# Incubating Ooth live stream



## jacksun (May 1, 2009)

Our one and only PhilinYuma was kind enough to send me a Ghost Mantis Ooth. Now I know how attached we all get to our babies, whether they are incubating or wrecking Havoc with fruit flies. In consideration of Phil parting with his babies I have made the Ooth, in its pot and incubating, available for all to see on a live streaming webcam.

You can visit it here: http://jacksun.camstreams.com/

This is live, not time delayed, and has a current user limit of 15 concurrent viewers. Please don't leave the page running if you aren't watching so others can enjoy. The Ooth has been incubating for 2 days now, and I can't remember if Phil told me when it was laid.

Please enjoy responsibly!!!


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## Katnapper (May 1, 2009)

Great idea!!! Thanks, Jacksun, for doing this! I'm excited to check in and watch it from time to time. Hmmm... :huh: that makes me sound like I'm crazy...  watching an ooth is pretty much like watching paint dry!  :lol: 

Edit: I'm just curious... why do you have it hanging vertically instead of horizontally? It will probably be fine, but I've always thought it was better to position them horizontally, with the zipper facing down.


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## PhilinYuma (May 1, 2009)

Shoot! Are those artifacts at the bottom of the screen, or is that thing actually hatching? Quick! Quick! Check! Check!


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## rensallar (May 1, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> Shoot! Are those artifacts at the bottom of the screen, or is that thing actually hatching? Quick! Quick! Check! Check!


Very cool idea. I just caught my 2nd Chinese ooth hatching this morning.. was checking on my fruit fly culture in the garage and noticed a massive clump of wiggly nymphs hanging from the egg case in the clear box I had them in.

Good thing I saw they were hatching today, because the lid had a small gap in it.. when I checked on them again, some were climbing out of the top. They are reeealy good at escaping from the tiniest little space! If I had waited any longer, I would've had a garage full of little nymphs. And they probably would've all been spider food. Luckily, was able to salvage almost all of them, but now I have so many mouths to feed.

Watched yours for a couple minutes just now.. will keep an eye on them from time to time


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## hibiscusmile (May 1, 2009)

Cool! Naw i t dont matter how it is on, as long as i t is not on the face of it.


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## PhilinYuma (May 1, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> Cool! Naw i t dont matter how it is on, as long as i t is not on the face of it.


O.K. I worked that out and now consider myself a graduate student of Hibiscusmilese. I agree. In fact, Wayne has it oriented in pretty much the position in which it was laid., vertical and tail side down.

BTW. People often stop me on the streets of Yuma and say,"what was your incentive for learning Hibicusmilese (a language seldom spoken in this provincial little town)?" and I tell them. Some months ago, I was on a British mantis site and saw a pic of a ghost mantis. One member had commented that it "looks like a piece of fried chicken!" and I wondered why someone with such obviously little experience would be even commenting on the forum. Then I realized that this person was the same one who had bred and sold me the mother of Wayne's ooth, and then I looked at the pic again, and son-of-a gun, it did look like a piece of fried chicken! March on, Hibiscusmile!


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## Xenomantis (May 2, 2009)

Awesome! Mantis-cam!

*watching*

Somebody just moved the light around... XD

Seriously, though, I wonder if you'll capture any unusual behavior with this. I mean, isn't this the perfect chance to get some footage without humans being around and influencing behaviour?  

Great idea, Jacksun!


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## PhilinYuma (May 2, 2009)

Haha! Now,with the lighting changed, I can see that that is the bottom of the twig that the ooth was laid on!

O.K. Now that that's sorted, what about the tiny guy in the Baden Powell hat and red jacket, who keeps on sticking his head in at upper left, waving a miniscule maple leaf flag and saying "Welcome to Canada, eh?"

"Seriously, though, I wonder if you'll capture any unusual behavior with this. I mean, isn't this the perfect chance to get some footage without humans being around and influencing behaviour?

Very true, Xenomantis! I once watched a Shield ooth hatch, and when the nymphs saw me, they all ran back inside again and wouldn't come out for another week!  

O.K. I think that members should all sign up for an hour of ooth watching, so that the poor thing doesn't feel lonely. I'll set the ball rolling by signing up for the past hour!


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## Rick (May 2, 2009)

Pretty neat but I think the most boring thing in the world is waiting for an ooth to hatch let alone watching for it to.


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## Katnapper (May 2, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> O.K. I think that members should all sign up for an hour of ooth watching, so that the poor thing doesn't feel lonely. I'll set the ball rolling by signing up for the past hour!


YOU can watch it for an hour at a time, lol.  :lol: Me? Uhhh.... no! 1-2 minutes max., unless of course I spy it hatching!


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## Rick (May 2, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> YOU can watch it for an hour at a time, lol.  :lol: Me? Uhhh.... no! 1-2 minutes max., unless of course I spy it hatching!


If I catch it hatching I would watch. That thing could take a couple months to hatch. You know what they say, a watched pot never boils. It will never hatch with everyone watching! :lol:


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## jacksun (May 2, 2009)

LMAO....you guys are hilarious.....Phil, I haven't heard a Baden Powell reference since my days in scouting....do I get a merit badge for this  

I also have 3 chinese ooths incubating, whichever ooth starts to hatch first will be placed on cam.

I'm working on figuring out how to archive the stream, I think your right about the possible behavior differences when someone is present. I'm sure they can see us clearly, especially being so dependent on detecting movement to eat and we are so large I think we trigger their fright/protection behavior.

I am really interested to see their cleaning behavior (apparently it is as thorough as a cat) and the full molting process. The mating rituals would also be interesting but this is a family site after all (hmmm...mantid porn...$9.95 a month all access...if I could get amex to issue my mantids credit cards and find a small keyboard...)


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## Dinora (May 2, 2009)

PhilinYuma said:


> Shoot! Are those artifacts at the bottom of the screen, or is that thing actually hatching? Quick! Quick! Check! Check!


Frick!!! Can't see it on my iPhone  

I wanna see, too!

*le sigh!*

Dinora


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## Katnapper (May 2, 2009)

Can you please move that piece of excelsior away from in front of the ooth? It's bugging me, lol.


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## jacksun (May 2, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> Can you please move that piece of excelsior away from in front of the ooth? It's bugging me, lol.


Seriously thought about that, then realized when it hatches that little annoyance might be a nymph perch.....


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## Katnapper (May 2, 2009)

Jacksun said:


> Seriously thought about that, then realized when it hatches that little annoyance might be a nymph perch.....


  True....  Hmmm.... I guess I'll just have to try to ignore it! :wacko: :lol:


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## Xenomantis (May 2, 2009)

I'd love to see more people do this with their mantids and ooths.  

I would, but I don't have a webcam...


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## jacksun (May 2, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> True....  Hmmm.... I guess I'll just have to try to ignore it! :wacko: :lol:


Don't let the stress kill you!!! Deep breath in, let it out slow....repeat


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## PhilinYuma (May 2, 2009)

Jacksun said:


> Don't let the stress kill you!!! Deep breath in, let it out slow....repeat


And say "Ooooooooooooom" until it hatches, then say OMG!


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## Katnapper (May 2, 2009)

Jacksun said:


> Don't let the stress kill you!!! Deep breath in, let it out slow....repeat





PhilinYuma said:


> And say "Ooooooooooooom" until it hatches, then say OMG!


Gee... thanks, guys.  Good thing I have some coping mechanisms now, because now I'm really stressed.... the ooth has apparently disappeared!


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## jacksun (May 2, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> Gee... thanks, guys.  Good thing I have some coping mechanisms now, because now I'm really stressed.... the ooth has apparently disappeared!


Ah, yes, you have kids...

Hijacked by a band of alien interlopers....or maybe just me messing around trying to get the software to save to disk instead of just stream....still working on it...


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## Katnapper (May 3, 2009)

Jacksun said:


> Ah, yes, you have kids...Hijacked by a band of alien interlopers....or maybe just me messing around trying to get the software to save to disk instead of just stream....still working on it...


Ahhhh....  ! Thanks for letting us know... and good luck!


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## Dinora (May 4, 2009)

Watched for like 1 min and then got bored  

Will you PM me when something happens?  

KKthnx!


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## Xenomantis (May 6, 2009)

Is that just artifacts or is something on the stick moving? O_O?


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## Katnapper (May 7, 2009)

Must have been an artifact...


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## jacksun (May 7, 2009)

Yep, little artifact there at the bottom of the ooth. No hatchin' action yet....


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