# hello from ohio



## mikemercer (Mar 5, 2009)

Hello everyone i live in northern ohio and wanting to get to know other mantid fans or bug hunters in my area if your from mich or ind or ohio drop me a line

i have some ootha that i collected from my back yard and this is my first trying to hatch any pointers welcome


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## Katnapper (Mar 5, 2009)

Hi Mike and welcome to the forum... glad to have you here.  Reading back through previous threads in the Breeding and Nymph care section will help immensely! That's the best tip I can think of right now.


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## revmdn (Mar 5, 2009)

Hello.


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## mikemercer (Mar 5, 2009)

Katnapper said:


> Hi Mike and welcome to the forum... glad to have you here.  Reading back through previous threads in the Breeding and Nymph care section will help immensely! That's the best tip I can think of right now.


yea i have been sifting throw most of the day today finding lots of usefull information

just an update on me i have a 100 gal glass tank for my oothas right now plust lots of lil plastic penut containers

the 100 gal tank was giveing to me for free so *free is for me lol*

can anyone direct me to the link that shows me what exactly 1st 2nd 3rd instar means i was thinking 1 molt 2 molt but now im not so sure


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## Rick (Mar 5, 2009)

mikemercer said:


> yea i have been sifting throw most of the day today finding lots of usefull informationjust an update on me i have a 100 gal glass tank for my oothas right now plust lots of lil plastic penut containers
> 
> the 100 gal tank was giveing to me for free so *free is for me lol*
> 
> can anyone direct me to the link that shows me what exactly 1st 2nd 3rd instar means i was thinking 1 molt 2 molt but now im not so sure


Welcome. Yes that is what it means. A mantis that just hatched is L1. When it molts it is L2 and so on.


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 5, 2009)

B) Hi Mike, I am from B) hio too! welcome!


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## Emile.Wilson (Mar 5, 2009)

welcome from canada !!!


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## mikemercer (Mar 6, 2009)

good to see theres a wide range of ppl here from ohio to canada hello canada : )


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## PhilinYuma (Mar 6, 2009)

mikemercer said:


> good to see theres a wide range of ppl here from ohio to canada hello canada : )


Welcome! Down here, in Real America, we refer to the area that you mentioned as the Frozen North!


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 6, 2009)

:lol: ha ha, love the frozen zones meself!


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## ismart (Mar 6, 2009)

Welcome!


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## bassist (Mar 6, 2009)

Welcome to the forum.


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## Kaddock (Mar 7, 2009)

hi there!


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## mikemercer (Mar 9, 2009)

Kaddock said:


> hi there!


hello all thanks for the hello's


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## mikemercer (Mar 11, 2009)

yea i finally hatched and now a 1st instar


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## nasty bugger (Mar 12, 2009)

Howdy

My first ooth didn't go well. I didn't know they needed misting, and they just hung under the ooth and dried up. I didn't have them in an enclosure either though, that would maintain humidity, so crispy critters.

Next ooth they did well, with the exception of canabalistic massacree.

As you've probably already read, they will eat each other after a while, if not seperated. I didn't see mine doing it for several instars, but when I hatched another ooth a couple weeks later, the older one's started killing them, not so much for food, but to probably conserve their food. Welcome to the jungle

A hundred gallons is alot of area.

If your mantis' don't seem to be feeding well you may want to confine them to a smaller area, where they can find their food much easier. Alot of mantis' are ambushers, and don't wander far, so if the food doesn't come to them then they may miss out on meals.

I have read where reducing the size of the enclosure has made a big difference in how well the mantis' eat, and act.

Get your feeders ready before hatching too many ooths.

Fruitflies and pinhead crickets.

Alot of reptile people, as well as mantis and arachnid folk, like to culture roaches as an alternative to stinky crickets.

The roaches aren't as noisy, and they don't stink like crickets, if kept right.

Some roaches climb glass, and some varieties don't, so pick your poison accordingly, or you'll have a mess of roaches sitting in your favorite chair and hogging the tv remote, dam remote hoggin roaches  

Some prey will burrow under a substrate, if you keep a substrate in the enclosure, and your mantis' may not be able to get to them to eat, so keep that in mind.

I have it on good authority that posters of Elvis and John Wayne in the background of the enclosure make the mantis' feel more patriotic... and dated  

The mantis' that I let out of the enclosures seem to go where the light is. When I turn the light in the dining room/kitchen out, and the light in the living room on, which is only seperated by a short wall, I find the mantis over by the light in the living room, there or up near the ceiling the next morning.

Enjoy


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## mikemercer (Mar 12, 2009)

thanks for the tips


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