# nymph set up. advice welcomed



## jackdhammer (Apr 30, 2011)

This is how I'm housing my nymphs. I'm not sure if there is too much/too little excelsior. I mist the habitat through the hole on top once in the am and once when I go to bed. I try to keep 4-6 flightless fruit flys in there at any given time. I don't have any heat lights on them so they stay whatever temp the room is. They aren't near any open doors or windows.

One little guy molted. Its been about a week since they hatched out.

Look like I'm on the right track?


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## warpdrive (Apr 30, 2011)

sounds about right to me.

Harry


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## wyethia (May 1, 2011)

jackdhammer said:


> This is how I'm housing my nymphs. I'm not sure if there is too much/too little excelsior. I mist the habitat through the hole on top once in the am and once when I go to bed. I try to keep 4-6 flightless fruit flys in there at any given time. I don't have any heat lights on them so they stay whatever temp the room is. They aren't near any open doors or windows.
> 
> One little guy molted. Its been about a week since they hatched out.
> 
> Look like I'm on the right track?


Make sure there is enough room for them to molt. They can sometimes be a bit silly about picking a molting platform.  

Good luck!

Wyethia

P.S. LOVE DragonAge!


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## hibiscusmile (May 1, 2011)

There is way to much excelsior in there, Cut it down a lot, just need a little to hang onto, and then they should be able to molt fine, and should start happening any time now.


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## MantidLord (May 1, 2011)

Nymphs are very skittish too. So that background may scare them and cause them to fall.


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## lancaster1313 (May 1, 2011)

hibiscusmile said:


> There is way to much excelsior in there, Cut it down a lot, just need a little to hang onto, and then they should be able to molt fine, and should start happening any time now.


It does look like the nymphs will have trouble finding food with all that excelsior. How many nymphs are in each cup?


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## kamakiri (May 1, 2011)

I think it's a bit too much excelsior. If those are cloth top lids then that's probably the best place for most species to molt from. One or two sticks to make sure they can get up there would be enough. I use excelsior when I'm really packing the nymphs in so they have enough space to perch and avoid each other.

What species are you keeping? Large mantises will run out of head room to molt pretty quickly in those tubs. Are those 8 or 12 oz?


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## sporeworld (May 1, 2011)

+1 to what they all said. Less excelsior / more room.

Also, if you have, or can find a little shelf to install ABOVE your monitor, you'll get much better viewing opportunities. They "hang out" on the lid (mostly) and the higher viewing angle will keep them all in perfect line-of-sight!


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## jackdhammer (May 1, 2011)

Thanks so much for all the input. Removed a lot of the excelsior. Looking for higher vantage point to put the littln's


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## Rick (May 2, 2011)

Those are way too short. You might get one molt at the most to go well in there. Good thing on removing some of the excelsior. It is ok for L1 nymphs but after that you want little or none of it. I suggest moving them to the standard 32 oz insect cups.


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## jackdhammer (May 3, 2011)

I do have larger containers for them. I was thinking of using some fake branches and such. the wife does silk flowers and we have a ton of the filler branches lying around. Is there any know hazard to using them over real branches?


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## Rick (May 4, 2011)

jackdhammer said:


> I do have larger containers for them. I was thinking of using some fake branches and such. the wife does silk flowers and we have a ton of the filler branches lying around. Is there any know hazard to using them over real branches?


They will be fine but in general I advise against using much if anything. I put nymphs in 32 oz insect cups and they get one stick going up that's it. They will generally spend all of their time hanging from the lid and most can climb the sides no problem. The issue is that you want them to have plenty of free and clear vertical space to molt.


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## lancaster1313 (May 4, 2011)

It might not look so nice, but sometimes I will scratch the inside of a deli cup with a steak knife, so the creatures have an easier time climbing the sides to get to the top. Not all of my mantids need this, but sometimes I will notice an individual that seems to have a harder time gripping than the others.  It can be a real help for slightly mismolted nymphs, or older individuals who just can't physically get around like they used to.

It also works really well with my crickets' and roaches' food and water dishes, and the sides of containers for other arthropods that I keep. This way I know that they can all access what they need. B)


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## jackdhammer (May 4, 2011)

Rick said:


> They will be fine but in general I advise against using much if anything. I put nymphs in 32 oz insect cups and they get one stick going up that's it. They will generally spend all of their time hanging from the lid and most can climb the sides no problem. The issue is that you want them to have plenty of free and clear vertical space to molt.


This is what I moved them to. 24oz cups with one fake stick. I put a soaked paper towel in there for water but I am still misting once a day. Is that over kill? I also change the towel daily.


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## sporeworld (May 4, 2011)

likebugs said:


> It might not look so nice, but sometimes I will scratch the inside of a deli cup with a steak knife, so the creatures have an easier time climbing the sides to get to the top.


Yup! I do the same thing.


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