2nd batch of Chinese Mantis nymphs hatched and dies within days HELP!!

[Oolong]

Hi I am a newbie to Mantis care. I ordered some casing online. Once I received them I hung them with a string inside a critter carrier cage. 2 of the casings hatched. I fed them pinhead crickets and flightless fruit flies. Since the case was too small I transferred them to a 10 gallon tank. I misted the sides of the tank with water making sure there would be no puddles. With in a day they were all dead. It looked like they had somehow stiffened and froze. I put another set of casing in the same tank and one of them just hatched 2 days ago. Again did the misting and fed them the fruit flies only this time ( I thought the pinhead crickets may be too big). After hatching they were very active, ,moving about and going up the side of the tank but again with in a day or so they all stiffened up and now most of them are dead. The ones that are still alive make sudden spastic moves but I don't think they will last long. Please help me and let me know what I am doing wrong. I have another 3 casings that may hatch any day and I would really like to get some of them to survive and grow.

Many thanks

Oolong

 

[CoolMantid]

Since u said there were no puddles that cancels the idea of them drowning... wait... Maybe they did drown from too much moisture on the sides of the tank. Otherwise I don't know what to say

 

[Amantis]

Does your city do any bug spraying? like for Mosquitos? That will kill them! Also make sure they're at the right temperature 70-80f.

Also maybe try getting feeder insects from somewhere else, they might have something on or in them poisoning your mantids?

 

[Oolong]

Thank you for the quick replies. My City San Francisco does not do any sort of bug spraying. This guys are indoors anyway. Also I do not see them trying to feed on anything yet. They are only a day old. I just put fruit flies in there just in case. I just separated about six of the still live ones into a much smaller critter carrier to see if some how there is something wrong with the tank. The tank was thoroughly cleaned before the second hatch. It used to have hermit crabs in it and I did not clean it well before I put the first hatch was put in there. The mister I am using has only had water in it before but just to be sure I cleaned it with earth friendly detergent and sprayed it out before using it in the tank. I am clueless as to why these guys keep dying on me.

 

[maybon]

I would use aged water (leave it in a bucket for 24 hours, this will remove some of the chemicals from the water eg chlorine. And maybe try a new mist bottle with this water. Sounds like you may have poisoned them since they all died. Temperature is important though do you know what you are keeping them at?

 

[patrickfraser]

They won't eat for 2-3 days after hatching. Adding the fruitflies may have stressed them out and killed them, as all they could do is try to run away. I'd say before another one hatches set up a larger "hatchery" so there's more room for them to spread out and have their own "space". Also, just leave them for a day after hatching before misting lightly. Even a good misting can sometimes drown them by blocking the spiracles. They don't have to be in a puddle of water to drown. Offer the fruit flies after 3 days with continued daily mistings. I can almost guarantee you'll see better results.

 

[Oolong]

Temp is 72-74. I will change the mister...

 

[Oolong]

@patrikfraser I will try your suggestions and report back. Thanks...

 

[agent A]

be sure the cage isnt in direct sun

they have high mortality but a whole ooth of babies shouldnt die off like that

 

[Oolong]

New casing hatched an hour ago. Taking all the advice given above and keeping fingers crossed on this one...

 

[Mimblex]

Good luck!

 

[maybon]

Good luck mate, you should be fine.

 

[hibiscusmile]

all good advice, do you have something for them to climb on, like stretched out excelsior? stress with the feeders seems to be the problem, and dont mist till half the day is gone after they hatch, they need time to dry out.

 

[Termite48]

We who read your thread assume you are using purified water. I lost a bunch of Orchid hatchlings by mistakenly using the wrong water to mist the enclosure. Be sure you are not using anything with contaminants.

 

[Rick]

Temps are a bit low but wouldn't kill them. Do they have ventilation? Nymph mortality with that species can be high, but they shouldn't all drop dead.