Just wanted to remind everyone of the warnings about feeding mantis that are too large. My lil guy just loves to eat mantis, gobbles down like nothing else. I routinely hunt for ones that are the appropriate size, constantly throwing back ones that are too large. Normally the ordeal is over in a matter of moments; bam snap, swallow. But I made the grave mistake of giving him one that was a little too large, he wasnt very big, just slightly larger then what I would normally give him.

The scene I just witnessed was horrific. I'm having a hard time typing because I'm shaking so bad. I have never seen a mantis fight back so violently. The mantis lost but in no way was it worth the cost. My cham is bleeding and hes pissed off and I don't know if I'm going to end up at the vet for this one.

PLEASE PLEASE watch the size of your feeder, especially your mantids.

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1.0 Jackson 0.5 Labrador

Can you show us some pics of chams wound?
I feel so sorry for him!

I don't mean to offend you... but why wouldn't you chop the mantid's strikers off ?

They are the insect's weapons. I even cut off the larger sized hornworm's pinchers.

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Brian Aschenbach

wow.. sorry to hear that. Hope your guy heals with great haste, and without a vet visit..

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1.1 Ambilobe,1.0 Ambanja,1.0 Nosy Be,1.0 Sambava,0.1 Veiled

i always cut the grabbers off i dont want them to have any chance of fighting back on large ones i even remove the mandables

Thanks for your support guys. I will try to get a few pictures up tomorrow.



You can not offend me. I am far too young in this hobby and have far too much to learn. And I would rather learn from my mistakes then fret over someone pointing them out.

Perhaps I should have be more specific when describing the previous mantis I have feed my chameleon. When I said "bam, snap, and swallow" I was implying that they don't fight back, and often, their not even alive by the time he starts pulling them in. He usually strikes them right on the head and they are most often a quarter of the way eaten before he takes his first chew.

Also, with all do respect, it would take a fair amount of luck for the mantis to cause any real damage with the pinchers. All of the woulds my cham received were delivered from the mantis biting him.While removing the pinchers prior to feed is an excellent idea that I will begin to practice; in this encounter they did little more then slow down the swallowing process.

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1.0 Jackson 0.5 Labrador

yea just make sure the mantis isnt too big becuase the they really do have some big mandibles- they are made to chew into insects while they are alive.
also when you are "trimming" their front arms, keep your fingers away, they bite HARD!