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Hmm, I wasn't feeding them that well since they were all in a large communal container. Now that they are separated out they should be getting fed more reliably. I've noticed a few look noticeably plumper in their abdomen. Some actually look a bit longer than when I first got them, so either...

The first ones hatched on the 8th, so that means they should've molted on the 22nd, which they haven't... I did have them in suboptimal conditions, so maybe that delayed things a bit (they were all in one big container together, very poor, very poor, lesson learned). Now they are in small...

It's been a tumultuous couple of weeks. I've had one major wave of nymphs hatch (and at least six hanging from one ooth, I guess it was too dry, they couldn't detach :( ) and it looks like another ooth is hatching as I got another sixteen or so yesterday. My question is when they will begin...

Ooh, thanks for the suggestion with the funnel! Yes, those fruit flies are quite the escape artist. I've ordered the cups with the foam hole in the lid as well as a big bag of the excelsior "bedding" stuff. Cameron

Well, I went to Target and got an 8 cup sealable container, so the fruit flies should be contained for the moment. It comes with a hole in the lid which I plugged w/ some foam, which will hopefully be enough air exchange. The nymphs don't seem very good at catching the fruit flies. Sometimes...

So, my first nymphs hatched...and I put the first three I saw into separate paper cups and put some fine plastic mesh over the tops. I go to add fruit flies to one, and the @#$% flies jumped everywhere into my kitchen except into the stupid cup! Then I find out they can get through the screen...

Yay, one of the ooths hatched! I hadn't fed her in a couple of days so I got two crickets and added them to her enclosure. I noticed she wasn't going after them, and THEN noticed she was starting to lay her sixth ooth (oops, sorry mom!). She finished laying the ooth and I lured the crickets...

Ah, thanks very much! I'm glad to hear that the color shift is normal. Cameron

Update: She has recently laid her third ooth. Does this mean she is fertile? I read that even unfertilized females will lay an ooth, but what about three? Cameron Edit: Based on pictures, my mantis should be a Stagmomantis California. Not a huge shocker, given that I live in California...

Is it wrong to assume that "mom" laid the ooth in the proper orientation? I took a pic. The lid was flipped upside down so I could get both of them in the picture. It's blurry, but hopefully y'all can at least ID mom's specific species. Cameron

I only put one cricket in at a time, and watch them until they're eaten, so the risk to the ooth is minimal. If they manage to climb up onto the lid, they're dead meat anyways, as that's where mom is, and she'll put an end to any cricket shenanigans right quick. Hmm, well what I might do then...

Here's a link to what I have her in currently: Click here She's in the purple one, the second smallest. As she had wings when I found her, I knew she would not be molting again. The ooth was laid attached to the "roof" of the enclosure. Are the slats on the lid small enough to keep nymphs...

Yes, I will be sad when she passes. Definitely if I get into raising mantids as a serious hobby I will need a more varied and less suspect food supply. What I did with the last batch of crickets was put them in a glass jar and drop in slices of apples. They ate those and survived about four...

Thanks, I will try and take a pic, but my cell phone's camera is woefully inadequate. My wife is visiting her parents, else I'd have access to a proper camera. Cameron

An update! She has laid an ooth! It was really interesting watching her pump it out (and neat to see the striped pattern it has). Now I've read a lot about ooth care, moisture and humidity and all that, but it's quite dry in Southern California naturally. It is more dry inside, since the...

Thanks for all the welcomes! :) I have been misting her enclosure daily. Should I leave a tiny water bowl or should the moisture from crickets and daily misting be enough? Cameron

I will try and snap some pics tonight, when I clean her poop out. I was leaving a small leaf of cabbage in for the cricket, but I wasn't sure if it really ate any of it or not. If it's cereal it wants though, I've got lots of that around. No dry dog food, sadly, as we gave away our dog last...

She's eating quite voraciously. I put two crickets in on Sunday when we found her, and she ate them both up rapidly. I then gave her three more the next day, and she didn't eat the last one until last night, so, lesson learned about putting in too many at once. I've noticed the plastic sides...

I live in a suburb outside Los Angeles, and this past weekend we found a praying mantis in the backyard! I promptly brought it inside and then got a little plastic enclosure to put it in. It is a female, and in her adult stage, as she definitely has wings. The plus side is I don't have to go...