Orchid mantis not eating

[ArthurJS]

So I got two L3-L4 orchids two days ago. The seller fed them before posting them. They got to me in 3 days and when I received them, the heat pack gave up pretty much the day I got them. So when I received them they were freezing cold. The male was on the bottom, laying, twitching. I quickly warmed him up and he sprung back to health. The female looked much better than the male. Both of them walk and jump around just fine. Since I’m out of fruit flies, and I can’t get them anywhere atm, I tried feeding them the small white isopods I had from my bioactive mantis enclosure. Now here’s the thing. The female catches them just fine. She eats one isopods per day. And she looks very good, plump. Now the male in the other hand, he sees the isopods but just stares at them as they pass him and then go walks away from them. I’m 100% positive he sees them. Like he’s scared. He’s very thin and I’m scared he’ll die. I’m getting pin head crickets tomorrow so hopefully he’ll eat that. Or maybe he’s in premolt. I mist them everyday multiple times so they have water at all times. Especially the male. I tried hand feeding both of them but they didn’t take it.

Picture of the male below. (He’s the size of my thumb nail)

 

[mantisfan101]

Crickets are not the best feeder option, use flies or roaches if possible. Continue to hydrate him and keep him at room temps with no extremes. Do you plan on breeding them? If so, the male will quickly outgrow the female and reach adulthood months before she does. Give him a day to get used to his new environment before offering him food. It might also help to handfeed him as well.

 

[Aspiring Mr T]

So I got two L3-L4 orchids two days ago. The seller fed them before posting them. They got to me in 3 days and when I received them, the heat pack gave up pretty much the day I got them. So when I received them they were freezing cold. The male was on the bottom, laying, twitching. I quickly warmed him up and he sprung back to health. The female looked much better than the male. Both of them walk and jump around just fine. Since I’m out of fruit flies, and I can’t get them anywhere atm, I tried feeding them the small white isopods I had from my bioactive mantis enclosure. Now here’s the thing. The female catches them just fine. She eats one isopods per day. And she looks very good, plump. Now the male in the other hand, he sees the isopods but just stares at them as they pass him and then go walks away from them. I’m 100% positive he sees them. Like he’s scared. He’s very thin and I’m scared he’ll die. I’m getting pin head crickets tomorrow so hopefully he’ll eat that. Or maybe he’s in premolt. I mist them everyday multiple times so they have water at all times. Especially the male. I tried hand feeding both of them but they didn’t take it.

Picture of the male below. (He’s the size of my thumb nail)

View attachment 330483

A similar thing happened to mine a few years ago. Mantids can be fussy eaters at times. Mine sometimes refused their staple but will take to silverfish at any time of the day. Give them a go on that and see what happens.

Another observation from a while ago - I noted another sp began to eat when I rehoused them in smaller tubs.