anyone keep moths?

DeeSeven

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
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24
I have a praying mantis that i'd like to feed something other then crickets and fruit flies so I've been looking into moths which have been out in full force as of late (thank you nice weather) I've captured a few lately and was wondering as anyone tried to keep these? I realize they live a kinda short life depending on the species I'm talking about keeping them just to feed them to the mantis.
 

8by8

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Mar 17, 2009
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233
I dont use wild moths, but I like wax worms and horn worms. Wax moths are about an inch long, the horn worms are around 3 inches, both easy to keep. I feed them to my arboreal T's.
 

cacoseraph

ArachnoGod
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Jan 5, 2005
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8,325
i keep killing the indian meal moths that are doing their best to full colonize my house :/


i would highly NOT suggest trying to use them as feeders. the irony is years ago i had thought about it... but thought they might be a bit too pesty. BOY was i right! i don't even know where these little blighters came from, originally :/

heh
 

galeogirl

Arachnoprince
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Aug 15, 2002
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Many years back, I cultured the meal moths after a handy infestation came home with me from the natural foods store. Containing them was problematic, though.
 

Moltar

ArachnoGod
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Apr 11, 2007
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I have a friend (not on these boards, unfortunately) who keeps Luna Moths. She has a large big... tent sort of thing made of that fine weave mesh cloth, almost like nylons. Inside that is a complete habitat where they spend their entire life cycle. There's no moving them from breeding box to colony or whatever like with mealworms. She just provides food and water and the colony is otherwise self sufficient from egg to moth. I'm sure there are forums for this out there somewhere just like any other <ahem> strange hobby.
 

DeeSeven

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
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24
thank you guys for the info I guess I'll have to check out another way to feed these guys. It is cool checking the mantis attack the moths. Ill see if I can grab video next time
 

H. laoticus

Arachnoprince
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Mar 11, 2009
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I have a friend (not on these boards, unfortunately) who keeps Luna Moths. She has a large big... tent sort of thing made of that fine weave mesh cloth, almost like nylons. Inside that is a complete habitat where they spend their entire life cycle. There's no moving them from breeding box to colony or whatever like with mealworms. She just provides food and water and the colony is otherwise self sufficient from egg to moth. I'm sure there are forums for this out there somewhere just like any other <ahem> strange hobby.
That sounds awesomem :D Do you have any links to this?
 

jebbewocky

Arachnoangel
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Oct 1, 2009
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909
Check out mantidforums.net if you haven't already. Great site. Most people use fruit flies for mantids it seems. Or maybe I'm thinking of dart frogs.
Dendroboards is a good board as well.:)
 

DeeSeven

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 10, 2010
Messages
24
I'm already on the mantidforum :) wealth of knowledge there I was just looking into alternatives and saw moths. But from what some have said on here I'm all set with a moth infestation in my apartment lol. I already had to explain to my landlord the 30+ frogs I keep.
 

8by8

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Mar 17, 2009
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233
arent wax worms high in fat? or are those the adults?
Not sure about the moths, but yes, the worms are high in fat. Feeding strictly wax moths is no good, a varied diet is always a plus. I feed my T's wax moths if they change before the lizards eat them with no problems. There cheap even if your wanting just the moths. Most info I find about moths is that there higher in calcium and fat, not sure if thats true for all species though.
 

barabootom

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
644
i keep killing the indian meal moths that are doing their best to full colonize my house :/


i would highly NOT suggest trying to use them as feeders. the irony is years ago i had thought about it... but thought they might be a bit too pesty. BOY was i right! i don't even know where these little blighters came from, originally :/

heh
I brought them into my house by accident in some hamster feed I purchased at a local pet store. 2 years later I still find them. At one point I had to clean out and throw away a bunch of foods infested with the larvae. Mostly cereals, but even a box of chocolates was infested. I would stay away from this type of feeder for sure. It's not worth it.
 

barabootom

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
644
I have a friend (not on these boards, unfortunately) who keeps Luna Moths. She has a large big... tent sort of thing made of that fine weave mesh cloth, almost like nylons. Inside that is a complete habitat where they spend their entire life cycle. There's no moving them from breeding box to colony or whatever like with mealworms. She just provides food and water and the colony is otherwise self sufficient from egg to moth. I'm sure there are forums for this out there somewhere just like any other <ahem> strange hobby.
That sounds awesomem :D Do you have any links to this?
I used to sleeve raise lots of moths, esp luna, polyphemus and cecropia. Here are a few pics. These were taken 12-15 years ago before digital cameras.

Here's one of my sons holding a few A luna.


Here's the same son a few years earlier next to his grandfather with one of my sleeves in the background. I had 50 of those sleeves at one time with 200-300 larvae per sleeve.


Here's a pic of a few H cecropia being moved to a new sleeve.


I had tarantulas at the same time and did use 4th instar larvae as a food source. They worked fine accept they were mostly water and dripped all over the place. I never used 5th instar larvae because they got so big. I didn't want them to thrash about and maybe injure my T's.
 

Entomo-logic

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
2
I raise wax worm moths for my mantids. I keep the small containers of sawdust in the bottom of a vertical 10 gal tank so when the moths or what have you emerge and fly to the top they get picked off by the mantids in the cage. it is very hands off all one needs to do is give the cup a good cleaning every few weeks and refresh the sawdust and I add honeypowder and pollen to the mix so the moths have a little something extra nutrition wise when they are consumed by my mantids.
 
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