How To Tell If A Mantis Is Hungry? (7 Clear Facts)

As a person who keeps a praying mantis as a pet, it is essential for you to be able to tell with some accuracy when the mantis is hungry. In this article, you will find information on how you can tell when your praying mantis is hungry.

How to tell if a mantis is hungry? The problem with praying mantises is in the fact that they are the sorts of organisms that only eat once in a while. They are not like some other pets, which you can easily create feeding schedules for.

You therefore need to figure out how to know if a praying mantis is hungry, so that you can feed it in a timely manner.  

If you offer food to the mantis when it is not hungry, it will just ignore the food. And this may get you worried, as you wonder, why isn’t my mantis eating?

Indeed, it is not uncommon to find people consulting exotic pets vets regarding that question: on why is my mantis not eating?

Then within a minute of seeing the mantis, the vet knows where the problem is. The problem turns out to be in that you are offering the mantis food when it is not hungry…

That is why it is essential to have knowledge on how to tell if praying mantis is hungry (and, conversely, how to know when my mantis is full).

Do Praying Mantis Get Hungry?

Yes, praying mantis do get hungry. They however don’t get hungry as often as other common pets.

If you research on how often do mantis need to be fed, you will see that it is just once in a while.

Similarly, if you read up on how long can praying mantises go without food, you will see that it is for an impressively long period of time.

But like all other animals and insects, praying mantises do eventually get hungry with time.

How To Tell If A Mantis Is Hungry?

You are likely to succeed better at feeding your praying mantis if you only feed it when it is hungry.

This is how to tell if a mantis is hungry: by checking its abdomen and its position within the enclosure. A hungry mantis’ abdomen will tend to be flat (while for a full mantis, the abdomen is distended). A hungry mantis also tends to lie at the bottom of its enclosure.

If you find your mantis lying at the bottom of its enclosure, and its abdomen is flat, it’s probably hungry.

You may also consider when you last fed the mantis. Just check the day/time when you last offered the mantis food. Then ask yourself, is my mantis hungry, given how long ago I fed it?

In checking when you last fed the mantis, you also need to reflect on how long can a mantis go without food. For growing/baby mantises, that is 1 or 2 days max.

And most adult mantises will only go (comfortably) for a maximum of 4 days without food. Yes, they can survive for as many as 6 weeks without food. But in terms of how long they can live comfortably without food, that is 4 days.

Suppose it is 4 days since you last fed the mantis. Its stomach is thin. And it is lying at the bottom of the enclosure. Then you would know that it is almost certainly hungry (unless it’s molting).

What To Do If Your Praying Mantis Is Hungry?

If your mantis is hungry, what you need to do is simply feed it.

Praying mantis usually only eat live food, mostly things like flies. Sometimes, this can cause challenges: like if I’m out of flies and my mantis is hungry.

Thankfully, there is a wide range of things that a mantis can eat. Just ensure that you offer it live food.

In this context, knowledge on things like how much and when to feed or mist your mantis is essential.

Ultimately, the hungry mantis needs to be fed. But you need to do it in moderation. Here, one may ask, can you over feed a mantis? And the answer is ‘yes’.

How can you overfeed praying mantis? This would happen if you exceed its food requirements.

Sometimes, the mantis eats so much that its stomach looks as if it is about to burst.

And that is sure to get you worried as you ask yourself, did I overfeed my mantis?

Note that consistently overfeeding the mantis may lower its lifespan.

So it is essential to know when it is full. For instance, if yours is a ghost mantis, knowledge on how to tell when a ghost mantis is full is essential. The same applies for a Chinese Mantis, Spiny Flower Mantis, Orchid Mantis and so on.

Once you see that it is full, withdraw access to food.

Final Verdict – How To Tell If A Mantis Is Hungry

There are three ways to tell if a praying mantis is hungry.

Firstly, you need to look at its abdomen. If the abdomen looks thin/flat, the mantis is probably hungry.

Secondly, you need to look at its position in the enclosure. A hungry mantis will tend to stay at the bottom of the enclosure.

Thirdly, you need to consider when you last fed the mantis. If that was too long ago (like more than 4 days ago for an adult mantis and more than 2 days ago for a baby/growing mantis), then it is probably hungry. That is unless it is molting.

If your mantis is hungry, the best way forward would be to find food for it. This should be live food. Just give the mantis enough food, without overfeeding.

As a pet lover, make sure to learn about pet more and give your pet mantis a good and comfortable life!

Rajkumar Ravichandran

Welcome to Learn About Pet. My name is Rajkumar Ravichandran and I love all pets, travel, and amazing food. I write about my passion and personal experience caring for multiple pets in this blog! ❤️