# Ghost laid tiny practice ooth!



## mantisfan101 (Oct 26, 2019)

First time that I’ve ever had a mantis lay a practice ooth. Would it be ok to attempt to mate her or would the eggs not get fertilized since she’s probably going to lay an ooth soon?


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 26, 2019)

she does not practice, it is probably deformed and she may do better x time.


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## mantisfan101 (Oct 26, 2019)

hibiscusmile said:


> she does not practice, it is probably deformed and she may do better x time.


Oh, ok, would it help to try and mate her again, or would the eggs not fully fertilize?


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 26, 2019)

Some times they just lay bad eggs, she may do better ones or not, mating I dont think has nothing to do with it as she

will lay eggs even if not mated.


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## mantisfan101 (Oct 26, 2019)

Ah ok, but would the eggs be fertilized?


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## hysteresis (Oct 26, 2019)

What do you feed her?


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## mantisfan101 (Oct 26, 2019)

Mealworms and some bluebottles, I am getting a red runner roach colony soon next week.


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## hibiscusmile (Oct 28, 2019)

I guess it could be , but bad ooths normally do not hatch.


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## mantisfan101 (Oct 28, 2019)

I had to remove it since it she decided to make it in the groove between the lid of and container of the 32 oz deli cup. It had no eggs in it whatsoever.


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## Mystymantis (Oct 29, 2019)

Has she been mated before successfully? If she was mated and successful in the mating then she should be good to fertilize any eggs she makes from now on. In insects when they mate usually the male gives the female a bunch of sperm which the female stores in a special storage place called the spermetheca, which she uses to fertilize the eggs as she lays them. So one mating is good as long as it was a successful mating. But it is hard to tell sometimes in mantises if the mating was successful or not.

So even if you mate them and the next day your female lays an ootheca it should be fertilized.


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## mantisfan101 (Oct 29, 2019)

Mystymantis said:


> Has she been mated before successfully? If she was mated and successful in the mating then she should be good to fertilize any eggs she makes from now on. In insects when they mate usually the male gives the female a bunch of sperm which the female stores in a special storage place called the spermetheca, which she uses to fertilize the eggs as she lays them. So one mating is good as long as it was a successful mating. But it is hard to tell sometimes in mantises if the mating was successful or not.
> 
> So even if you mate them and the next day your female lays an ootheca it should be fertilized.


I can’t exactly tell. I left the male with the female overnight and he stayed in her the whole time but when I woke up, my alarm scared the male and I think he jumped off. He was definitely on her back and tried to connect a few times but was mostly unsuccessful.


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## hysteresis (Oct 31, 2019)

mantisfan101 said:


> Mealworms and some bluebottles, I am getting a red runner roach colony soon next week.


I believe that what they eat affects their ooth composition, as does degree of hydration. General health too. If you've ever seen a female on its last legs producing, you'll see her loss in motor control affects the way the ooth is produced.


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