meanandpinchy
New member
I just introduced myself a short time ago, and I know I should probably wait before asking a question, but I'm really curious as to whether my little Chinese mantis nymphs are developing normally, and whether they're healthy. They hatched happy and active on the 28 of March. They had their first moult beginning on 07 April and the second started on 14 April. Each time, it's taken a few days for everyone to get with the program. I found one this morning that has moulted for the third time, plus a few more with the "chubby" abdomen, and unless I misunderstood something (entirely possible), that seems a bit too soon; I'd expected the frequency to slow somewhat as they got larger.
They're currently in a 40L glass tank with a screen top, Eco-Earth substrate (humidity 72%, temperature 76F/24C), "silk" aquarium plants and sticks, eating flightless fruit flies I raised and crickets I'd purchased and grown out a little on cat food mixed with infant cereal and baby food vegetables (mostly peas). I can't get in to measure because I just dumped in a bunch of flies, but the one that had its third moult looks 3cm-ish, the majority are around 2.5cm (those I have measured) and one little slacker is still 1.5cm. My solution thus far to help reduce cannibalism has been to ensure that food is abundant and easy to catch. I'm wondering, though, whether they're supposed to be moulting every week. I've never raised insects before, but I do keep crustaceans, and I know that if they're overfed, it's possible for them to grow too quickly and not properly develop healthy exoskeletons, which often leads to bad moults. If that can happen to mantids, I don't want it to happen to them in my care. I have found information about the different stages, but nothing that really states how often (on average) they should be expected to moult. Anyway, I just wonder whether my "kids" are normal. Also, I'm a bit confused about which L is which...do I need to separate them now, after the third moult, or immediately after their next? I don't want to turn their light on tomorrow morning and discover I was supposed to get the big guy out before he's looking at the rest of them, saying, "Pass the barbeque sauce, please!"
They're currently in a 40L glass tank with a screen top, Eco-Earth substrate (humidity 72%, temperature 76F/24C), "silk" aquarium plants and sticks, eating flightless fruit flies I raised and crickets I'd purchased and grown out a little on cat food mixed with infant cereal and baby food vegetables (mostly peas). I can't get in to measure because I just dumped in a bunch of flies, but the one that had its third moult looks 3cm-ish, the majority are around 2.5cm (those I have measured) and one little slacker is still 1.5cm. My solution thus far to help reduce cannibalism has been to ensure that food is abundant and easy to catch. I'm wondering, though, whether they're supposed to be moulting every week. I've never raised insects before, but I do keep crustaceans, and I know that if they're overfed, it's possible for them to grow too quickly and not properly develop healthy exoskeletons, which often leads to bad moults. If that can happen to mantids, I don't want it to happen to them in my care. I have found information about the different stages, but nothing that really states how often (on average) they should be expected to moult. Anyway, I just wonder whether my "kids" are normal. Also, I'm a bit confused about which L is which...do I need to separate them now, after the third moult, or immediately after their next? I don't want to turn their light on tomorrow morning and discover I was supposed to get the big guy out before he's looking at the rest of them, saying, "Pass the barbeque sauce, please!"
