# My nymph tank.



## riegs22 (Feb 20, 2009)

Found 3 ooths today in the snow storm were having, I’m assuming there all Chinese, but I’m hoping in about 3 weeks to have an explosion. I have dealt with many in tiny 32 oz cups before so I’m going to try something new I have another tank identical to this one to put half of the hatchlings and I’m just going to be dumping fruit flies into each tank.

Yeah I can only imagine the amount of cannibalism as these guys mature but I’m going for two communal enclosures.

the bottom is lined with orchid bark and then there both full of bush branches which the ooths were laid on.

Ill keep you guys updated and will probably have some for sale if they all hatch.


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## Rick (Feb 20, 2009)

THat works fine as I have used an exact same setup before. Only thing you gotta make sure you have is a top that fruit flies cannot get out of. I tape down mesh and then put the screen lid over that. I would keep them all together until you have about ten left. Also, one ooth is MORE than enough. Put the other two back outside. Not gonna have much if any luck selling chinese nymphs.


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## robelgado (Feb 20, 2009)

No matter the amount of food you give the chinese mantids, they will eventually eat eachother.

So if you plan to have a fair amount of them, seperation is a must.

I had one mantis that ate 4 other mantids in one day at L3. very carnivorous


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## robelgado (Feb 20, 2009)

robelgado said:


> No matter the amount of food you give the chinese mantids, they will eventually eat eachother.So if you plan to have a fair amount of them, seperation is a must.
> 
> I had one mantis that ate 4 other mantids in one day at L3. very carnivorous


*cannibalistic


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## nasty bugger (Feb 20, 2009)

This would be a good time to try an experiment. Take half the hatchlings from one ooth and half from the other and mix them, and put them in one tank, with all the same factors except dust your feeders with high protein powder for one tank, and keep the control tank as usual.

Watch and see if the protein tank has a greatly reduced canabalistic outcome.

As I more than alluded in another post, I know that the quality of food make a huge difference in attitudes among humans, so I bet it does with mantis' also. I was told the higher protein was confirmed, in a study, to reduce canabalism in spiders to almost nothing.

Now's your chance, get it while it's hot. See fer yerself !


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## Dinora (Feb 20, 2009)

nasty bugger said:


> This would be a good time to try an experiment. Take half the hatchlings from one ooth and half from the other and mix them, and put them in one tank, with all the same factors except dust your feeders with high protein powder for one tank, and keep the control tank as usual. Watch and see if the protein tank has a greatly reduced canabalistic outcome.
> 
> As I more than alluded in another post, I know that the quality of food make a huge difference in attitudes among humans, so I bet it does with mantis' also. I was told the higher protein was confirmed, in a study, to reduce canabalism in spiders to almost nothing.
> 
> Now's your chance, get it while it's hot. See fer yerself !


Great idea!!!

Please keep us posted with your results!


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## Rick (Feb 20, 2009)

nasty bugger said:


> This would be a good time to try an experiment. Take half the hatchlings from one ooth and half from the other and mix them, and put them in one tank, with all the same factors except dust your feeders with high protein powder for one tank, and keep the control tank as usual. Watch and see if the protein tank has a greatly reduced canabalistic outcome.
> 
> As I more than alluded in another post, I know that the quality of food make a huge difference in attitudes among humans, so I bet it does with mantis' also. I was told the higher protein was confirmed, in a study, to reduce canabalism in spiders to almost nothing.
> 
> Now's your chance, get it while it's hot. See fer yerself !


This would be a waste of time. He is going to lost most of them to random deaths no matter what he does. Hatching three ooths is asinine. Also seperating them is also pointless because most of them will die and there is no way he can individually take care of several hundred nymphs all in their own little containers. It is best to keep them all together and then keep what ends up being left.


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## The_Asa (Feb 20, 2009)

Yeah that experiment won't work too well...they'd probably rather eat each other anyway


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## riegs22 (Feb 20, 2009)

Ok so I’ve read your guys comments, I realize how stupid it sounds to hatch 3 ooths, But I think one is an old ooth from last year and one was completely covered with that salty snow at the edge of a parking lot. I don’t expect all 3 to hatch I’m only hoping 1 will.

But since I have to 10 gallon tanks sitting around I would like to do some sort of experiment, I know a lot of people are wondering about colors and sizes and dusting things with pollen so I will leave it up to you guys

I will set up 2 tanks with 100% same conditions. I will separate the nymphs into the two enclosures and change the variables on one tank...

So what should I try to do? Go for the protein factor? If so how would you guys approach it?

I will also be putting a lot of these guys up for sale if they all hatch, real cheap.


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## bassist (Feb 20, 2009)

Doubt you'll be able to sell many since Chinese oothecae are easy to come by.


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## hibiscusmile (Feb 20, 2009)

I think that is just so exciting finding ooths inthe snow! I go outside and collect them myself. I take Abby, my shepard and we go hunting, she loves it, chases the bunnies and scares the bejebbers out of me everytime she gets near one and they jump up out of the weeds, :lol: . U have fun with them, they may all hatch out, but like u said one seems to be old, usually I find the old ones feel real light in my hand compared to the ones that truly have eggs inside. I did not say _fertile_ eggs, just eggs. The chinese are very delicate babies, God made so many in an ooth, so as to have some survive, they will not eat each other until the third molt, and will be just fine together in the setup u have there. Right now I have about 100 containers with many nymphs together and they are all fine until the third molt, then I have to be careful, feed them good and mist a couple times a day with distilled water, very warm mind u and they will do ok. They will die for no reason at all the first couple of molts, no matter what u do, the chinese and religiosa are both that way.


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## Rick (Feb 21, 2009)

riegs22 said:


> Ok so I’ve read your guys comments, I realize how stupid it sounds to hatch 3 ooths, But I think one is an old ooth from last year and one was completely covered with that salty snow at the edge of a parking lot. I don’t expect all 3 to hatch I’m only hoping 1 will.But since I have to 10 gallon tanks sitting around I would like to do some sort of experiment, I know a lot of people are wondering about colors and sizes and dusting things with pollen so I will leave it up to you guys
> 
> I will set up 2 tanks with 100% same conditions. I will separate the nymphs into the two enclosures and change the variables on one tank...
> 
> ...


Not really sure what you are trying to accomplish with this. Since a mantids diet is all protein anyways I am not sure what that will prove. Forget about selling them you will have to give them away.


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## riegs22 (Feb 21, 2009)

by selling them I pretty much meant give them away. Just shipping is what I was pretty much saying.


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