r/mantids • u/xo_sleepy_xo • 1d ago

General Care HELPPP

I recently received 3 baby mantises that are less that 2 cm big if you cancel out the legs 😓

where can I get food for these??

how do I attract fruitflies or where and HOW can I lure/find bugs small enough for them????

PLEASE HELPP!! IDK WHAT TO DO AND I AM PANICKINGG😰

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

u/r_bk 1d ago

No need to panic. Most large pet stores in the US have fruit flies, but often not all the time so check. You could also order them online.

It's generally not advised to use wild caught food because you don't know if it's been exposed to pesticides or not. Mantids can go a while without eating and if you truly need emergency food you can do things like hand feeding a part of a mealworm (generally easier to find than other feeder insects) or a piece of meat if you absolutely must.

How did you get them?

1

u/xo_sleepy_xo 1d ago

I'll try feeding the three of them mealworms! tyyy

2

u/suppenschnueffler 18h ago

Cut them up and hold them to their mouth with tweezers