# My damaged wild ooth hatched



## CosbyArt (Jan 5, 2015)

I finally had something hatch from my incubating ooths that wasn't a parasitic wasp! I noticed the new nymphs around 6 pm yesterday (Sunday Jan 4), and in a strange coincidence about 4 hours later my first (and only till then) mantis Susanna was dying. She died shortly after midnight, here is the post about Susanna.

The ooth that hatched was one I found outside on the wooden fence running along my carport area. It was a Stagmomantis carolina ooth, and had some damage. Under a close inspection (USB microscope) it showed a few mites inside the damaged area. Here is the original topic about the ooth.

It took 44 days of incubating, after 3 weeks of natural freezing/wintering diapause, to hatch the ooth.

As I know fruit flies can escape through the screen mesh, heck Hydei ones can eventually let alone the Melanogaster which I must feed the nymphs - What is a good additional screen mesh/cover to use to keep the fruit flies in? I seen someone mention pantyhose so if nothing else I'll try that.

I was inspecting my incubating containers as I do several times a day, and rotating/watering as needed, I discovered several tiny Carolina nymphs all over the inside walls of one of the containers.

I immediately hurried to finish the new habitat I was building for any hatched nymphs, the final walls were left to add. It is a 35 pound (5 gallon?) jug that holds frying oil for restaurant use. It measures (inside where the mantis is) roughly 13" x 9" x 10". I found the plastic is a bit thin (that's why they have it in a box with the lid area cut out), but works fine. Inside is lined completely with screen mesh, has a top and bottom feeding tube, and a large 5" screw lid for access inside.

The nymph home has a thin layer of coconut fiber (Plantation Soil) to help with humidity and a place for the Springtails to live - as I read nymphs eat them as well (confirmed) and as they help keep the tank clean.

A rough count of the nymphs once they were in their new home and calmed down, counting each wall quickly, I counted 68, just short of 70. Also after removing the crimped paper substrate from the incubation container I found 3 that died during hatching (mis-molts).

Ooth #10 (the chamber has 2 ooths and is the one on top) hatched 4 more wasps which were killed during the nymph transfer too. Thankfully the nearly hatched wasps are unable to fly, making it easy to dispose of them.

Watching the new nymphs I saw one of the baby mantises twist it's head staring at a Springtail, then it grabbed and ate it. Seems the new mantises are just like the adults and are ready to go.

The photos below are of the newly hatched Carolina nymphs from discovery to in their new home. Too bad the one photo didn't get focus on the nymphs on the branch as it was a funny sight to see so many mantises lined up under it - I thought it was worth including anyway.


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## Bloodtkr (Jan 5, 2015)

Sorry for your loss. Glad for your gain ; )


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## dmina (Jan 5, 2015)

They are soooo cute... congrats! I know you feel bad about Susanna... I think you are going to have your hands full with these guys... already hungry...

The mesh I use is the no see-um screen... fruit flies can't get through it...


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## CosbyArt (Jan 5, 2015)

Bloodtkr said:


> Sorry for your loss. Glad for your gain ; )


Thanks, yeah it worked out strangely the same day.



dmina said:


> They are soooo cute... congrats! I know you feel bad about Susanna... I think you are going to have your hands full with these guys... already hungry...
> 
> The mesh I use is the no see-um screen... fruit flies can't get through it...


Thanks, indeed she will be missed. They ate at least one Springtail within minutes of me adding the Springtails to their habitat.  

Thanks I will check into that screen.


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## agent A (Jan 5, 2015)

not trying to be grim but be prepared for many more losses

these guys r tough to keep as babies

a few tips:

1- give them plenty of space and many perches

2- hydrate well but dont overmist (frequent but gentle mistings probably the best route)

3- dont overwhelm them with food. yes they must eat but dont offer food until 3 days of age and only add 1 or 2 small fruitflies per nymph. carelessly dumping in food is stressful on youngsters

good luck with them


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## CosbyArt (Jan 5, 2015)

agent A said:


> not trying to be grim but be prepared for many more losses
> 
> these guys r tough to keep as babies
> 
> ...


Sure I understand, that's why I am incubating several ooths. Sadly I figured a high mortality rate from several factors, including my own lack of experience.

Thanks for the great tips I will be sure to follow them as it sounds like you are a voice of experience in this. I appreciate the help.


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## agent A (Jan 5, 2015)

i have reared 3 stagmomantis before-limbata (easiest), californica (not bad but a b!tch to incubate), and carolina (hardest)

this is a genus where theres a higher nymphal mortality than species like creobroter or something like that

they r not as bad as tenodera but r pretty darn close


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## Jay (Jan 6, 2015)

Wow - great to hear that they hatched Crosby and thanks Agent A for all that information!

Those are some great pictures - especially that close up.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 6, 2015)

agent A said:


> i have reared 3 stagmomantis before-limbata (easiest), californica (not bad but a b!tch to incubate), and carolina (hardest)
> 
> this is a genus where theres a higher nymphal mortality than species like creobroter or something like that
> 
> they r not as bad as tenodera but r pretty darn close


Gotta admit I'm not thrilled to see that, especially as I have a Tenodera sinensis to hatch. I plan on incubating it closer to spring. Thanks though for the list, and congrats on your achievements. I hope to have some great results, but time will tell.



Jay said:


> Wow - great to hear that they hatched Cosby and thanks Agent A for all that information!
> 
> Those are some great pictures - especially that close up.


I am excited, but feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all.  

Thanks, photographing the nymphs are a difficult task - especially trying to use a extreme macro which requires them to remain still for awhile for me to locate them in the shot and get it focused/setup.

I didn't bother trying to get enough shots to do a focus stack for better results as that would have been impossible. They are very fast and always on the move. It took me about 15 photos until I got the one I showed, which still required over an hour in post-processing to correct.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 6, 2015)

As you can see in the first few photos there are two ooths in that incubating container. Well the bottom ooth (#11) hatched Sunday.. and the top ooth (#10) is currently hatching today! Currently it has about 30 nymphs that have hatched, and so far no more wasps.


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## agent A (Jan 6, 2015)

oh!!! another note on stagmos

keep that ooth!! more may hatch from it in the coming weeks


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## sally (Jan 6, 2015)

That is great news. Congrats on the hatch


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## Vespertino (Jan 6, 2015)

Those are so cute! It makes me look forward to hatching my first ooths in the spring


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## CosbyArt (Jan 6, 2015)

As I mentioned earlier the other wild ooth (#10), started hatching today and I noticed it about noon. This ooth without a doubt had the parasitic wasps - but still mantis nymphs survived and hatched.  

I was hoping to move them into my nymph habitat with the others that hatched two days ago today; however, there are still more nymphs hatching from the ooth. Here is a photo of nymphs hatching from the ooth (the other ooth in the photo was the one that hatched Sunday)..








dmina said:


> The mesh I use is the no see-um screen... fruit flies can't get through it...


Thanks for responding  I didn't have any luck finding that screen locally so I tried the pantyhose route I read about.

Hot gluing cut pantyhose to cover the openings was ridiculously hard! I was finishing the last few inches of the last of the large side windows when the hose got snagged and had a "runner"..

So when running errands earlier with my wife she had to make a stop at Jo-Ann fabrics. I thought they might have some mesh/lace in the fabric section - lots of searching and I found this Organza fabric. It is a tiny mesh that will keep in the flies and was less than $5 for a yard (6 feet long as it is doubled on the roll, and 58" tall) -- more than enough to do a dozen large habitat openings. As it is a mesh the hot glue goes right through the fabric making it a breeze to install.

It has a mirror finish (as it is used on gowns) and isn't clear so photos are basically out - but no fruit flies can escape and I can see through it just fine to keep a eye on them.








agent A said:


> oh!!! another note on stagmos
> keep that ooth!! more may hatch from it in the coming weeks


Thanks, I will indeed keep it incubating as I have then once I remove the hatched nymphs tomorrow. I figured a few days would allow late hatchings, never would have though a few weeks.



sally said:


> That is great news. Congrats on the hatch


Thanks it is a great "problem" to have - so many mantis nymphs.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 6, 2015)

Vespertino said:


> Those are so cute! It makes me look forward to hatching my first ooths in the spring


I agree. They are so small and fast though, it takes a bit of the cuteness away if you are having to track after a escapee. Best of luck with your ooths - it is quite the experience.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 7, 2015)

Out of the new ooth hatch (#10) yesterday I had about 25 that were put in with the other nymphs today - minutes ago.

Sadly it was a massacre in the incubation container as I misted the day before the hatch and several drown. I even used a needle to poke holes in the water droplet and I got all the water removed after a few got stuck/drown - and they still seemed to get stuck on the droplet area afterwards I. I lost about 20 nymphs which I find weird as the water was gone when most hatched - perhaps most were simply mis-molts that fell to the bottom and became entangled with the other nymphs when I moved the container.

Anyway, I fed the nymphs in the habitat Melanogaster fruit flies, feeding about 50, to see what they would do. After watching for about 5 minutes I watched at least 4 mantises catch and eat the flies. Now with them eating flies at least I feel they have a chance to make it to adults. As in their current state they are so fragile to the point it is ridiculous.


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## dmina (Jan 7, 2015)

Wow Thomas... I bet is a little mind boggling??? remember... this is supposed to be fun... breath... sound like you are learning... You are doing fine...


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## PrayingMantisPets (Jan 7, 2015)

I wish i could find ooths where i live but it is nearly impossible.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 8, 2015)

dmina said:


> Wow Thomas... I bet is a little mind boggling??? remember... this is supposed to be fun... breath... sound like you are learning... You are doing fine...


Thanks, yeah it is a bit much but has been fun. Other than the container massacre it has been going smoothly. The organza fabric is working great - I saw a few flies inbetween the screen mesh and the fabric, they eventually give up and go back into the mantis area inside the screen.  

I'm just planning on the next stage when I start to separate them. I found access to 6oz deli cups 5 for $1, or 12oz 3 for $1, (all at Dollar tree) so I'm trying to figure out which is best - then get to buying a mass quantity and modifying the lids to have them ready in time.  



PrayingMantisPets said:


> I wish i could find ooths where i live but it is nearly impossible.


Besides your own property you can try looking at local city parks and other areas you can get permission to look. Also ask some friends or neighbors - even if you don't find any there they may be able to ask their friends/family for you and get more areas to look that way too. They are bound to be a few places nearby where you can find some.


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## agent A (Jan 8, 2015)

i put paper towels on the floor to prevent water from standing and killing nymphs


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## CosbyArt (Jan 8, 2015)

Had just one nymph hatch from ooth #10 again. Sounds silly but it was just him so far, and he wasn't left behind from the previous hatchings.



agent A said:


> i put paper towels on the floor to prevent water from standing and killing nymphs


Alright thanks, it is a duh moment for sure on that one. I've been holding off misting in case anymore hatch - now I won't have to.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 10, 2015)

Happened again, just one single nymph hatched sometime through the day. It's strange that one keeps appearing by itself - must be some "late bloomers".


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## MantidBro (Jan 10, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> I finally had something hatch from my incubating ooths that wasn't a parasitic wasp! I noticed the new nymphs around 6 pm yesterday (Sunday Jan 4), and in a strange coincidence about 4 hours later my first (and only till then) mantis Susanna was dying. She died shortly after midnight, here is the post about Susanna.
> 
> The ooth that hatched was one I found outside on the wooden fence running along my carport area. It was a Stagmomantis carolina ooth, and had some damage. Under a close inspection (USB microscope) it showed a few mites inside the damaged area. Here is the original topic about the ooth.
> 
> ...


AWESOME!!

Wow that's an incredible shot of the nymph, up close!

Haha I also find it funny, how all the nymphs line up, or gather together in the same area. So alike they are!


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## CosbyArt (Jan 10, 2015)

MantidBro said:


> AWESOME!!
> 
> Wow that's an incredible shot of the nymph, up close!
> 
> Haha I also find it funny, how all the nymphs line up, or gather together in the same area. So alike they are!


Thanks, I hope to get some more shots soon.  

Lately their favorite spot has to be on the habitat lid - seems if one goes to another area the others often follow soon afterwards.


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## dmina (Jan 11, 2015)

Monkey see... monkey do... LOL


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## CosbyArt (Jan 11, 2015)

dmina said:


> Monkey see... monkey do... LOL


The nymphs sure do





I also had one more hatch yesterday. Third day in a row now only one more hatched, wonder how long this will keep going


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## MantidBro (Jan 11, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> Thanks, I hope to get some more shots soon.
> 
> Lately their favorite spot has to be on the habitat lid - seems if one goes to another area the others often follow soon afterwards.


Lol they are siblings after all! Before i separated mine theyd be in a big group


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## PrayingMantisPets (Jan 11, 2015)

Beautiful!


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## agent A (Jan 12, 2015)

how r the babies doing?

if u have too many extras when they reach L4 or so let us know


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## LAME (Jan 12, 2015)

LOL

my man Cosby's swimming in a sea of nymphs at the moment. With as many ooths as this guys currently got in stock he should be LOADED with stagmos.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 13, 2015)

I put together some nymphs cups for individual nymphs - and they seem to like them. The nymphs are so small though I had one escape from the feeding hole and had to be careful and coax him back into his cup.  

Here is a GIF I did showing the various steps of the cups I made - don't worry it will only loop so many times and stop so it isn't overly annoying (click the image to show the animation if it isn't showing for you). I hate that the cups are black, but with the lids and mesh there is no shortage of light as I have a fluorescent overhead light running the length of my shelf.








agent A said:


> how r the babies doing?
> if u have too many extras when they reach L4 or so let us know


I got them transferred to individual cups (with coconut substrate, branch perch, mesh lid, and feeding hole with sponge). They are happily eating flies and hanging from their lids.

From the estimated 80 to 90 nymphs that hatched I have 14 in cups. One though is not going to make it as it has two bad walking legs that are dragged straight behind him. From what I can find from reading, I found that a estimated 15% to 25% survive. If that is true my survival rate with this round is about right at 16% to 18%.

I have to ask will more survive if put straight into individual cups? As it seems such a shame to loose so many babies, if I can avoid it.



LAME said:


> LOL
> 
> my man Cosby's swimming in a sea of nymphs at the moment. With as many ooths as this guys currently got in stock he should be LOADED with stagmos.


I got a low tide at the moment; however, with 4 known fertilized ooths, and 8 that are unknown, all unhatched - I imagine that low tide won't last long.  

I learned quite a bit and should do much better with future hatches. Looking at my mantis log, I should have more ooths ready to hatch in about 2 weeks.


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## MantidBro (Jan 13, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> I put together some nymphs cups for individual nymphs - and they seem to like them. The nymphs are so small though I had one escape from the feeding hole and had to be careful and coax him back into his cup.
> 
> Here is a GIF I did showing the various steps of the cups I made - don't worry it will only loop so many times and stop so it isn't overly annoying (click the image to show the animation if it isn't showing for you). I hate that the cups are black, but with the lids and mesh there is no shortage of light as I have a fluorescent overhead light running the length of my shelf.
> 
> ...


Great set up for the nymphs!

Yes more will survive if they are separated. Ive had not a single death since transferring them (the only deaths that came about were mismolts when hatching).

Youre doing better than I did with my first hatch!


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## CosbyArt (Jan 13, 2015)

MantidBro said:


> Great set up for the nymphs!
> 
> Yes more will survive if they are separated. Ive had not a single death since transferring them (the only deaths that came about were mismolts when hatching).
> 
> Youre doing better than I did with my first hatch!


Thanks, I attached some more photos of the cups with the mantises inside (one a close-up with the mantises in the center of their cups and one of all the cups). I kept thinking the cups were too small at first, but after putting them inside, it is obvious how huge the 3.25 ounce cups are to them at L1.  

That's what I was thinking too of separating them straight to cups - and next time I will.


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## MantidBro (Jan 13, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> Thanks, I attached some more photos of the cups with the mantises inside (one a close-up with the mantises in the center of their cups and one of all the cups). I kept thinking the cups were too small at first, but after putting them inside, it is obvious how huge the 3.25 ounce cups are to them at L1.
> 
> That's what I was thinking too of separating them straight to cups - and next time I will.


Awesome! I like how you got a poster on the wall there, behind them all. Id done that before but now am using that background for my sensitive frog. Haha its true, theyre so small, even sauce cups seem big for them! I use cups intended for jello shots, LOL.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 13, 2015)

MantidBro said:


> Awesome! I like how you got a poster on the wall there, behind them all. Id done that before but now am using that background for my sensitive frog. Haha its true, theyre so small, even sauce cups seem big for them! I use cups intended for jello shots, LOL.


I figured the background would be better than a plain wall. It is a aquarium one I bought from the pet store for Susanna, it's about 24" tall and 4'+ long (a few inches longer than my self on both ends) - it's a wood forest scene.  

That is for sure they are so dang tiny, and when they crawled around on me during the transfers I had to look to tell where they were.


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## dmina (Jan 16, 2015)

Great job! That looks awesome... so neat and tidy... Now you have to start working on the next size cups :helpsmilie: LOL


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## CosbyArt (Jan 16, 2015)

dmina said:


> Great job! That looks awesome... so neat and tidy... Now you have to start working on the next size cups :helpsmilie: LOL


Your right, but what has me worried if anything is two more ooths will be hatching soon (another week or two). If I put them into individual cups from the start I got to make 100+ more of those small cups too.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 20, 2015)

Six of the nymphs that hatched January 4th molted today. I was watering/misting them and noticed one seemed much larger, nearly double in size. A closer look and I found a shed exoskeleton and it became obvious. Later on in the day I also got to witness one of the nymphs in the final stages of pulling itself free of the old L1 shed.

Here are images of the shed exoskeleton from the new larger nymph - their first molt and mine as well


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## idologrl (Jan 20, 2015)

Congrats on the hatch!!! I can't wait for my ooths to hatch...


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## MantidBro (Jan 20, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> Your right, but what has me worried if anything is two more ooths will be hatching soon (another week or two). If I put them into individual cups from the start I got to make 100+ more of those small cups too.


LOL its so much work!! i feel ya!


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## MantidBro (Jan 20, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> Six of the nymphs that hatched January 4th molted today. I was watering/misting them and noticed one seemed much larger, nearly double in size. A closer look and I found a shed exoskeleton and it became obvious. Later on in the day I also got to witness one of the nymphs in the final stages of pulling itself free of the old L1 shed.
> 
> Here are images of the shed exoskeleton from the new larger nymph - their first molt and mine as well


Awesome!


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## CosbyArt (Jan 20, 2015)

MantidBro said:


> Awesome!


Thanks, so far so good with the ones that survived beyond the first 3 day period. I'm down to eight nymphs but they are doing great


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## dmina (Jan 20, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> Thanks, so far so good with the ones that survived beyond the first 3 day period. I'm down to eight nymphs but they are doing great


8 from that batch...But I am sure there are soon more to follow.. Keep working on those cups daddy! Babies need a good home... hehe


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## CosbyArt (Jan 21, 2015)

dmina said:


> 8 from that batch...But I am sure there are soon more to follow.. Keep working on those cups daddy! Babies need a good home... hehe


Thanks.

My wife gave me her dang flu/bronchitis/whatever - she has bronchitis for sure and my mom does too and her's is just short of pneumonia so what I have caught from them who knows. Anyway I have been lounging around and sleeping more than anything which is good/bad as it was my day off, although I have another on Thursday so perhaps I can get to making my baby cups then.


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## dmina (Jan 21, 2015)

Hope you all feel better soon... I can't stand when we keep passing everything around

... Bring on spring!


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## Krissim Klaw (Jan 21, 2015)

Such little troopers. It sounds like they are doing good.

I hope you feel better yourself. Remember, parents don't get sick days so your claw babies expect you to be in top form when caring for them. =p


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## CosbyArt (Jan 21, 2015)

Krissim Klaw said:


> Such little troopers. It sounds like they are doing good.
> 
> I hope you feel better yourself. Remember, parents don't get sick days so your claw babies expect you to be in top form when caring for them. =p


They are so far, and they seem to love the Turkish Gliders more than the Melanogaster. The Turks jumping and motions really entice the nymphs into chasing them down.

Yeah I agree and have not been slacking any - it has though been taking me longer to do their "chores"


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## MantidBro (Jan 21, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> Thanks, so far so good with the ones that survived beyond the first 3 day period. I'm down to eight nymphs but they are doing great


Im glad!


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## MantidBro (Jan 21, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> Thanks.
> 
> My wife gave me her dang flu/bronchitis/whatever - she has bronchitis for sure and my mom does too and her's is just short of pneumonia so what I have caught from them who knows. Anyway I have been lounging around and sleeping more than anything which is good/bad as it was my day off, although I have another on Thursday so perhaps I can get to making my baby cups then.


That sucks that youre sick! its hard to care for so many nymphs when sick. Its happened to me before.


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## CosbyArt (Jan 29, 2015)

Now they are starting the process of molting again, to L3. So far best I can tell only one has molted to L3, but it if it was like last time the others will be L3 by morning.  

The L3 Carolina is much larger now, still tiny compared to a adult, but I don't feel like it will be lost by a slight fan breeze. 



I also starting feeding them the larger Hydei fruit flies too the other day. The L2 and larger mantises gobble them down without a problem, so they are growing.

Here are some quick photos of the larger L3 nymph...


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## MantidBro (Jan 29, 2015)

CosbyArt said:


> Now they are starting the process of molting again, to L3. So far best I can tell only one has molted to L3, but it if it was like last time the others will be L3 by morning.
> 
> The L3 Carolina is much larger now, still tiny compared to a adult, but I don't feel like it will be lost by a slight fan breeze.
> 
> ...


Nice!!


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## dmina (Jan 30, 2015)

Cute... They do grow quickly early... it is those last instars that seem to take so long.. Thanks for sharing.. Keep us updated!


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## CosbyArt (Feb 2, 2015)

All seven nymphs from ooth 11 molted to L3. With most of them the same bright green color (see above). The only one left from ooth 10 is holding out at L2, but it was born 2 days later so it may take another few days.

One of the L3 nymph's though, Ooth 11 baby #1, is different in it's coloration. It has a base of light green with darker stripes, and almost orange colored eyes. I find it strange as all the others do not have much if any stripes.


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## LAME (Feb 2, 2015)

Ha! Awesome. You've done well CosbyArt =)


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## CosbyArt (Feb 2, 2015)

LAME said:


> Ha! Awesome. You've done well CosbyArt =)


Thanks  Next step for them are bigger habitats, as they have now nearly outgrown their nymph cups.


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## dmina (Feb 3, 2015)

Always something to do... they like to keep you busy! They are so cute!


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## CosbyArt (Feb 4, 2015)

dmina said:


> Always something to do... they like to keep you busy! They are so cute!


That is so true, my dad always says I gave myself too much extra work and asks if I think it's worth it. I of course respond yes it's well worth it.  

Thanks. I got some cups done today and I'll post some update pictures later.


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## dmina (Feb 4, 2015)

Oh yeah.. It is so worth it! Just look at all the stuff you have learned... I have found the more learning experiences you have in life, the better...I know I have tried a lot of things in this hobby... that I have used from another hobby. It gave me different things to try that no one may have thought of yet...

Fortunately and unfortunately.. They don't have long lives.. so you do not have to "will" them out to a family member.. like some birds and such..


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## CosbyArt (Feb 4, 2015)

dmina said:


> Oh yeah.. It is so worth it! Just look at all the stuff you have learned... I have found the more learning experiences you have in life, the better...I know I have tried a lot of things in this hobby... that I have used from another hobby. It gave me different things to try that no one may have thought of yet...
> 
> Fortunately and unfortunately.. They don't have long lives.. so you do not have to "will" them out to a family member.. like some birds and such..


Yeah it is. He just knows after work I come home and "play" with my mantises until I go to bed and repeat the process. Using my husbandry skills for daily tasks, making habitats, mixing fly cultures - it's always something.  

Indeed that would add another problem. My niece, that wanted a mantis, is freaked out by it all. She likes to come look at mine, but I'd be afraid to give her one. Last visit, a mantis I had on my hand, spun around and looked at her and she squealed and keep saying stop staring at me as she kept backing away... I couldn't see her having one working out.


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## CosbyArt (Feb 5, 2015)

The larger L3 nymphs have been moved to larger homes. They are now in 9 ounce cups and got plenty of room for now.  

I got the idea for these cups from Bug Trader, here are his instructions. Funny looking at his instructions he used 9oz cups too. At Walmart I saw they sell clear cups in 9, 16, and 22 ounce sizes.

The only downside is the cup lid sits there (gravity fit) and if knocked over it will fall off. My wife's crazy cat knocked one over while I was sleeping earlier, but thankfully it landed in my 5 gallon bucket of coconut fiber beside the shelf (it didn't hurt anything and the nymph stayed in the cup - some coconut is still on top of the lid).


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## dmina (Feb 6, 2015)

Looks good... Lots of room to grow... in no time you'll be making bigger ones... :stuart:


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## CosbyArt (Feb 6, 2015)

dmina said:


> Looks good... Lots of room to grow... in no time you'll be making bigger ones... :stuart:


Thanks. Yeah I am amazed at how large some of the L3 nymphs are now, they are definitely growing. Only problem is I don't have enough hands to get them all out at once.  

I plan on keeping several of them, but as they have now seemed to settled down and feeding great, I might see about trading/selling them on the classifieds. I just have to get some heat packs first before making such a post though.


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## dmina (Feb 6, 2015)

best price I found..on ebay...fish supply guy.. 72+ hour was a good price...


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## CosbyArt (Feb 7, 2015)

dmina said:


> best price I found..on ebay...fish supply guy.. 72+ hour was a good price...


Great, thanks for the tip.


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## CosbyArt (Mar 14, 2015)

Just an update on the nymphs that hatched.

I have kept five of the nymphs, four of them are L4, and yesterday one molted to L5. Here are a few shots of my L5 girl as of today. Her antenna are fine, it seems to be shorter as one is closer to the camera.  

I'm quite happy with them as now they are getting somewhere, I guess it would be the young teenager stage.


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## dmina (Mar 18, 2015)

They are too cute Thomas... and growing into a nice young lady..LOL 



Thanks for the update...


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## CosbyArt (Apr 1, 2015)

Well the same nymph from the last photos was the first to molt to L6 today - nymph #1 from Ooth 11. Counting the segments from the first photo it appears to be female with 5 segments or 6 depending on how you count it.  

Her wing buds are much more pronounced, and actually look like tiny wings. So how many instar stages are there to adulthood in this species - is it L8 is adult like most others?

She now is starting to seem like a mantis instead of just a nymph.


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## dmina (Apr 1, 2015)

She is a good looking girl... I don't know much about these.. Sorry.. great pics, thanks for sharing!


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## CosbyArt (Apr 2, 2015)

dmina said:


> She is a good looking girl... I don't know much about these.. Sorry.. great pics, thanks for sharing!


Thanks. She is one of the more tamed ones I have too, although it seems the bigger she gets the faster she likes to run on my arms.


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