# Otheca stopped hatching



## Mvalenz (Aug 10, 2012)

I swear if i didn't have bad luck I would have no luck at all. And I know I misspelled ootheca.

I was up late last night and around 4:00am before I went to bed I decided to turn my heat lamp off above my H. Majuscula ootheca to see what the room temp would be. So I turned it off and waited about 5 minutes. When I turned it back on I noticed a single little nymph hanging from a string from the ootheca. I am not sure if it started hatching before I turned the light off or the sudden drop in temp caused it to start to hatch but when I turned the light back on it stopped hatching and didn't start again. Keep in mind I have my thermostat placed on top of the enclosure below the lamp because I like to move it around to get different temps for different species. I am assuming the temp in the enclosure is about 5 degrees cooler than the thermostat reads. When I turned the lamp off it read 85 degrees. It started to drop quickly to 75 degrees when I turned it back on. Right now it read 90 degrees. Is there any way to resurrect this ootheca or did I miss my window?


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## psyconiko (Aug 10, 2012)

Sometimes majuscula ooths will give you up to 200 nymphs,sometimes less or nothing.But they can also hatch during several days.You may get lucky and still have a good load of nymphs.Keep incubating.


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## Mvalenz (Aug 10, 2012)

Do they stop and start again or is it a continuous stream of nymphs? What about the temp? It was at about 77-78 degrees when I turned my lite off and it was pitch dark as well. The thing is is that I don't know if it started to hatch before or after I turned the light off. My light is a "Nightlight red reptile bulb" from zoomed. It still gives off a red glow, so it's not completely dark at night. I do raise it higher and away from mantids to cool the temp at night, but not below 80-85. If i take the cover off the hatchery to place the thermostat in the enclosure will I disturb the ootheca or should I just leave as is?


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## agent A (Aug 10, 2012)

give it a spritz and hope for the best


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## Mvalenz (Aug 10, 2012)

agent A said:


> give it a spritz and hope for the best


Yeah. I guess thats all I can do. What temp are you keeping yours at during the day and night?


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## agent A (Aug 10, 2012)

Mvalenz said:


> Yeah. I guess thats all I can do. What temp are you keeping yours at during the day and night?


room temp


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## Mvalenz (Aug 10, 2012)

agent A said:


> room temp


Really? Thought they needed to be kept warm?


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## agent A (Aug 10, 2012)

Mvalenz said:


> Really? Thought they needed to be kept warm?


well i haven't kept any for long

i sent the first 2 to peeps and the 3rd is goin to someone as well &lt;_&lt;


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## Mvalenz (Aug 10, 2012)

I'm wondering if the drop in temp caused it to hatch. I don't remember seeing the one little mantis hanging there when I turned the lamp off. Have you ever heard of this happening?


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## Mvalenz (Aug 12, 2012)

It's not a total bust. I moved it to a room upstairs and left it at room temp. Now I have two little nymphs at the bottom of the hatchery.   :lol:  :clap: unk: 

I hope there is a lot more in the morning.

Update: this morning I counted about 6 nymphs. It looks like there is about 4 that got stuck hanging from the string. I'm thinking as soon as the sun comes up it stops hatching. Do most ootheca hatch only at night?


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## Mime454 (Aug 12, 2012)

Did more hatch?


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## Mvalenz (Aug 12, 2012)

Mime454 said:


> Did more hatch?


No more. I'm thinking when the temp drops at night it causes it to hatch. I think that is why it started when I turned the light off and stopped when I turned it back on originally. I'm going to see what happens tonight.

Update: the temp just dropped a couple of degrees and it started hatching again. I think my hypothesis is correct. No one ever told me this.


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## Mime454 (Aug 12, 2012)

Okay let us know. I'm keeping and hoping to breed this species.


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## Mvalenz (Aug 12, 2012)

Mime454 said:


> Okay let us know. I'm keeping and hoping to breed this species.


No problem. I will update later tonight.


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## agent A (Aug 12, 2012)

Mvalenz said:


> No problem. I will update later tonight.


random question for u

wat is your avatar supposed to be? is it a pteradactyl??


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## Mime454 (Aug 12, 2012)

agent A said:


> random question for u
> 
> wat is your avatar supposed to be? is it a pteradactyl??


Some kind of 4-legged mantis? It has antennae.


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## Mvalenz (Aug 12, 2012)

agent A said:


> random question for u
> 
> wat is your avatar supposed to be? is it a pteradactyl??


It's Zorak from the cartoon space ghost. He is supposed to be a praying mantis alien type thing, but they got the anatomy a little wrong.


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## Mvalenz (Aug 13, 2012)

Looks like I'm up to ten. One more didn't drop completly from the ooth and another has a couple of legs stuck. I'll try to free him soon. All together there are about 5 that got stuck. 33%. Is this a normal ratio to get stuck?


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## Mime454 (Aug 13, 2012)

Mvalenz said:


> Looks like I'm up to ten. One more didn't drop completly from the ooth and another has a couple of legs stuck. I'll try to free him soon. All together there are about 5 that got stuck. 33%. Is this a normal ratio to get stuck?


I don't think so.


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## Mvalenz (Aug 13, 2012)

Think I know what the problem was. I had it under heat lamp. Even though I misted it regularly I think the heat had something to do with the low hatch rate. Same thing happened with my budwing ooth.


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## Mvalenz (Aug 14, 2012)

This ooth is still hatching 3 days later. I think the problem was hydration. I had a large opening for ventilation and I think It dried them before they descended.







Here is a pick of the opening closed with paper towel. Got 17 more nymphs.


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## Mvalenz (Aug 15, 2012)

Just thought I'd update. Day 4 (technically day 5) and it is still hatching. I counted 6 nymphs few minutes ago. Amazing.


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## sinensispsyched (Aug 15, 2012)

Congrats! Hope the good fortune keeps coming!


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## massaman (Aug 15, 2012)

you will have better chances in the future using 32 oz deli cups in the future on ooths and just put paper towel on the bottom and glue the ooths to the bottom of the lid of the cup and mist the cup and the ooth just a little and dont keep ooths under heat lamps as chances are the ooths would be fried and the nymphs would be crispy critters and room temp is ideal for most species as I always have used room temps with no real problems and only twice had no gos on ooths using a heat light source!


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## Mvalenz (Aug 15, 2012)

massaman said:


> you will have better chances in the future using 32 oz deli cups in the future on ooths and just put paper towel on the bottom and glue the ooths to the bottom of the lid of the cup and mist the cup and the ooth just a little and dont keep ooths under heat lamps as chances are the ooths would be fried and the nymphs would be crispy critters and room temp is ideal for most species as I always have used room temps with no real problems and only twice had no gos on ooths using a heat light source!


Thanks. I always thought I had to keep them warm. I'm sure that was my problem. The nymphs were dropping kind of low for a 32 oz deli cup though. That's why I moved it to something bigger. What about ventilation?


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## massaman (Aug 15, 2012)

I just used the cups with the lids that I get from ordering fruit flies or other mantids and thats all the ventilation I need usually most of the time!


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## Mvalenz (Aug 16, 2012)

massaman said:


> I just used the cups with the lids that I get from ordering fruit flies or other mantids and thats all the ventilation I need usually most of the time!


Alright. Thanks.

Day 5 &amp; 6: 8 more nymphs.


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## Mime454 (Aug 16, 2012)

Mvalenz said:


> Alright. Thanks.
> 
> Day 5 &amp; 6: 8 more nymphs.


This is crazy! What's your grand total so far?


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## Mvalenz (Aug 16, 2012)

Mime454 said:


> This is crazy! What's your grand total so far?


Only about 45, but it's taking forever.


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## Mime454 (Aug 16, 2012)

Only 45? How many are you expecting?


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## massaman (Aug 16, 2012)

ooths can have only so many and I never keep hopes up as ooths will hatch as many as they can depending on how they are kept


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## Mvalenz (Aug 16, 2012)

Mime454 said:


> Only 45? How many are you expecting?


Most people get at least a couple hundred. It is probably a blessing in disguise. What the heck am I gonna do with that many nymphs? Let alone with 45.


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## Mvalenz (Aug 17, 2012)

Day 6 &amp; 7: it's still hatching. Not sure how many but I saw several hatch out throughout the night. This is nuts. I should of named this thread "ootheca won't stop hatching".


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## Mvalenz (Aug 18, 2012)

You are not going to believe this, but we are well into day 8 and this ootheca is still dropping nymphs. 1 has hatched completely and one is hatching right now and 2 didn't make the complete hatch and dried out.


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## Mime454 (Aug 18, 2012)

Mvalenz said:


> You are not going to believe this, but we are well into day 8 and this ootheca is still dropping nymphs. 1 has hatched completely and one is hatching right now and 2 didn't make the complete hatch and dried out.


Haha. This is crazy.


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## minomantis (Aug 20, 2012)

I'm glad everything worked out. I remember when my ootheca hatched I got about 100 nymphs and maybe like 4 days later 2 more came out. It was the weirdest thing but yea. lol


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## Mvalenz (Aug 21, 2012)

If you think that is strange listen to this.

Day 10: I thought my single nymph that successfully hatched on day 8 was looking kind of small tonight, but then I noticed there were two!! This on is clearly freshly hatched. It's still kind of white. Thought it was done. But it is still hatching. CRAZY!!!


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## minomantis (Aug 21, 2012)

Wow!! haha!


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