Breeding: How many times and how often?

[mantisboy]

After a one-time successful breeding of both my females, do I need to keep breeding them. Should I be mating them a couple of times a week? Is once enough? Should I pair them up and switch the males this time in case of a infertile male? Both of my Ladies are quite plump now, being wild they may have even already mated...who knows? I scanned through the forum, but not much mentioned of how many times folks are mating their females. I've been thinking of thanking the males for their service and releasing them.

 

[Ntsees]

Once is usually enough. You can also switch the males like you say in case something is wrong with a male. I usually mate mines once and then after a few ooths (2-3), I mate them again.

 

[Rick]

Once is enough. However it will not hurt anything to mate her again after she lays a few ooths. Sometimes you notice a drop in the number of nymphs later in life with females that were only mated once.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Oh! I concure :tt2:

 

[shorty]

I was just wondering the same thing about my females. I think I will mate them again after they each lay several ootheca. Would you suggest waiting for them to lay again, or would it be recommended to mate her again before laying a second? Mating after she produces several ooths will help insure that I will indeed have some nymphs hatching in the not-so-distant future, being that they are wild caught and I have no way of knowing for certain that they have been fertilized.

 

[Ntsees]

I was just wondering the same thing about my females. I think I will mate them again after they each lay several ootheca. Would you suggest waiting for them to lay again, or would it be recommended to mate her again before laying a second? Mating after she produces several ooths will help insure that I will indeed have some nymphs hatching in the not-so-distant future, being that they are wild caught and I have no way of knowing for certain that they have been fertilized.

It's fine to do what you mentioned. Wild caught females tend to have already been fertilized but it doesn't hurt to mate them again just in case. The thing with mating a female multiple times is that it's not that necessary and it risks losing the male (whether it's to the female or in some room).