What did the Wraith feed on before they developed space travel?

[miju]

If each wraith requires a single being to feed upon - that would require a lot of animals for each wraith each day. Probably they didn't eat the body parts either which would would have increased their available food supply.

[The Prophet]

Well, The Wraith were Born when the Iratus Bug fed upon Humans, incorperating their DNA (or Humans turned into Wraith?). So it would sem that the Humans arrived their, either by Gate or by Ship, So it would seem that the Wraith always had the ability to Travel to other Planets & Harvest Lives.

What the Iratus Bug ate though? Probably The natural creatures there (possibly Mammels?). Though they didn't need so many Humans/Lives in so much demand...

Edit: 800th Post! WHX Movie 7!

[EyeStrain]

Humans, can't be anything esle.

[The Doctor]

Well, they're no reason to believe they can't feed on other animals like the bugs must have done for quite some time. Humans probably just taste better than other animals. And it's not like a Wraith has to feed every day, we know they can go quite some time without, especially when they're hybernating.

[Syera]

Someone - Wraith Scientist, I think it was - and I came up with several hypotheses regarding the Wraith. One of them was that they were intentionally engineered by a race related to the Iratus (we called them Iratus sapiens) that were basically to the Iratus bugs as we know them as we are to lemurs.

The premise of the idea was that the Wraith are a combination of human and Iratus sapiens (not the Iratus), possibly designed as some kind of soldier with the thoughts of destroying humans in mind - hence their inability to feed on anything else. (Makes for good motivation.)

Eventually, the Wraith somehow left the control of the Iratus sapiens and have been roaming the galaxy since. It's possible that their creators were wiped out, don't care about, or have no use for their soldiers.

It's only a hypothesis, but I think it would fill a lot of gaps nicely.

[ItsDan]

Umm, Stargate?

[freyr's mother]

They probably fed off of other organisms on their planet. We know they can feed off of other things. They are able to feed off of each other as well as the little glowy bug thingies.

[Syera]

Don't ask me why, but I somehow saw the little glowing bug things as some kind of sugary candy for the Wraith... but not a viable food source.

[Metonic]

well, they feed on aniamls, and rpobably still can, it may be though that humans are in greater abundance, or provide more energy for them, perhaps since they are only part human, they desire to become more and that desire pushes in a need to be human and that need to be human comes with their need to eat and bam they eat humans...

Or perhaps because their half human, they require the minerals and such in the human body..

[verbalkint]

In the season 2 episode Condemned a little light is shedded on the subject. I believe in another episode it was mentioned that the feeling of defiance in humans is why the wraith prefer feeding on humans instead of livestock.

"MAGISTRATE: I must admit, I still find it intriguing to watch you eat actual food.

WRAITH: Our lineage may have diverged, but there are those of us who still retain an appreciation for finer things. (It lifts another forkful of food and looks at it.) And although it may provide a moment's pleasure, it does not sustain me. (It puts the fork down, stands and walks closer to the Magistrate.) This arrangement I have made with you and your predecessors has served both of us well. While others of my kind have been forced to sleep between cullings, I have enjoyed a steady stream of humans for my consumption -- and the taste of their defiance is sweet. You, in return, have been allowed to live in peace."

[Flux.]

My idea is that the wraith were created by the ancients possibly as research into ascension.

[sarc]

After depleting their planet's supply of humans, they may have used the Stargate to travel to other planets.

[Major_Griff]

Someone - Wraith Scientist, I think it was - and I came up with several hypotheses regarding the Wraith. One of them was that they were intentionally engineered by a race related to the Iratus (we called them Iratus sapiens) that were basically to the Iratus bugs as we know them as we are to lemurs.

The premise of the idea was that the Wraith are a combination of human and Iratus sapiens (not the Iratus), possibly designed as some kind of soldier with the thoughts of destroying humans in mind - hence their inability to feed on anything else. (Makes for good motivation.)

Eventually, the Wraith somehow left the control of the Iratus sapiens and have been roaming the galaxy since. It's possible that their creators were wiped out, don't care about, or have no use for their soldiers.

It's only a hypothesis, but I think it would fill a lot of gaps nicely.

They could have been another human killing invention of the Hot Zone Villians

[Syera]

well, they feed on aniamls, and rpobably still can, it may be though that humans are in greater abundance, or provide more energy for them, perhaps since they are only part human, they desire to become more and that desire pushes in a need to be human and that need to be human comes with their need to eat and bam they eat humans...

Or perhaps because their half human, they require the minerals and such in the human body..

They can feed on animals? When did this happen? I seem to recall that they'd tried to feed Steve animals, but he wouldn't feed on them... and he was starving.

As for humans being in greater abundance... right now they're not. Thanks to the Wraith being woken prematurely, the human population hasn't had the chance to regenerate properly, and so is a bit scarce.

[Prior_of_the_Ori]

Well Ronon did say that the Iratus bugs were probably not the top predator on their homeworld and that something even worse hunted them. Not sure if that helps but.....