Chinese ooth hatched

[T]

Ok so my chinese ooth hatched this morning, I wasnt really prepared for it as I thought it was a dud.I ordered fruit fly cultures as soon as I realised they had hatched and I expect them to be here tue/wed.Will this be too late? I could probably catch some tiny bugs tomorrow.Also I misted the tank a little and the hatchlings were drinking the tiny droplets, is this ok?

Thanks!

 

[Asa]

Well, it would have been better if you had got the fruitflies quicker, but it's okay. If they get too hungry they'll eat eachother. Don't catch any bugs for them. If they drink the water, it justs means their thirsty. Make sure the drops of water aren't too big. They can drown in a drop of water. Ifyou have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

 

[robo mantis]

Yes basically what Asa said. Many will die within the first week so don't worry. So don't feed them until after their first shed.

 

[Rick]

You should feed them now. They will eat each other less if you feed them well. Don't just not feed them!

 

[robo mantis]

Ok i'm just saying that because he just bought a culture and it will be here later in the week so he should just mist them.

 

[T]

Ok cheers.I'm pretty sure I can catch some tiny flies out in the garden.

Btw I have noticed about 6 lying dead on the bottom this morning, is this normal?

 

[OGIGA]

Yeah, Chinese die like crazy early on. you can expect a lot more...

 

[T]

Oh well I'll try and grow on as many as possible.Would they be able to eat pinky maggots(the really small ones?).I know that pinkies hatch into flies about the same size as fruit flies cos I had a load hatch out before that I fed to my first african mantis(L3).I can get them from my local tackle shop but it will take a week or more before they turn into flies(still would be a good investment anyway).

 

[Asa]

Just feed them fruitflies.

 

[robo mantis]

Stick to fruit flies it seems to do the trick.

 

[T]

Ok cheers

 

[bluebman52]

When my chinese ootheca hatched my flies were not abundant enough to feed all of them. In desperation I bought some Week1 crickets, and my L1 chinese nymphs had no problem catching them. They fattened up quick eating one of them too.

 

[Peekaboo]

A lot of your Chinese nymphs will die off for no reason during the early stages.

While I don't endorse this as a permanent method of feeding, hit up a Petco and by some fruit flies. Make sure to see that their are already plenty of hatched out fruit flies crawling around in it.

You may be about to receive a culture, but depending upon the age of the culture, there may not be enough flies in there for feeding.

 

[T]

Ok guys so I have about 30 left and are now in a proper tank with a mesh cover and a fruit fly culture and plenty of fruit flys about and a live plant and other sticks.The ones I have left all seem fat and are eating fruit flys all the time.I mist the tank a few times a day and they seem to drink each time.Am I doing things right just now?

 

[Kriss]

All sounds good to me. If you can keep the number of mantids in the region of thirty that will be a good number for you to breed your next generation.

You only need to spray them every 2-3 days I think. Someone might disagree with me but as nymphs they are more susceptible to the highs and lows of humidity and spraying too often will lead to more casulties.