Another failed breeding attempt!! :(

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Psychobunny

Psychobunny

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So, my lineols are all adults now, only molted last week.

I have 2 males and 2 females.

Tried the "out of cage" method to breed a pair.

I placed the female on top of a large net cage made for reptiles and fed her crickets until she was stuffed!

As she was slowly munching the 4th crick, I placed the male several inches behind and to the side of her.

She turned her head and saw him, and he saw her. I kept her busy and distracted as I moved the male closer

behind her.

He was more interested in climbing up my arm and did not seem to be interested in her.

I finally had to pick him up and put him on her back.

That's when they both freaked out!! the female ran up one of my arms, and the male ran up the other, scared

to death of each other!

They finally met on top of my head. I heard some commotion and flapping of wings.

The female ran back down my arm and the male flew off and landed on a curtain.

I tried to get them close to each other by holding them in my hands and letting them check each other out.

Well, they wanted nothing to do with each other and were scared to death!!

I gave up and put them back in their homes but placed them side by side so they can see each other.

I thought a week of being an adult would be okay, but they obviously need more time and are still too young.

How long should I wait?

How will I know they are ready without going through this ordeal again?

 
male should be ready by next week the latest. But the female will need to be about 3 weeks old as and adult.

Starting sooner could result in the male getting eaten.

I'm sure others have a better idea, but I always have my mantids at least 3 weeks as an adult before I try.

Harry

 
Usually Two weeks is good enough. The only other sign a female is ready to mate, is when she is calling. As far as males go, gaugeing there excitement visually through close contact is probably the easiest way. What i mean by this is putting there cages side by side, and see if he tries to get to her. Or you could always place the male down on something, and wait for him to settle down. Place the female 6 inches in front of him. Butt facing torward him. Prod her a long gentally. Make sure she is walking away from him. If he is interested he will start to slowly stalk her.

 
Yeah, can't hurt to wait. I did read one helpful thing in Keeping Aliens, that putting them in different rooms for a while can help the male not be desensitized to the pheromones.

 
meaganelise9 said:
Yeah, can't hurt to wait. I did read one helpful thing in Keeping Aliens, that putting them in different rooms for a while can help the male not be desensitized to the pheromones.
Click to expand...
Wow. I wouldn't have thought of that. I need to pick up that book!

 
Well I imagine if someone suddenly dropped an unknown male on your back you would be pretty freaked out too. I personally would never try to force a situation like that. Sounds like they could a bit more time since it has only been a week. No need to rush the love making. As was suggested, I would remove the male for a bit to give him time to air out all the pheremones. It is also usually best to position your male and then bring out the lady. This way he can see her via the movement created but she doesn't automatically key in on him.

 
Psychobunny said:
So, my lineols are all adults now, only molted last week.

I have 2 males and 2 females.

Tried the "out of cage" method to breed a pair.

I placed the female on top of a large net cage made for reptiles and fed her crickets until she was stuffed!

As she was slowly munching the 4th crick, I placed the male several inches behind and to the side of her.

She turned her head and saw him, and he saw her. I kept her busy and distracted as I moved the male closer

behind her.

He was more interested in climbing up my arm and did not seem to be interested in her.

I finally had to pick him up and put him on her back.

That's when they both freaked out!! the female ran up one of my arms, and the male ran up the other, scared

to death of each other!

They finally met on top of my head. I heard some commotion and flapping of wings.

The female ran back down my arm and the male flew off and landed on a curtain.

I tried to get them close to each other by holding them in my hands and letting them check each other out.

Well, they wanted nothing to do with each other and were scared to death!!

I gave up and put them back in their homes but placed them side by side so they can see each other.

I thought a week of being an adult would be okay, but they obviously need more time and are still too young.

How long should I wait?

How will I know they are ready without going through this ordeal again?
Click to expand...
That is funny!

 
Last edited by a moderator:
As a general rule, the larger the species the longer you need to wait to mate. Creos and orchid males can be ready in a week, while D. desiccata and Heterochaeta females don't call for 6 weeks. Separate them, preferably in different rooms, and fatten both up for two weeks. Warm the male's room, introduce the female, and turn on the Barry White...

 
Okay, thanks for everyones suggestions.

I will put him in a seperate room for a week or two and try again!

 
A week is not long enough. Two, three at least. Also, have the male in place first and settled and add the female in front of him so he sees her, not the other way around. I rarely ever feed females during introduction.

 
It's strange, the male I tried to mate, the one I talked about in my OP, mysteriously died!!

I have 2 other males and 2 females (I think) and will try the mating thing again this weekend.

There are a few other species that should be ready as well.

Rick, I will follow your advice but I will feed the female all the gut loaded cricks she can eat first!!

After dinner, I will place her in front of the male maybe a foot away and have her pointed away from

him so he can see her from behind but the female will be watching me distract her.

I like to do this out in the open so either (or both) have plenty of room to escape if things go wrong.

 
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