egg bound females

[macro junkie]

Has any one got any idea why mantids get egg bound even after mating?

 

[Rick]

Only had it happen a few times. Sometimes giving them more options works. Once I put one on a large houseplant and she laild.

 

[Katnapper]

Good question, MJ. I'm currently having a problem with my C. gemmatus laying, and I'm curious what species you might be having problems with. In addition to getting a better understanding of the causes, and possible solutions, I also wonder if there are particular species that exhibit this problem more than others.

I had 2 C. gemmatus females who molted to adult mid February. I'd mated each of them twice with the same male around the end of February. One of them has since died recently without explanation, but she appeared to be passing blood (green) a couple of days before she died. Both females had been very fat for quite a while, but no laying. Upon seeing the blood from the one female, I reduced the feeding amounts for both. And I'm still cautiously feeding the remaining female minimally. Like the deceased female, her abdomen hangs down and appears too heavy to even be able to lift up to lay an ooth on whatever surface she is hanging from.

Thanks for the tip, Rick. I've already tried adding flowers with stems, then a thick stick to the enclosure... but still nothing yet. I'm considering trying her in a larger enclosure with more foliage options, a net cage, or somehow rigging a stick horizontally at the top of an enclosure now. Not sure what else to try.

 

[superfreak]

upping the humidity can sometimes induce an ooth laying.

 

[macro junkie]

Only had it happen a few times. Sometimes giving them more options works. Once I put one on a large houseplant and she laild.

orchid mantis..2 x trying to breed it and both times she got egg bound

 

[hibiscusmile]

Hey Macro, the orchids do this a lot, what is she eating?

Kat, once the abdomen starts to hang like that chances are she will not lay, they usually die early when this happens too.

 

[Katnapper]

Kat, once the abdomen starts to hang like that chances are she will not lay, they usually die early when this happens too.

Thanks for the imput, Rebecca. I've been wondering if she'll just die without laying like the other one... seems to be a good possibility. Wish I knew what caused it.

 

[macro junkie]

Hey Macro, the orchids do this a lot, what is she eating?Kat, once the abdomen starts to hang like that chances are she will not lay, they usually die early when this happens too.

only bluebottle flies fed on honey and when i can be bothered dusted with pollen.it lived in those 1ftx1ft net cages you sale.i even mated it again to try and make it lay but no such luck...