Mantis help please...

[Ratatooee]

Hey all,

I have what I have been told is a femail G. Chiraga (probably mispelt) but anyhow...when I bought her I put in 4 hermit crabs which I assumed she would eat. Well several months later and these hermits are alive and well...she wont eat the buggers! She eats the shrimp I provide her but leaves all the hermits alone...what gives? Do I have the Ghandi of mantis? She is uber aggressive if you get near her den but still wont eat them...just whacks them aside so they arent near her hole and goes about her digging business. Would I have better luck feeding her live snails? or emeralds? I want her to have to hunt some so she doesnt become domesticated with all the food given to her. Please assist.

Rat

 

[Agu]

I want her to have to hunt some so she doesnt become domesticated with all the food given to her.

I don't see that happening and if it does is it a problem ? My mantis rarely gets live foods but he still whacks the heck out of the feeding stick.

Besides, maybe she doesn't like crab meat ...........

 

[Pea-brain]

Don't feed it for a couple weeks. Don't cave in and give her food unless A) she kills one or B) She still hasn't touched one after 3 weeks. Then it can start to get dangerous. Also offer snails. It may like that more.

Dan

 

[Ratatooee]

Thanks for the reply's!

As far as whats wrong with it if she doesnt hunt her food...from my experience with saltwater fish at least they dont get all the nutrients they need from the frozen food even if supplemented. I also try to recreate natural as possible environments for all my fish/inverts so that includes them having to hunt there natural foods...i perfer not to provide frozens unless they wont eat otherwise.

I am going to get some snails today and see if she lays into them... I had a species of dwarf lion that only ate inverts in the wild... lfs owner was suprised that he wasnt eating fish so he gave him to me for free assuming it was going to die anyhow. Fed it shrimp and crabs and have had the lion for over 10 years now...hoping my mantis is the same way but with snails!

Thanks again.

 

[deepboy]

I have a female G. chiragra also I put in a cleaning crew and she took out the snails and never tuched the blue legs and red legs so I don't think there is anything to worry about it not eat shelled crab! Also because of her molting period I put the snails in when I know she starting her molt to give the snails at least a couple of weeks to clean before she comes out to eat them, There is no way of stopping it they will kill them. Do you have any pic's of yours?

 

[Ratatooee]

I do have pics but they all suck.... unless someone knows a better way to get them to turn out, photographing through acrylic seems to make them come out fuzzy.

 

[psychodave]

Use a faster shutter speed and zoom out all the way. Put the lens up to the tank at a slight downward angle...works for me... Thats how I got this pic, sorry its not a mantis...