# Orchid Mantid Ooth



## sutmaejoe (Aug 31, 2011)

Hi all,

Just got my first ever ooth, laid 3 weeks ago. Anyone got any tips or advice for me?

How can I tell the right way up? How far from the ground should I hang it? Does it need hanging or can I just glue it to the enclosure wall or a twig/leaf?

Please help


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## lunarstorm (Aug 31, 2011)

In case you haven't seen it, http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=9597 looks like a great thread to read for starters.


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## PhilinYuma (Aug 31, 2011)

If you know that the ooth is three weeks old, I assume that you know the selles and that it was spawned by one of his/her females. That is the person to talk to. i think that you already have ffs, so that's a good start. Orientation of the otth is not important so long as you don't glue the "zipper", where the nymphs emerge, to the wall! Put it a few inches above the substrate, because nymphs ( and I haven't raised this species) sometimes have long "exuvia" or parachute cords from which they hang before dropping onto the substrate. Good luck! Show us pix!


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## sutmaejoe (Sep 1, 2011)

I think I can see the zip part...... but its the only flat part of the ooth and a different colour. Is that right?

I shall try to upload some pics tommorow.

I had already looked at that thread thanks Lunarstorm, but wouldn't say my ooth looks anything like the one in his photos.

Also I keep reading you can thread a needle through the ooth to suspend it, is that safe?

Thanks all


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## sutmaejoe (Sep 2, 2011)

Photos of mu ooth.......

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n556/sutmaejoe/007.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n556/sutmaejoe/006.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n556/sutmaejoe/005.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n556/sutmaejoe/005-Copy.jpg

Hope that works.


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## lancaster1313 (Sep 2, 2011)

The ooth looks as if it was laid against a flat surface.

I have seen oothecae that didn't have an obvious zipper, to me at least.  

Could you ask the breeder if the ooth was indeed laid against something flat?

If it is so, then you could use a low temperature glue gun to glue it(flat side glued to a flat surface) to part of the hatching container.

I have had flat sided oothecae hatch out fine, just laying flat side down on the bottom of a container, but I wouldn't recommend doing it on purpose. :mellow: Orienting the ooth so it is hanging from the top of the container would be better.


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## sutmaejoe (Sep 2, 2011)

Cant get hold of the guy I bought it off gone on holiday. It only confused me because the only zipper looking part with slight gaps up along it is the flat side. But as you say it looks like it was laid on a flat surface so that couldn't be the zipper could it?


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## lancaster1313 (Sep 2, 2011)

Joey said:


> Cant get hold of the guy I bought it off gone on holiday. It only confused me because the only zipper looking part with slight gaps up along it is the flat side. But as you say it looks like it was laid on a flat surface so that couldn't be the zipper could it?


I don't really have the experience to be sure, but I hope someone who has had that species can chime in soon. I have seen pics of some very strange and different looking oothecae from different species. :blink: This is why I can't be sure.

It really looks "laid against a flat surface" to me. But, I am no expert.


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## ismart (Sep 2, 2011)

I really hate to tell you this Joey. But that is no orchid ooth. That is a _Odontomantis sp._ ooth. I really hope you did not pay an arm, and a leg for it?


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## lunarstorm (Sep 2, 2011)

Ugh, wow - sorry to see this Joey.  Good catch ismart. I couldn't resist Googling to see what an orchid mantis ooth should look like.


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## myzticalboi (Sep 2, 2011)

Looks like a sybilla pretiosa ooth.

But this is what my recent laid orchid ooth looks like down below.


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## sutmaejoe (Sep 3, 2011)

Im not surprised as I didn't think it looked like an orchid ooth either. Thanks people! Didn't pay an arm or leg for it. Got it for £20.

What do you guys recommend about hanging it? Should I stick it flat side to the enclosure or stick it to a twig etc.........

Thanks again


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## sutmaejoe (Sep 3, 2011)

Im not surprised as I didn't think it looked like an orchid ooth either. Thanks people! Didn't pay an arm or leg for it. Got it for £20.

What do you guys recommend about hanging it? Should I stick it flat side to the enclosure or stick it to a twig etc.........

Thanks again


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## sutmaejoe (Sep 3, 2011)

_Ive tried searching a Odontomantis sp._ ooth but cant find a specific type of mantid? Found Boxer, Gurder, Ant.......... Is _Odontomantis sp._ a sub type or something?

And yes It looks very much like a sybilla pretiosa ooth.


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## patrickfraser (Sep 3, 2011)

For ooth photos...OOTHS


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## hibiscusmile (Sep 3, 2011)

Good eye, good eye Paul, I didn't look at pic, I bad girl :tt2:


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## sutmaejoe (Sep 5, 2011)

I have just set up my nursey, put a fake orchid in there anyway as it looks pretty.

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n556/sutmaejoe/003.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n556/sutmaejoe/001.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n556/sutmaejoe/004.jpg

http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/n556/sutmaejoe/005-1.jpg

Ive stuck the ooth to the lid with sticky tape, flat side down as thats the only place it looks like a zipper.. Hope thats right.

Is there anything else I should do or have done wrong?


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## massaman (Sep 5, 2011)

use glue not sticky tape as the nymphs would get stuck on the tape and prob die and use like low temp glue from a glue gun or super glue but not sticky tape!


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## RevWillie (Sep 5, 2011)

Make sure your ooth is oriented properly; I think your flat side is the wall-attachment side. I see your ooth like this, others may correct me:






Zipper should face open space.


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## sutmaejoe (Sep 5, 2011)

Thanks for everyone's help, and thanks for the diagram RevWillie. I shall be removing the tape and turning the ooth around. Sure I will get there in the end. How long do you think it will take to hatch? I cant get a answer from anywhere!


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## lancaster1313 (Sep 6, 2011)

RevWillie said:


> Make sure your ooth is oriented properly; I think your flat side is the wall-attachment side. I see your ooth like this, others may correct me:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That looks good to me, as far as the fastening of the ootheca, but "wall" can become "ceiling" if the screen is the top. Either way, the nymphs will make it out, as long as the "out" stays out.

I also agree that tape can be deadly, if there is any chance that nymphs can come into contact with it.


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## massaman (Sep 6, 2011)

just keep the temp in the seventies or eighties and it should hatch in weeks but just make sure the temp dont drop too much!


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## Termite48 (Sep 22, 2011)

Bill has it perfectly right. Not only that, the use of logic will tell you that if the mama put it there and the ooth were laid against a surface like a cage wall or lid, that caused one side to be flat. The other surfaces are shaped according to that species style. Almost always this is a convexed shape with a hundred variations on the theme. Do not worry about a zipper, if you always think about where it was originally attached. Also the idea of gravity helps in the thought process of where to place it. Phil,Paul and Bill have it all right according to the books and according to real life.


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## mantiscraze (Sep 23, 2011)

Still, you need to let the seller know that it's not an Orchid Ooth, don't let them get away like that!



Joey said:


> Im not surprised as I didn't think it looked like an orchid ooth either. Thanks people! Didn't pay an arm or leg for it. Got it for £20.
> 
> What do you guys recommend about hanging it? Should I stick it flat side to the enclosure or stick it to a twig etc.........
> 
> Thanks again


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