5" mantis not eating, should I still buy it?

[jamal-188]

We just got a 5" mantis, looks like a peacock in work yesterday. I"m assuming it's still stressed out but won't eat anything yet. I"m assuming it will be okay and come around but it's $50 so I just wanted to see what you guys said first

 

[Hwarang]

Can you put a hold on it for a week to see if it feeds?

 

[Gonodactylus]

I'm not sure why, but people seem to equate eating with health. I guess as products of western society, if we aren't eating, there must be something wrong. That isn't necessarily the case for predators and particularly not for predatory crustaceans like stomatopods. Large O. scyllarus will for for a week or two without feeding around the time of a molt and they will also often quite feeding when stressed such as happens when they are shipped or even moved from one tank to another. Some are so finicky that they will stop feeding for days when their diet is changed.

I'm not saying that this animal is healthy, just that whether it is eating is not a reliable indicator. By the way, $50 is a pretty healthy mark-up for even a large O. scyllarus. Admittedly you will pay close to that if you order one and pay shipping, but stores that received shipments of stock should be able to sell them for less.
Roy

 

[jamal-188]

I realize eating is not always good indication of if an animal is healthy or not, but I would just feel better spending the money if it was eating figuring that if it's eating there is a better chance it's ok.

$50 is a decent price but they have been very hard to come across lately even online.

 

[Shinobi9P]

Roy's the international stomotopod expert, you should listen to what he said and take note.. lol, if its pretty, kicking and interesting, buy it id say, if u want it that is.
-Dan

 

[jamal-188]

Well I got him yesterday. He seems fine and is eating, I know just because something doesn't eat that doesn't necessarily mean it's in poor health, but if something does eat can't that kind of be a good indication that it is healthy?

I know you guys said $50 was pretty steep but he was very nice and I'd rather see one and pick it out then order on the internet and pay a fortune for shipping one small animal I'll post some pics later, he's alrady digging his little cave and rearranging things.