen plump but not to the point where all the segments are stretched out. Over feeding isn't always a big issue, but just remember if a mantis is over fed there is always a chance getting digestion issues and on the serious end they can die.

 

[Smotzer]

I would advise not feeding whenever it will eat, everyday or every other day. I would start from the basis of giving 2 times a week as a rough basis but what you are really doing is feeding off of abdomen size. This rough feeding “schedule” worked for me for a long time.

also this greatly depends of what prey size you are feeding as well. So it could go up and down depending. What are you currently feeding it?

What species of Deroplatys do you have? The common name dead leaf is very common, and can be used for multiples.

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Also, glue mesh to the underside of the kritter keeper mid for molting, just the lid isn't a good molting surface.