Do they have a chance?

[MantidLord]

Okay, so some of you may all ready know about my I. oratorias' fast development, which enabled them to make ootheca early in the year. This also caused the ooths to hatch in September, when they are supposed to hatch in May-June of next year! I mean, there are no nymphs in the wild at this moment, everyone are adults are at least sub-adults. Anyways, I have about 20 nymphs running around, and the oldest is L4 (by the way, still got a couple of adult females who actually lived to see their kids). So I'm wondering, what are the chances of them surviving in my house at room temp or higher, and fed regularly. I realize that if I let them go, that they will die do to the cold weather and lack of food. But if I keep them in the house, with warm weather, and store bought food (which is sold year-round), then why should any of them die off? I know they hatched early, and if their are premature mantids then that might cause a problem, but so far they are molting once every week (just like their parents), and are gut loaded on fruit flies. I estimate them to reach adulthood by the end of November (3 months just like parents as opposed to 4-5 months in wild), so can anyone throw out some potential problems with keeping them? Thanks in advance.

 

[hibiscusmile]

They just have to be house raised, look at them the same as any other mantis you keep as a pet. When grown and cannot be let out, you will have to sell them or breed for ooth.

 

[MantidLord]

Thank-you. I figured that they would be okay, just worried that the whole hatching 7 months earlier think would kill them off. I mean, they didn't even go through a cold dispause. I intend on breeding them as well, so hopefully everything will be all right.

 

[Rick]

It makes no difference what is going on outside with mantids outside your house. If yours are born indoors and you keep them indoors they are not going to die when winter comes. :lol: They will die when they get old.

 

[MantidLord]

Thanks for the reassurance. I figured as much. I got my first L5 this morning (they're growing fast!).

 

[darkspeed]

I dont really think that they can actually hatch "prematurely"... Granted their parents exhibited extremely fast metabolism causing them to grow quickly, that me be attributed more to diet and temperature than anything else. It is natures way that the babies will hatch when they are ready to, and the fact that they hatched so quickly may also be due to the temp that you keep them. Mantids in the wild deal with more extreme temp fluctuations and are less likely to eat as well or as regularly as a captive one, and thus not grow as quickly as yours, which may also translate down to the offspring if the mother was very well fed during her egg production. Im sure that the new gen will do just fine, and if you want them to grow a little slower, keep them slightly cooler and feed them slightly less.

 

[MantidLord]

Okay, I think I see what your saying Darkspeed. My last gen were kept in room temperature conditions which is much less than the conditions they would normally be in (90-100) degrees fahrenheit. So I figured that the above average feeding mixed with the below average temp would average the development of the mantids. That was obviously not the case. It seemed as if the food played a heavier toll than the temp. The first batch of mantids from the current gen hatched outside my house (which would seem normal at first, but givent he fact that they were layed earlier than normal, this occurance would not have happened if the parents were not developed at the pace they were). Then after those ooths hatched, the ones that I was keeping inside started to hatch, even though it was only room temperature! When in reality, it's assumed that Iris oratoria ooths will hatch right on time in 90-100 degrees fahrenheit, but months later in room temperature! So I have no idea what sparked that. I put the rest of the unhatched ooths in the refridgerator, and considering that the weather is starting to cool down, I don't expect a whole lot of hatching from the ooths that are still out. Thanks for your imput Darkspeed.

I actually like the pace that they're developing, because if I can get them to reach adulthood and lay before the colder months hit (December and January), then maybe I can get the next gen to hatch simultaniously with wild ooths (next May-June).