Eggbound

[Chivalry]

My gemmatus that was bred is laying ooths like crazy and doing awesome... the four others who were not bred have laid 1 sad ooth between them, and one died this afternoon. I'm sure she was eggbound and I'd hate to lose the others. Is there a point of no return here? They're all huge except the bred one.

I have a mio in the same condition (also not bred) and she has a crusty bit on the side of her abdomen, (it looks like a booger) and I'm worried I'm going to lose her too.

What am I doing wrong here? Most of them are in 80 oz delis with the screen lids covered with cloth. All have diagonal branches to lay on. All get misted once a day in the evening. I'm feeding about every third day. Is there anything I can do to encourage them to lay or environmental tweaks I can do?

 

[agent A]

unmated creos dont like to lay ooths...

 

[Domanating]

Personally i never had any problem with egg laying. My females usually lay at night when its dark and activity at home is at its lowest. I've witnessed in rare occasions egg laying during the day too, when females feel secure and used to the noise. If a female isn't egg bound, it will obviously lay one day or another but giving them some hours of peace will maybe make things faster.

In all my years of mantis care i only had one egg bound mantis and as far as i know there's no possible way around it. Pretty much all oviparous animal species have a % of individuals that are egg bound and will most likely die because of it. Much like a non stop inflating balloon, the eggs will reach the organs or rot and cause massive internal injuries and infections.

 

[Chivalry]

unmated creos dont like to lay ooths...

Glad it's not the conditions I'm keeping them in. Thanks for the info.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Sometimes upping the humidty higher than usual at night helps. I don't tend to breed my mantises and over the years I have had several females who never laid a single ooth. They otherwise however lived perfectly normal, long, and healthy lives.

 

[Chivalry]

What about when they have that rupture thing happen... can they hang on after that?

Here's a pic - albeit a crappy one, it was my phone and she wouldn't sit still - of the side of her abdomen.