# I'm a Mantis Mommy! FINALLY!



## Teamonger (Jan 12, 2017)

After the heartbreaking loss of my first two ooths my back up Chinese ooth I had been diapausing in the fridge hatched last night. 

I am so ecstatic I can't even begin to find words! Hope was getting harder and harder to cling to after 2 and a half months of waiting and failure!

I am prepared as well. Now that the bug room is not a million degrees (heating issues) my fruit fly cultures have all exploded and I have an over abundance were before I was struggling to keep them producing or alive. Its amazing the difference 10 degrees can have on everything.


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## Sarah K (Jan 12, 2017)

Congrats on the successful hatch! All those babies will certainly keep you busy!


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## Serle (Jan 12, 2017)

Hey , Far Out , now the work/fun begins . Are you trying to count them all?


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## Teamonger (Jan 12, 2017)

@Serle No way I'm attempting to count that chaos hehe. There are exactly... a lot of them.


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## Zeppy44 (Jan 12, 2017)

Woot! and Grats!  Will be a few months for the gift the wild caught gave me before it hatches if it does.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 12, 2017)

Congrats on the hatch.  I tend to usually count mine, and they typically range in numbers from 70 to about 100.


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## CanadIan anter (Jan 14, 2017)

I counted 58


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## CosbyArt (Jan 14, 2017)

CanadIan anter said:


> I counted 58


Not bad, perhaps a late laid ooth by the mother (ooths tend to be lighter in numbers as the female gets old). Of course 58 babies isn't bad, or a nightmare to some to take care of.


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## Teamonger (Jan 14, 2017)

I took a shot at counting and gave up after I reached 100. There are at least 50 more on the screen covered wall to the right that is not in the picture.  And another 20 or so that squeezed past the divider into the second section.


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## Serle (Jan 14, 2017)

Tea , a fantastic profile picture , you sure are proud..


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## Teamonger (Jan 14, 2017)

@Serle hehe thanks! I sure am. That's my current favorite as its so calm and will just chill on my finger. The other one that's got its own tiny enclosure does nothing but jump and run as fast as its little legs will allow the second I take it out.

I have three in little habitat jars that get to go to work with me and be my desk buddies.


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## Chalc (Jan 14, 2017)

Glad yours hatched as well! I did the same and separated a few of my favourites in some plastic cups. If you have any pictures of your desk buddy jars I'd love to see! Congrats!


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## Teamonger (Jan 15, 2017)

@Chalc

Knowing me there will be a lot of habitats in the coming days so I started a new thread for them. You can see my first tiny desk jars there


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## Teamonger (Jan 18, 2017)

Only a week in and molting madness has begun in the tank. Caught half a dozen all molting when I got home from work and snapped a few pictures. They are so pretty when they are still white/green and squishy. It never ceases to amaze me how they nearly double in size every time they molt, its like magic.

You can see my poor cooked ooths in the back ground. They are trapped in the tank in their little cups until I'm done with this brood. I had stuck them in there just in case as the humidity is controlled within the tank but it was not to be. Now the cups are jungle gyms for the ones that did hatch


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## CosbyArt (Jan 19, 2017)

@Teamonger Glad to see the hatched ones are moving right along, nice photo.  

They grow up so fast, my previous batch that hatched just molted to L5, and another ooth hatched Sunday (15th). It is a interesting process for sure.


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## Teamonger (Jan 25, 2017)

The brood just started molting to L3. There was a spattering of freshly molted individuals amid the chaos this morning. 

Its only been roughly a week since the molt to L2 however, is that usual? It was my understanding mantises usually molt about every 2 weeks but these little guys have been going every week thus far. Do they slow down at higher instars?


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## Sarah K (Jan 25, 2017)

Teamonger said:


> The brood just started molting to L3. There was a spattering of freshly molted individuals amid the chaos this morning.
> 
> Its only been roughly a week since the molt to L2 however, is that usual? It was my understanding mantises usually molt about every 2 weeks but these little guys have been going every week thus far. Do they slow down at higher instars?


If you are keeping your mantises warm, it can definitely speed up the molting process. And Yes, the molting frequency does slow down at higher instars. It can take a month or longer for the final molt between sub-adult and adult.


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## Teamonger (Jan 25, 2017)

Sarah K said:


> If you are keeping your mantises warm, it can definitely speed up the molting process. And Yes, the molting frequency does slow down at higher instars. It can take a month or longer for the final molt between sub-adult and adult.


Thanks! That's what I figured. They are kept warm and well fed so I assumed that was the cause. My first mantis's growth was a bit stunted I think from being in a colder room (to ensure the cats did not get him) for the first part of his life so the rapidity of the brood's molting surprised me.


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## Teamonger (Feb 2, 2017)

The brood that still somehow has roughly a hundred members left after a quick count last night is molting for the third time and getting big and beautiful!

I also found out last night that they love phoenix worms, 3 out of 4 mantises I offered them to went straight for the little wiggle grubs and chowed down.


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## Serle (Feb 2, 2017)

You still have the main hatch in the same container ? How is the carnage ?

I had a high % attacked while they were moulting .


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## Teamonger (Feb 2, 2017)

@Serle

The death tole is definitely rising ( found half a mantis stuck to the glass this morning....eww) but its not out of control yet. I am still pumping in as many fruitflies as is possible from my declining cultures so that's probably helping. I was supposed to be getting little crickets today but they're being delayed til Sat so we'll see how the next few days go. 

Thankfully I am not yet in any danger of running out of mantises


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## CosbyArt (Feb 3, 2017)

@Teamonger Glad to hear they are doing well and moving right along.  

Cannibalism is a sight I still hate, and would like to stop when I see it; however, any attempt would only injure the one eating as the other is already beyond saving.  The only positive to it is those living nymphs seem to grow much stronger/faster and are much more hardy in health (versus nymphs that do not cannibalize).


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## Teamonger (Feb 3, 2017)

@CosbyArt

Yes its a horrible thing to witness you just have to keeping telling yourself its nature's way.

As much as that bothers me the bit that really gets to me is when you see one that's mismolted and has one or two legs trapped in the old skin and there is no possible way you can get it out to help   No way to open that pandora's box to assist a single mantis no matter how much I want to.


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## Teamonger (Feb 17, 2017)

Quick update. The brood is doing well besides their population still slowly dwindling due to cannibalism. I have re-homed about 25 or so but I still have about 50 L5s left.

They are all happily eating my black solider flies now as well as small crickets.

I should be finally picking out 6 for me to keep and name this weekend, I'm excited to finally be able to tell the sex without squinting at bug butts for minutes at a time so I feel confident enough to pick out the keepers.


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## Serle (Feb 17, 2017)

The growth is quite incredible L5's already , when were they hatched?


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## Teamonger (Feb 17, 2017)

I believe it was Jan 12 the day the first post was made. I have it written on the tank at home but pretty sure that's right without checking   So only a little over a month to L5.


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