First Time Ghost Mating With Questions

[ky_mantis]

I recently got and adult male Ghost to pair with my female. My female had already laid her first Ooth a few days before the male arrived. I put them together Thursday night and by the next morning he was on her back. He remained there for over a day (probably about 28 hours total) and I could see them repeatly attempt to mate.

I'm not sure if it was successful. I thought the would "attach" to each other for a long period of time, but it seemed that is was multiple short joinings. I'm worried that they were able to mate properly because she still has a little bit of Ooth remainates stuck to her bottom from laying her first Ooth. I tried misting her butt to loosen the Ooth remainates but it seems to still be there. 

Is this mating proceedure normal? Can the Ooth remainates keep them from properly mating?

Also, I am assuming if they did successfully mate, any future Ooths should be fertile?

 

[MantisGirl13]

If they did mate, then future ooths will be fertile. I don't think that ooth remnants would hinder mating, so if the male stayed on the female for a while, hen you should have fertile ooths. Good luck with the ooths!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Multiple short joinings are normal. He will stay on her back for a long period, around 24 hours up to 3 days but the actual connections are brief. If they successfully connected even once then all her future ooth should be fertile without re-mating...although doing so is supposed to increase yield. 

After she lays an ooth there will be remnants of the material on her rear, this is completely normal. It will fall off on its own after a few days, you do not need to help her remove it. However, if you are really concerned that the ooth material could have hindered proper mating then you can try re-mating them again after it falls off. 

Just be careful with re-mating. Ghosts are supposed to have low occurrence of cannibalism but if the female is no longer receptive to mating she might try to eat him. (This is what happened with my ghosts when trying to re-mate, luckily I got there in time to rescue him.) Feed her well before putting them together and keep an eye on them while he approaches her, this is the most dangerous part for him. Once he is on her back you can leave them to it.

 

[ky_mantis]

Thanks for the responses. Good to know that everything is going as it should. Being a new mantis keeper, I always worry that I am doing something wrong.

 

[ky_mantis]

Just be careful with re-mating. Ghosts are supposed to have low occurrence of cannibalism but if the female is no longer receptive to mating she might try to eat him. (This is what happened with my ghosts when trying to re-mate, luckily I got there in time to rescue him.) Feed her well before putting them together and keep an eye on them while he approaches her, this is the most dangerous part for him. Once he is on her back you can leave them to it.

Yeah, my male got eaten by my adult female during his final molt. Made me very sad, but luckily I was able to get an adult male. I still have one sub-adult female what should be molting any day now, so, assuming everyone is fertile, I should have a bunch of Ghost babies in the future.

 

[MantisGirl13]

Ghost babies are so much fun! I  have raised mine from L2, and they are almost all subadult now. Good luck!

- MantisGirl13

 

[ky_mantis]

Ghost babies are so much fun! I  have raised mine from L2, and they are almost all subadult now. Good luck!

- MantisGirl13

If Portland's (what I named the male) efforts are any indication, I will have a bunch of babies. He has been on and off my female's back 4 or 5 times now, with each lasting about a day. I'm almost thinking I should move him out at this point so he won't disturb her when she starts laying her next Ooth or he irritates my female till the point she eats him.

 

[MantisGirl13]

I hope that the mating is successful! Hopefully you will have baby ghosts running all around very soon!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Mantis Lady]

The male loves mating. maybe is indeed a good idea to move the male, so both of mantids can get some rest. (or laying an ooth)

 

[MantisGirl13]

@Little Mantis I agree. You should separate the male.

- MantisGirl13

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Once they have been sufficiently mated several times it is a good idea to remove the male. He will keep trying to mate even if the females are no longer receptive and that can get dangerous for him. Now that they are fertilized the females need to be fed more frequently larger amounts of food as producing ooth takes a lot of energy. Offer them as much prey as they will eagerly hunt and eat on their own. It's not really possible to overfeed once they are adults, they will stop when full. Female ghosts are prolific egg layers, they will lay an ooth every 1 to 2 weeks. You can try remating when their ooth start to get progressively shorter in length or every 3 or so ooth if you want to up their yields but it isn't necessary. The males only live 6 to 8 weeks into adulthood so keep that in mind when planning a mating schedule.

 

[ky_mantis]

I took him out when he kept trying to mount her and she was fighting him off. Unfortunately he passed away a couple of days after taking him out of her cage. My other female had her final molt just a few days after he passed, which is also unfortunate. I hope to find her another male. 

Should I remove the Ooths after she lays them?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Too bad on the timing. Males don't live very long unfortunately. 

But yes, remove each ooth after they are laid. You can keep it in a jar with a screen lid or a deli cup with the ooth attached to the lid parallel to the ground or to a stick at an angle with the tail end of the ooth downward. The "zipper" should always be facing out, that is where the nymphs come out. I label each ooth with the date they are laid and note it on my phone's calendar as well. Ghost ooth are supposed to hatch after 4 to 6 weeks if kept between 75 to 85°F and 50 to 70% humidity. (Some take longer so don't give up if they are late to hatch.)