Breeding red runners

[mantisman 230]

Any advice, as Im getting 200 very soon, and will hopefully be replacing my current feeders once these guys get going.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Yes, be careful, these are a pest and can get out, they also breed very well and soon you will be overrun with them, specially since u r starting with so many.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Keep them well-ventilated and somewhat dry, I had the worst die-offs when they were too humid--just make sure to provide them with fruit or a source of water to drink from or else they will not produce many oothecae.
The oothecae require humidity or they will quickly dry out. They'll take several weeks to hatch depending on the temperature and will take months to reach maturity, so you'll need to start with a large number if you want to keep a sustaining culture to feed from.

I feed mine with fruit, pollen mixed with sugar water to make it the consistency of dough, and occasionally some layer pellets from my chickens for the minerals--they tend not to eat much of the pellets and it can get moldy if they drag it near the water source, so I don't give them much.

I go through a few thousand large ones every month to feed my pets,

 

[mantisman 230]

Well, with less than 10 adult mantids right now I see no issue in needing thousands of adults xD, however I will need the smaller which should go nicely

 

[Ranitomeya]

When I had four wild-caught Iris oratoria females, they would go through about 200 medium to large red runners before each laying an ootheca--about 25 roaches each week per female. You'll need less when just feeding non-breeding individuals and nymphs, but you'll find yourself using a high number of feeders when dealing with large species that are actively producing eggs.

 

[mantisman 230]

haha, adult griffin females eat so much xD

 

[Ranitomeya]

Uh oh, you're going to be wishing your roaches breed faster then! :tt2:

 

[mantisman 230]

not to worry, most are only l3 xD