# lost my male



## d17oug18 (Jun 4, 2009)

Not what you think! alot of people say to leave there mantises who mate out in the open. well i did that funnel trick, they started mating last night and this morning, the male is no where to be found. the only ways i can see he escaped is through the A/C vent lol an ideas where i should look? ive looked all morning and cant find him lol what the heck lol oh well any help is appreciated.


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## hibiscusmile (Jun 4, 2009)

Her tummy is a good starting place


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## d17oug18 (Jun 4, 2009)

hibiscusmile said:


> Her tummy is a good starting place


id say that would be the case, but i did that safe sex funnel thing lol and there are no "mantis pieces" anywhere. im still looking and i cant even find any sign of him lol man there good hiders ^_^


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## agent A (Jun 4, 2009)

Here is what you can do. If he escaped, putting a virgin female in a tiny screen cage or a paper towel wad wet with water and a tiny bit of honey- either one may attract him back. And that cone thing may not always work. Was the female exteremely fat after mating? If a female eats a male, she is humongously fat.


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## d17oug18 (Jun 4, 2009)

she was HUGE before the mating, i choose last night because she ate like 5 crickets, forced fed her another, coned her. then introduced the male which he jumped on it like a horney high school virgin lol. left them for the night on my desk, when i woke today he was gone, im starting to feel like he never existed lol im willing to bet hes behind my desk where i cant reach nor look behind. ill keep yall posted lol


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## Rick (Jun 4, 2009)

agent A said:


> Here is what you can do. If he escaped, putting a virgin female in a tiny screen cage or a paper towel wad wet with water and a tiny bit of honey- either one may attract him back. And that cone thing may not always work. Was the female exteremely fat after mating? If a female eats a male, she is humongously fat.


Don't even bother doing this. It is laughable at best. ALso just because she eats the male doesn't mean she is going to be huge. Most males are a small meal. I usually leave my pairs loose to mate. Yes finding the male can be a pain but it can be done. Section off the room and start in one corner and look everywhere. Pay special attention to behind furniture and near windows. ALso if you cannot tell I am not a fan of that cone around the females thorax. I think it is pretty stupid actually.


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## d17oug18 (Jun 4, 2009)

i wanted to give it a try becuase i only have one female and one male, =/ by the way... he was behind the very monitor im looking at now typing this to you lol yes i found him! first time i used the cone idea and she looked REALLY uncomfortable, constantly shifting and trying to get out of it. ive had other species and not used it, just did it this time becuase i need to breed this species and couldnt afford to loose him.


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## Rick (Jun 5, 2009)

d17oug18 said:


> i wanted to give it a try becuase i only have one female and one male, =/ by the way... he was behind the very monitor im looking at now typing this to you lol yes i found him! first time i used the cone idea and she looked REALLY uncomfortable, constantly shifting and trying to get out of it. ive had other species and not used it, just did it this time becuase i need to breed this species and couldnt afford to loose him.


What did I tell you? Behind furniture! Sometimes you have to look for awhile but I have never lost a male when the pair was allowed free. I wouldn't mate them on a flat surface like a desk. Try curtains, houseplant, etc next time.


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## agent A (Jun 5, 2009)

Rick said:


> Don't even bother doing this. It is laughable at best. ALso just because she eats the male doesn't mean she is going to be huge. Most males are a small meal. I usually leave my pairs loose to mate. Yes finding the male can be a pain but it can be done. Section off the room and start in one corner and look everywhere. Pay special attention to behind furniture and near windows. ALso if you cannot tell I am not a fan of that cone around the females thorax. I think it is pretty stupid actually.


I have had a female eat a male before and she got huge. And my idea with the paper towel is a good one, I've recovered mantids that way. By the way, what type of mantids d17oug18 keeping?


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## d17oug18 (Jun 9, 2009)

i keep 2 species of boxers, C. Gemmatus, and the species i lost the male from was a limbata couple. thats it for now, i had a few others but the nymphs i bought died after a week, i have horrible luck with mail-in's. lol

by the way heres what they looked like with the female "inhibitided" gotta agree with rick that it looks really retarded, but gotta do what you gotta do:


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## Pelle (Jun 9, 2009)

Damn, that's just wrong :huh:


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## bassist (Jun 9, 2009)

d17oug18 said:


> by the way heres what they looked like with the female "inhibitided" gotta agree with rick that it looks really retarded, but gotta do what you gotta do


You don't need to do it that's just it....


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## Rick (Jun 9, 2009)

You don't have to do that. I have never done anything like that. I can count on one hand how many males I have lost over the years. Give him plenty of space and he will be fine.


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## ABbuggin (Jun 9, 2009)

Rick said:


> You don't have to do that. I have never done anything like that. I can count on one hand how many males I have lost over the years. Give him plenty of space and he will be fine.


+1 I do the same thing and *rarely *loose a male.


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## agent A (Jun 9, 2009)

The male looks like a chinese mantis.


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## d17oug18 (Jun 10, 2009)

there from the same ooth, but he looks REALLY cool, his coloration is so unique, i wish he could live forever. next time i wont do that lol ill just leave them be and cross my heart ^_^ , im still in shock on how little grown males eat, mine eats like 1/2 a cricket a week lol dead halves EVERYWHERE!!!!


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## superfreak (Jun 10, 2009)

HAHAHA that photo was fantastic! laughed out loud! nice work. do what you want, if you only have one male and youre scared of losing him, collar her! you'll learn your own technique through experience, through seeing what works for you. dont let people always tell you what to do. everything is simply a suggestion


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## kamakiri (Jun 10, 2009)

superfreak said:


> HAHAHA that photo was fantastic! laughed out loud! nice work.


HA! I like that you used a photo of a CAT to make the cone! Oh, your poor mantie. You can even see how 'upset' she is.


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## Katnapper (Jun 10, 2009)

kamakiri said:


> HA! I like that you used a photo of a CAT to make the cone! Oh, your poor mantie. You can even see how 'upset' she is.


I noticed that and thought it was funny too!


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## d17oug18 (Jun 10, 2009)

she was very upset with that cone! =P it was big, it was long, she couldnt lift her head, she shifted ALOT all through the night what little i did see it looked like she was trying to bump him off or slide the cone off lol. at least i know her ego's prego and hes still alive and flying everywhere, hes just like his daddy(me) and has ADD lol cant sit still and cant keep those wings in check.


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## kamakiri (Jun 10, 2009)

d17oug18 said:


> she was very upset with that cone! =P it was big, it was long, she couldnt lift her head, she shifted ALOT all through the night what little i did see it looked like she was trying to bump him off or slide the cone off lol. at least i know her ego's prego and hes still alive and flying everywhere, hes just like his daddy(me) and has ADD lol cant sit still and cant keep those wings in check.


I'm just glad that it worked for you Doug! You didn't get stabbed taking the cone off did you?


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## d17oug18 (Jun 10, 2009)

no haha, she was more relieved than angry, when it came off she lifted her head as high as she could and started stretching her arms and legs. this was also the first time i saw a mating in person, and i did NOT know that he sticks his WHOLE tail in her.... if it was human proportion it would be like sticking a leg in it lol. Now i know why females eat the male, sh!t i would to if mating was like that! lol it just looks horrible and painful for the female! haha


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## kamakiri (Jun 10, 2009)

Just be glad she's not big enough to take *you* on!  She might blame you for the whole experience.


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## superfreak (Jun 11, 2009)

haha this whole topic is a hoot! we need more ideas like this to inject some fun into the forum


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## Giosan (Jun 11, 2009)

Am i the only one who finds this cone plain stupid? I can't really laugh looking at it. As you mentioned: she didn't like the cone. She struggled, then why still do it?

Just learn to mate them, mate.

I have to say, the idea of a wall between the female and male is not that bad. But a cone all around her body where she can't do anything but struggle is just evil man.


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## Pelle (Jun 11, 2009)

Nope, you're not the only one..


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## d17oug18 (Jun 11, 2009)

well have you ever had a mantis you wanted to breed, put the male in, and when he mounts, the female strikes him off, the whole body is now dislodged, you only had one infertile female and one male. Well say good bye to future babies now, i had ONE couple ONE! all she needed to was get angry and copulation is over. desperation makes for alot of stupid ideas(by the way did you know "nachos" were luaghed at in mexico when the first man made it up after having nothing left in his kitchen). you'd be suprised on how many "stupid" ideas came about and now even you use it. ^_^ by the way does it make anyone laugh when he like... FREAK OUT flies on her lol then latches on as if he knows whats going to happen even though never seeing it or knowing about it. mating on this species is fasinating.


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## Giosan (Jun 11, 2009)

Yes i have, that's what breeding mantids is about.. :S

If she snaps at him it means she doesn't want to mate yet. I've bred a lot of mantids, and i've seen females being agressive also. I would stop then, and continue another day. When she would eat more, something else or was just ready. The same female would then be very kind and accept the male on her back. There is huge difference.

Now you are just forcing her to mate, and i don't think that is the right way to do it.

You have to learn their behaviour...


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## OGIGA (Jun 11, 2009)

That cone is rather large and quite narrow. It also looks pretty tight. Maybe I should show how I make mine with more precision because my females still remain quite comfortable.


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## kamakiri (Jun 11, 2009)

And she does look like she's trying to pull herself out of the cone... :lol: 

Doug, I don't think there's any need to be defensive. We all have differing opinions on wether the cone is a good idea or not. Most of us have already been in the situation of having only one male and what it means to take the chance with having him mate...

Overall, I'm glad it worked for you too. I'll probably never do that myself, but it is good to know there are options.


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## sk8erkho (Jun 11, 2009)

> The male looks like a chinese mantis


agent A you are totally right it looks extremely a lot like my Chinese males, maybe we're wrong.....but!!


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## superfreak (Jun 12, 2009)

maybe thats why shes throwing him off? :lol:


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## yeatzee (Jun 12, 2009)

The size along tells you its not a chinese  

I agree, male Limbatas can be really cool looking!


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## d17oug18 (Jun 12, 2009)

was not getting defensive, just explaining how i felt(of course NEVER desprite! lol) ive mated this species before and have never had the male live past the start line, once hes in she bites his head off, no matter the age. This was m first successful generation(e.g. found wild male female, mated, got ooth, ooth laid) and i got attached! lol these mindless, ugly preditors got some kinda charm eh?


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