AAAAHHHH ! It's INSANE !

[Digger]

OK. I brought this on myself.

Early this afternoon I noticed a tiny critter crawling up my dining room wall. Getting closer I saw it was an L1 newborn T. sinensis. I looked at the dining room table and saw a dozen more. Then more on the floor, chairs, ::gulp::

AAAAAHHHH ! One of the wild ooths I am incubating actually HATCHED ! There are about 100 nymphs runing around a 5 gallon tub, where the 4 ooths have been incubating. Although the top of the tub is secured, they can still squeeze their way out (at least the intrepid ones are doing that).

PANIC ! I've never been a mantid father to newborns before! I've moved the container outside since the escaping continues. I'll keep a number of them for fun.

AND - the 32 oz melanos I bought 4 weeks ago just crashed (of course). Do have a few left to start a new culture.

So: 1. I am assuming they'll start cannibalizing in the big container in about two days? So I should empty them into the gardens? 2. What kind of containers to you put the "keepers" in at this micro size?

3. When do you begin feeding the newborns melanos? 24 hrs. 48 hrs. Immediately? How often should you mist newborns?

Thanks! Photos coming shortly. Cigars to follow.

 

[sally]

Haha nice hatch! My guess is the rest tomorrow lol. I never thought my wild T. sinensis ooth would ever hatch... Boy was I wrong. They are everywhere and soooo fast. I fed them the first day, and bought 5 Jars of melanos , gone already. I hope the jars produce fast.... Yikes. I don't know when it will be safe to release them. I am researching that now. Good luck with the babies

 

[Digger]

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Congrats. Reminds me one time I hatched an ootheca in a cracked critter keeper and forgot to plug the crack with a paper towel like I normally did. I woke up to a swarm of babies escaping into my room. XD

 

[Paradoxica]

You'd better release a FF culture in your house just to make sure any stragglers get fed :clown:

 

[Digger]

You'd better release a FF culture in your house just to make sure any stragglers get fed :clown:

With shame and guilt, I'll admit quite the reverse was happening. Orion was on a plant on the dining room table. I ( ) willingly fed him several escapees. It looked like a shop vac sucking down sawdust the way he gobbled those innocent babies up. Oh the horror ! Nightmares tonight. But Orion was most happy.

 

[Sticky]

I have a bunch of newborns too. Mist them twice a day and let a culture free in the tub and some where the babies run loose. I bet you no longer have frost where you live so they should be ok outdoors. I took my oldest culture and took the top off in thier cage.I have my ooths in small net cages.I now have about 1/4 left after them eating eachother. I will release most and keep the others as pets.

 

[Rick]

Saw your pictures on FB. Why do you want so many ooths of this species? One ooth is more than enough. I personally keep the little ones like that in a typical 32 oz insect cup. Don't try to keep them all, but instead just a number you can easily manage.

 

[hibiscusmile]

haha, much fun,, the one on finger is saying, hey, what goes on here, traffic jam straight ahead!

 

[Digger]

Saw your pictures on FB. Why do you want so many ooths of this species? One ooth is more than enough. I personally keep the little ones like that in a typical 32 oz insect cup. Don't try to keep them all, but instead just a number you can easily manage.

Hey Rick,

I collected four ooths in the wild just for the fun of it. Incubating four increased the probability of at least one successful hatch. My background is science and I've never witnessed a hatch before. That's why I did it this way. Also, I very much like this species as a pet. I'm not all that interested in the ability to collect and trade exotics. Although I have one P. affinis [ Ponder ] that is about to molt to adult. I will let all these L1s out into the gardens and surrounding flora. I'm keeping about 20 just for kicks to examine early stage molts and feeding. Those 20 or so have already been transferred to 24 and 32 oz condominiums.

 

[Coneja]

Congratulations! That sounds very exciting and stressful, all at the same time! Good luck with feeding the little ones...