Well, your mantid's name (usually spelled Melissa) means "honey bee" (for a little Cretan girl who got turned into one while gathering honey, before my time), so I guess that you should be feeding her bees. Your story of "many egg bound females" is a curious one. So let's start off with food. What are you feeding you subadult and adult females, how much and how often?
I have assumed that he already knows this, but not being mated should not prevent a female from laying.
I always have a male. I think it's a waste of a perfectly good female if she lays infertile eggs.
Think of how many mantids you can cram in there. More than 3, isn't it?
Not saying crickets are bad. They are second to cockroaches. Just saying give her some oxygen between feeds.
plus it'll give you an excuse to go outside and catch some bugs!Er...lotsa good advice in your post...except for this quoted part, well, to those of us on the northern half of the planet!
:lol: Good point about the bark. I have wondered if one reason that a lot of folks' mantids lay their ooths on the lid is due to the rough texture. I use bark a lot, though I think that mantids that lay skinny ooths, like ghosts, tend to prefer a twig, and they prefer it to the lid every time.not simply opinion. i believe there is literature on the subject somewhere - roaches simply have a more suitable nutrient ratio. im sure crickets work fine though if youre going for simplicity
try putting in sticks of varying diameter and (this worked when i had an eggbound female once) get some textured bark and try cutting it into strips about 1 or 2 cm wide. the texture of the surface may contribute to her laying. oh and try making it so that the bark surface faces northish and gets a lot of light during the day. shes looking for a place that will incubate her young well. that means warmth.
how often do you spray?
