# mantis religosa ooth cold period



## sk8erkho (Nov 24, 2007)

[SIZE=12pt]How long do I induce the ooth to the cold? Then, what else need I do from that point on to assyre successful incubation?[/SIZE]


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## idolomantis (Nov 24, 2007)

the cold period is from november-april on 10-15 degrees celcius bud my advice is: stop whit m. religiosa and take species like sphodromantis or hierodula there bigger and you just have to care 5 weeks 4 the ooth. i know where i,m talking about


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## asdsdf (Nov 24, 2007)

Your're supposed to keep it cold for at least 1 month. You can do this with a refridgerater.


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## idolomantis (Nov 24, 2007)

hey i,m still saying: stop whit species that needs to have cold periods


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## Mantida (Nov 24, 2007)

idolomantis said:


> hey i,m still saying: stop whit species that needs to have cold periods


What if she doesn't want to?  

She might like them better you know.


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## idolomantis (Nov 24, 2007)

mantida said:


> What if she doesn't want to?  She might like them better you know.


*sigh* its only that i care for 3 mantis religioso ooths 7 monhts and then they dont hatch


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## joossa (Nov 24, 2007)

I guess patience is a virtue...  

One month should do it, but you can do it for all of winter and wait for temps to rise in the spring so that you can have an easier time with incubation.

Good luck!


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## Andrew (Nov 24, 2007)

Joosa, you seem to have some good experience with this species? I placed an ooth in the fridge on 9/29. It received about two weeks of cold weather and rain prior to that. I was going to wait until december, but maybe it would be fine to bring it out now? How long does incubation last?


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## macro junkie (Nov 24, 2007)

u guys have lost me..u put ooth in fridge?why? why would u want to stress the ooth out by putting it in the fridge..its defeating the object isnt it?excuse my newbie Q..im new to this and this dont make sense


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## Andrew (Nov 24, 2007)

Ootheca of _Mantis religiosa_ require a cold period before they will hatch.


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## idolomantis (Nov 24, 2007)

macro junkie said:


> u guys have lost me..u put ooth in fridge?why? why would u want to stress the ooth out by putting it in the fridge..its defeating the object isnt it?excuse my newbie Q..im new to this and this dont make sense


and thats becouse the ooth normaly layd in november then they go in a kind of wintersleep... when dont doing this it wont hatch..


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## Rick (Nov 24, 2007)

idolomantis said:


> the cold period is from november-april on 10-15 degrees celcius bud my advice is: stop whit m. religiosa and take species like sphodromantis or hierodula there bigger and you just have to care 5 weeks 4 the ooth. i know where i,m talking about


I have no idea what you're trying to say. LIke I told ya Sk8 they need a cold period. You can stick it outside for a couple months or try the fridge. I think outside may be better.


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## sk8erkho (Nov 24, 2007)

Well. This is my first experience with a more difficult ooth. I'm not intimidated by this only need information as to how to care for these little dudes. As I said in another thread, I in this for the long haul and breeding and such are the next natural progression. So, with this in mind, exactly what I need to know is what purposes does this cold period serve. For example, with my T.A.Sinensis ooths incubation was quite simple and out of eight ooths I only suffered one half loss. Half of one ooth which had been laid by the wayward Mom I wrote about (and was responsible for my membership here),hatched only hours after I had been advised to slice a thin layer to inspect the ooth. At any rate, this new species to the fam are welcomed with opened arms.I merely want to insure successful incubation no matter how long this may take. It's new and challenging and with the right guidance my boys and I will be able to pull this off!! So, any and all suggestions will be appreciated, but trial and patience I guess are what any new endeavors will require. Besides, it's paid for and I won't just let them die, ya know?  

Thanks all!!


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## Rick (Nov 24, 2007)

They just need to have a cold period. Probably why these guys are not found in the more southern states where it is much milder in the winter. Chinese are found there but then again they don't need a cold period. THere is probably a scientific explanation for needing the cold period but I don't know it.


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## asdsdf (Nov 25, 2007)

Good luck.

Wow, my ooth hatched 3 days ago, with 3 nymphs in total!!!! YAY!!!  Two came out deformed and only one left. I wonder if it'll survive. &lt;_&lt;


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## Borya (Nov 26, 2007)

M.religiosa nymphs are able to hatch without any cold period just after about 2-3 months of room-temperature incubation. From ooths that were put to the fridge there was no hatch at all. Maybe it is because naturally temperature changes from 20*C to ~0*C in a couple of months or weeks, but not in a few minutes, and embryos have time to adapt.


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## Rick (Nov 26, 2007)

Borya said:


> M.religiosa nymphs are able to hatch without any cold period just after about 2-3 months of room-temperature incubation. From ooths that were put to the fridge there was no hatch at all. Maybe it is because naturally temperature changes from 20*C to ~0*C in a couple of months or weeks, but not in a few minutes, and embyos have time to adapt.


If they do not need a cold period why are you the first to say it? Just curious as I have always had to make them have one to hatch and it seems others do to.


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## Borya (Nov 27, 2007)

In 2006 my friends from zoo told me that M.rel ooths don't need a cold period, so I just put a container on a bookshelf and wait. The ooth being layed in the beginning of september started to hatch on 22 of december. The nymphs had been getting out for next three or four days, about 30-50 each day (the ooth was huge). Totally, about 150 hatched.

Maybe because everyone is just trying to imitate natural winter period without asking themselves whether it is necessary for this species or not  .

Does anybody ever tried to incubate ooths at room temperature?


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## Orin (Nov 27, 2007)

It's better to keep it in a cold garage because the refrigerator can desiccate an ootheca easily, especially if kept in there more than a few months.



Borya said:


> Maybe because everyone is just trying to imitate natural winter period without asking themselves whether it is necessary for this species or not  . Does anybody ever tried to incubate ooths at room temperature?


The vast majority of temperate species don't require a cool period though a lack affects the hatch rate for some species. You're the first person to claim a hatch on that species without the cool period so I imagine you are confusing species or genera with something else. Or maybe you claim to have some special, subtropical geographic race?


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## joossa (Nov 27, 2007)

Andrew said:


> Joosa, you seem to have some good experience with this species? I placed an ooth in the fridge on 9/29. It received about two weeks of cold weather and rain prior to that. I was going to wait until december, but maybe it would be fine to bring it out now? How long does incubation last?


Yes, I hatched ooths of the species some years ago for a friend. I did it twice, each instance around October. I was told to place them in the fridge for at least three weeks, in order to get good hatch rates. I ended up keeping them inside the fridge for about a month and a half. In the end both ooths hatched out plentiful nymphs. I guess incubation time depends on what temperatures you provide for the ooth combine with how long you kept the ooth in cold storage. IMO, it is imperative to mimic the conditions an ooth would experience in the wild. This goes for temperatures, humidity, photoperiod, etc. Of course I have never tested all these factors myself to any significant extent, but if you can mimic nature, why not do it?



Orin said:


> It's better to keep it in a cold garage because the refrigerator can desiccate an ootheca easily, especially if kept in there more than a few months.


Orin can you elaborate a bit? Have you had an ooth completely dry out in the fridge? How do you keep them once placed inside? Do you provide moisture?


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## jplelito (Nov 27, 2007)

_M. religiosa_ tend to need a cold period because it breaks the chemical dormancy put in place when the eggs are deposited. It would be very odd to see this species hatch without it, at least from North American stock. I can't speak for European stock of this species.

I've tried to hatch _M. religiosa_ without at least a cool period (i.e. at least 10-15 degrees below room temp) and it never succeeds even if they are kept humid, with a proper light cycle, etc. It works much much better if you keep them outright cold (i.e. in the fridge or outside in the winter where you get snow, ice, etc.). It may pay off to cool them slowly, in terms of increased hatch, but I just let mine sit at room temp. for 2 weeks at least, then toss them in my vegetable crisper in a tightly sealed tupperware type thing, with a paper towel and just a few drops of water on it. Keep them that way for a month or so, then bring them out and they will hatch. Drying out really isn't too much of an issue as long as they are not exposed directly to the dry air of the fridge, which will desiccate them. They should be kept in containers.


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## Mantis Keeper (Nov 27, 2007)

Keeping them in a container also gives them the gradual cooling off they need. The room temp air in your container doesn't just get cold instantly, it gradually cools as the sides of the container cool.


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## hibiscusmile (Nov 27, 2007)

Yes, I am not Orin, but I do this myself to get ready for spring here, I put them in fridge in a container where air can get to them, if they are not misted properly, they do indeed dry out and will not hatch, due to the forced air in the fridge. The air is not moist, as the moisture is pulled out of a fridge or room as in using an air conditioner in summer, they remove the moisture in the air to cool the air . Not really scientific answer, but that is the giest of it!


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## yen_saw (Nov 28, 2007)

I used air-tight container or ziplock when keeping ooth in the fridge, it trap the moisture and not drying out if you just leave it on the fridge tray. I kept the european ooth for close to two months in the fridge and it hatched out alright.


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## Rick (Nov 29, 2007)

I have an ooth that is starting to hatch right now. It was laid around 9/6 and was put in the fridge for 2 months and is hatching after being out of the fridge for about 25 days.


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