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Bunch of lazy layabouts!
- Thread starter Kruszakus
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ismart
Well-known member
I would keep them in the same room, but in different enclosures. Make sure they can not see each other. Wait a week and hope for the best!
ABbuggin
Well-known member
As ismart said, try separating them. When my gongylus reached L4-5 I separated the males from the females. I have kept them this way ever since, and only put them together when its time to mate. The male usually doesn't care about the female for about 24hrs. By the next day, he is busy doing what he is supposed to do. B)
okay I exagerated about the bulbs. I am not really good with how much heat a bulb emits. I was kidding about the 8 bulbs, but I do recommend separating males and females for a few days.
PhilinYuma
Well-known member
Have we ever chatted about collecting tie pins, Alex? They can be tasteful without being expensive.okay I exagerated about the bulbs. I am not really good with how much heat a bulb emits. I was kidding about the 8 bulbs, but I do recommend separating males and females for a few days.
ismart
Well-known member
If the female is not producing ootheca, the condition is not optimum for her to deposit ooth, such as the temp is too low. If the condition is right, you will see the female calling, have you seen any of the adult females from this batch calling so far? Gongylus males usually don't get the kick to mate if the temp is below 100F (eventhough female is receptive at any warm temperature). Try to put about 5-7 males in a large cage (a meter cube or more) in 80-85F for couple of days, then heat the cage up to 100F with extra heat lamp, the male Gongylus will think the hot summer has arrived and become active, then you place single female into the cage. That might work.
This is my cage (2 ft x 2 ft x 4 ft). I have only one light bulb for a week with the male, then increased to three 60W bulb before introducing the female. Temp gets to about 100-105F during the day. I have about 5-7 males and one female in the cage all the time.
The pair will 'dance' to each other (seems like a mating ritual) and mate. As soon as i see a mating pair, i will take the pair out and put them in a separate cage so other male won't disturb the mating pair. At the same time, i will place another female in the large cage with the rest of the males.
Transferring a mating pair to foot cube cage.
kamakiri
Well-known member
revmdn
Well-known member
Yen, that dosen't disturb them when you move them likr that? That's wild.
I moved more lamps to one spot - all females imediatelly moved their butts there (it's about 40C there), males did the same - I'm gon add one more lamp there, but I need to go to Castorama to buy some 40W spot-lights and stuff.
What is the ambient temp in your bug room? If the room is cold, the temperature could vary quite a bit between the area near light bulb and the area not far from the light source. To conserve heat in the cage you could reduce the ventilation (like wrapping up somet part of the cage with plastic), instead of adding more light bulb. It is hard to tell without seeing the cage.
There is actually an easy way to move violin mantis to your palm, without touching the male at all, especially if the female is hanging upside down. Their long leg allows enough space for my hand to get in between the footing and the body, gently tap the female leg with your finger and she would put her foot on your hand, then go on with the rest of the legs. Sorry not sure if that make any sense or not it is kind of hard to explain by word.
becareful with extra light bulb, it may need more light bulbs to heat up the entire cage but tere is always the fire hazard with extra heat. Or you could try to block the heat loss by reducing ventilation as mentioned earlier, save you $$ for electric and lightbulb, and also reduce the risk of fire hazard.
Congrate Shaik, aren't they cool!!
It ain't so good with the mean temperatures in my room, it's usually 20C. But I turned the radiator on to the full, and it gives some additional heat.
I know about the fire hazard, but I've got lamps placed in places where it's safe to use them - I even have my own system of preventing mantids from burns (with the bulbs placed inside the enclosure).
It's a net-cage, so I kinda had to experiment a little bit. I covered the "ceiling" with a piece of glass, which I snatched from a cupboard I also covered some of the walls with aluminum foil... this will actually come handy, as my mantids are "peeing" on my walls constantly.
I dunno, it has been only a couple of hours since I started increasing the temperatures through all means possible, but Gongylus already seem to be more active - I think, that one of the females is actually looking for a spot to deposit an ooth.
I'll keep you posted.
I know about the fire hazard, but I've got lamps placed in places where it's safe to use them - I even have my own system of preventing mantids from burns (with the bulbs placed inside the enclosure).
It's a net-cage, so I kinda had to experiment a little bit. I covered the "ceiling" with a piece of glass, which I snatched from a cupboard
I also covered some of the walls with aluminum foil... this will actually come handy, as my mantids are "peeing" on my walls constantly.I dunno, it has been only a couple of hours since I started increasing the temperatures through all means possible, but Gongylus already seem to be more active - I think, that one of the females is actually looking for a spot to deposit an ooth.
I'll keep you posted.
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