chinese mating

[robo mantis]

I am going to mate my chinese mantids because me friend found a male i am going to mate tonight what should i do what are good ways to keep the male alive?

 

[Rick]

Here is how I mate all mantids. I take the male out and set him somewhere like a house plant or a curtain or something. I leave him alone for awhile to calm down. Then I take the female out and place her facing away from him about eight inches in front of him. I have her crawl off my hand and walk away from her. If she won't move away I will blow on her or use something to make her move. If the male is interested he should start sneaking up on her and eventually jump onto her back. He may jump on backwards but that is normal. He will turn around. Be ready for the female to try and grab him. If she does just block her front legs with your hand or something but try not to interfere with the male. If she goes really crazy wait a week or so and try to mate them again. Some young females do this but older ones just usually sit here. It may be helpful to give her something to eat when he starts to approach.

 

[robo mantis]

well she is very fat and ate this afternoon and won't take crix now so is she full?

 

[Rick]

They usually don't turn down food. She may be ready to lay an ooth. But if she is really fat she may be ready for mating now so you should have good luck trying now.

 

[robo mantis]

she is in a cage and on the roof and the male is in like a coffee can there is a little window at the top of the females cage so i was thinking put him through there?

 

[Rick]

Did you not read my procedure I posted earlier? Do like I said in my first post in this thread if you want him to live. That way they will be loose in the room and he can easily escape when he is done. If you put him in her cage you can't control anything and he will likely be a goner since he can't get out. Reread my long post above and do that.

 

[robo mantis]

ok but i have cats at my house and they would go for them and what happens if they get to a place where i can get them? well i just tried and it was going good then the female saw him and i bailed.

 

[Rick]

I have two cats. I keep them high and usually the male will go high once he escapes after the mating. The female won't move much if at all.

 

[rlechols]

I have cats too--shut the door to the room where the mantids are. Rick's procedure has worked great for me--it usually only takes a few minutes of looking to locate the male later, and the female is usually in the same spot.

 

[Mantidae]

she is in a cage and on the roof and the male is in like a coffee can there is a little window at the top of the females cage so i was thinking put him through there?

One of the ways I let them mate "may" work for you if your cats are a concern, no guarantees. I had fashioned a clamp-on-lamp stand using round stock wood and two 10lb weights from my weight lifting set. The wood is 1 1/8" diameter stock, it slides right into the 1 1/4" holes (they taper to 1 1/8") of the weights which serve as a solid "base" for the wood stand. It allows me to quickly adjust the height of the lamp to the level I want it. But I found that if I place a female mantid at the base, she will slowly crawl up the wood to the very top and most times she sits there like she might do in the wild on the top of a plant.

Once she starts moving upward, I place the male about 6-8 inches away as he sits on the top of one of my critter cages (you can use anything U wish here). Never fails, as soon as he spots her moving he starts climbing the pole and eventually jumps on her, usually near the top of the pole. Since the pole is 5' long I don't think the cats will notice the mantids, at least while mating (then again cats notice everything you DON'T want them too!). And so far (fingers crossed) I've not had one couple leave the pole once they start mating. Usually she will move upward to the top and stay there once they start mating. Once they're done the male will usually flee for his own good, she stays in the same position for hours.

You can always lock the cats in some other room so the mantids can safely mate. The use of the pole has saved me lots of work since she will climb it and do so slowly, giving the male a moving target to attract his attention. Works well for me.

 

[robo mantis]

thanks for the tip

 

[robo mantis]

i did it they are mating the female hit the male but he got on and is mating right now!!!

 

[worldofmantis]

congradulations

 

[robo mantis]

ya i'm using the male you sent me

 

[robo mantis]

this is the first successful mating and the male is mating forever lol

 

[worldofmantis]

lol i have my other male mating my female and it started at like 11am and now it is 8.23pm they mate forever lol

 

[robo mantis]

you mated them today also?

 

[robo mantis]

yes right after the last post up there i checked them and the male was gone he was running from her and i saved him

 

[worldofmantis]

lol i dont even think my male has even started mating he aproached her as if he was then hopped on backwords turned around and boom has been there for like over 12 hours lmao.