Feeders best practices for mantis NO Crickets

Cricket bites: mantis keepers young praying mantis attacked by a small cricket, “her first and last encounter with those awful creatures. They’ve since been tossed outside.” And goes on to explain 

The cricket attacked her, chewing off her antennae and the top of her jaw. It also bit her raptors. I was absolutely devastated. After having previously nursed her back from a bad molt, and hand feeding her for weeks. She’s since molted successfully, twice.

Her face was a mess after the attack. She is a fighter and I was holding out hope that she would pull through. Yesterday, she ate.

 picture shows the trauma from the attack. Hoping her face and antennae recover in the next molt.

I always caution against using crickets as feeders, not only for this reason for bites but they can carry nasty bacteria. Often they are fed meat from dog and cat food and carry the bacteria in their exoskeleton that becomes contaminated as it loosens during molting. Salmonella can be found and is extremely dangerous to young children and adults compromised immune systems. Even causing death