# Eggbound Females



## agent A (Jun 11, 2009)

I need help. In almost 4 years I have had only 1 female lay me a fertile egg case, and 3 infertile egg cases. I have had countless amounts of eggbound females, so I must be doing something wrong. Help before my L5 female creobroter gemmatus becomes eggbound as an adult to! By the way, her name is Mellisa.


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 11, 2009)

agent A said:


> I need help. In almost 4 years I have had only 1 female lay me a fertile egg case, and 3 infertile egg cases. I have had countless amounts of eggbound females, so I must be doing something wrong. Help before my L5 female creobroter gemmatus becomes eggbound as an adult to! By the way, her name is Mellisa.


Well, your mantid's name (usually spelled Melissa) means "honey bee" (for a little Cretan girl who got turned into one while gathering honey, before my time), so I guess that you should be feeding her bees. Your story of "many egg bound females" is a curious one. So let's start off with food. What are you feeding you subadult and adult females, how much and how often?


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## massaman (Jun 11, 2009)

it would help if you had a male for the female dont you think?


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 11, 2009)

massaman said:


> it would help if you had a male for the female dont you think?


I have assumed that he already knows this, but not being mated should not prevent a female from laying.


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## OGIGA (Jun 11, 2009)

The container might also contribute to this issue. How much space does she have?


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## Rick (Jun 11, 2009)

We need way more info. This should happen rarely if at all.


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## hibiscusmile (Jun 11, 2009)

yea Agent A, give it to us!


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## agent A (Jun 11, 2009)

I feed my subadult females 1 large cricket every 1-2 days. They are in a cage with plenty of room, at least 3 times their size. Adults get fed the same, but when a female gets pregnant, I feed her several crickets a day, and depending on size, a bee or a fly if I catch any. I also put twigs in the cage to encourage egg laying. I spray them every 1-5 days when pregnant, and my room temperature is usually 65-78 degrees.


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## hibiscusmile (Jun 11, 2009)

I see nothing wrong with what u r doing, cept maybe let up on so many crickets, try a slug or worm in place of crickets every now and then, and giv eher a drink every day at least. other than that, nothing u r doing looks bad, it is the same as I do.


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## OGIGA (Jun 11, 2009)

Slug? I tried that before. All the slime that came out almost killed my mantis by gluing everything together. And the mantis didn't end up being able to eat the slug in the end.

What kind of mantis(es) is this (or are these)?


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## agent A (Jun 11, 2009)

Usually chinese. I have this problem with all my species.


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## agent A (Jun 11, 2009)

massaman said:


> it would help if you had a male for the female dont you think?


I always have a male. I think it's a waste of a perfectly good female if she lays infertile eggs.


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## jameslongo (Jun 11, 2009)

Yeah, you should probably go slow on the crickets during pregnancy. And I hope the container is more than 3 times her size!  Think of how many mantids you can cram in there. More than 3, isn't it?


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## Rick (Jun 11, 2009)

Nothign wrong with crickets. I use crickets as a primary food source and I feed gravid adult females daily which means several crickets a day. Never had any issues.


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## jameslongo (Jun 11, 2009)

Rick said:


> Nothign wrong with crickets. I use crickets as a primary food source and I feed gravid adult females daily which means several crickets a day. Never had any issues.


Not saying crickets are bad. They are second to cockroaches. Just saying give her some oxygen between feeds.


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## Rick (Jun 11, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> Not saying crickets are bad. They are second to cockroaches. Just saying give her some oxygen between feeds.


Your opinion. I post what works for me. Your mileage may vary.


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## superfreak (Jun 12, 2009)

not simply opinion. i believe there is literature on the subject somewhere - roaches simply have a more suitable nutrient ratio. im sure crickets work fine though if youre going for simplicity  

and varying the diet cant hurt  plus it'll give you an excuse to go outside and catch some bugs!

try putting in sticks of varying diameter and (this worked when i had an eggbound female once) get some textured bark and try cutting it into strips about 1 or 2 cm wide. the texture of the surface may contribute to her laying. oh and try making it so that the bark surface faces northish and gets a lot of light during the day. shes looking for a place that will incubate her young well. that means warmth.

how often do you spray?


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## kamakiri (Jun 12, 2009)

superfreak said:


> oh and try making it so that the bark surface faces northish and gets a lot of light during the day. shes looking for a place that will incubate her young well. that means warmth.


Er...lotsa good advice in your post...except for this quoted part, well, to those of us on the northern half of the planet!  :lol:


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 12, 2009)

superfreak said:


> not simply opinion. i believe there is literature on the subject somewhere - roaches simply have a more suitable nutrient ratio. im sure crickets work fine though if youre going for simplicity  and varying the diet cant hurt  plus it'll give you an excuse to go outside and catch some bugs!
> 
> try putting in sticks of varying diameter and (this worked when i had an eggbound female once) get some textured bark and try cutting it into strips about 1 or 2 cm wide. the texture of the surface may contribute to her laying. oh and try making it so that the bark surface faces northish and gets a lot of light during the day. shes looking for a place that will incubate her young well. that means warmth.
> 
> how often do you spray?


Good point about the bark. I have wondered if one reason that a lot of folks' mantids lay their ooths on the lid is due to the rough texture. I use bark a lot, though I think that mantids that lay skinny ooths, like ghosts, tend to prefer a twig, and they prefer it to the lid every time.

Also, Superfreak, let not the Californian genleman's comment about the direction of the sun in the northern hemisphere be comstrued as obtaining in every part of our fair land. Here in Yuma, if you face north, you will be warmed by the sun's hectic rays, as of course you will if you look south, east west or in one of those more subtle directions that bear names like SSW and ENE. Hot as heck it is!

Hey! Did write "heck"? I wonder if that other imaginary place, "heaven" is allowed. Yup. How strange! I have no idea about the climatic conditions in Heck, but the word I meant starts with "h" and rhymes with "yell, and it's very hot! "!


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## superfreak (Jun 12, 2009)

:lol: i completely forgot you guys are all walking around upside down over there!  

(isnt the internet an incredible thing, to tie us all together like this?)


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## d17oug18 (Jun 12, 2009)

i agree with superfreak on the barks and woods, i can have a full net cage and if there is wood in it, thats where they will stand upside down on, i havent had alot of species though so im sure my input means nothing.


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## superfreak (Jun 12, 2009)

your input means just as much as anyone elses


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## kamakiri (Jun 12, 2009)

superfreak said:


> :lol: i completely forgot you guys are all walking around upside down over there!  (isnt the internet an incredible thing, to tie us all together like this?)


Says the woman down-under...   :lol: 

Doug, your input IS valued. Don't let the naysayers convince you otherwise.


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## hibiscusmile (Jun 12, 2009)

ow! I fallen on me head


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## kamakiri (Jun 12, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> ow! I fallen on me head


 :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 

I'm sure that'll be the funniest thing I read all day


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## [email protected] (Jun 12, 2009)

[SIZE=14pt]I have found Chinese Ooth's faceing north, on old wood like decking, or old wood roofing, note they are old and now are rought so maybe it is a texture thing. :blink: [/SIZE]


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## superfreak (Jun 13, 2009)

hahahaha becky!

im down under, not upside sown   

and by north-facing i meant wherever has the most overall amount of sun (or warmth, as some like to lay in sheltered spots.) during th day.

and you drive your cars on the wrong side of the road! even the WHEEL is on the wrong side!  :lol:


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## lectricblueyes (Jun 13, 2009)

superfreak said:


> hahahaha becky! im down under, not upside sown
> 
> and by north-facing i meant wherever has the most overall amount of sun (or warmth, as some like to lay in sheltered spots.) during th day.
> 
> and you drive your cars on the wrong side of the road! even the WHEEL is on the wrong side!  :lol:


Even your use of the word "down" is wrong! I suppose you're all left-handed too huh?


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## agent A (Jun 13, 2009)

superfreak said:


> hahahaha becky! im down under, not upside sown
> 
> and by north-facing i meant wherever has the most overall amount of sun (or warmth, as some like to lay in sheltered spots.) during th day.
> 
> and you drive your cars on the wrong side of the road! even the WHEEL is on the wrong side!  :lol:


What does this have to do with eggbound females?


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 13, 2009)

agent A said:


> What does this have to do with eggbound females?


This is mostly grownups having fun, young Alex, but the part where Superfreak mentioned " by north-facing I meant wherever has the most overall amount of sun (or warmth, as some like to lay in sheltered spots.) during the day" was part of a very helpful post that she had made to help you with your egg-bound female problem. I trust that you took it to heart and are even now putting it into practice. Another thing that we gtownups often do if we ask a question and someone gives us a helpful answer is say "thank you."

Let us know if you have success.


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## agent A (Jun 13, 2009)

Thanks. So my females have to be facing north? And also, I will record every bit of care my next pregnant female gets, maybe that will show us the problem.


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 13, 2009)

agent A said:


> Thanks. So my females have to be facing north? And also, I will record every bit of care my next pregnant female gets, maybe that will show us the problem.


Sounds like a plan, but Superfreak graces the Southern Hemisphere, so your females should be facing south, the source of maximum light and warmth.


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## superfreak (Jun 13, 2009)

not the females, the areas you have provided for them to lay on. and try putting some leaves in on one side of the cage to give her some shelter. gotta think like a mantis...it'd be quite horrible having to 'give birth' in a clear sided aquarium with giants staring in.


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## superfreak (Jun 13, 2009)

LectricBlueyes said:


> Even your use of the word "down" is wrong! I suppose you're all left-handed too huh?


  typo! TYPO! grr...


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## PhilinYuma (Jun 13, 2009)

superfreak said:


> not the females, the areas you have provided for them to lay on. and try putting some leaves in on one side of the cage to give her some shelter. gotta think like a mantis...it'd be quite horrible having to 'give birth' in a clear sided aquarium with giants staring in.


Haha! Yes, that's what I meant, in my confused way! It might be hard to train all the gravid females to point in the same direction!


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## Rick (Jun 14, 2009)

agent A said:


> Thanks. So my females have to be facing north?


No.


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## agent A (Jun 14, 2009)

Well I'll try those things.


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## agent A (Jun 22, 2009)

I should have a pregnant female in about 2 months.


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## agent A (Jul 1, 2009)

Here is what I will do when I have a pregnant female. The bolded things are what I didn't do before.

*Plenty of foliage in the container*,*daily misting*,a *few* crickets everyday and any flies or bees I can catch, warm temperatures, and light exposure.


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