femmephyllocrania
Member
So I have 3 ghost mantids (I know, not many, but that's all I could afford at the time) and I want to mate them if possible. Today one of the females molted to adulthood so I want to start figuring out what to do about mating as soon as possible.
First of all, is there anything I should do to help the male and the other female catch up to the first one? I don't want them to mature too far apart. I gave the other female some crickets today but she just ran away from them and she drank a lot of water, which makes me think she's probably getting ready to molt soon, so I'm not too worried about her. The male ate a good sized cricket and I'll give him some more tomorrow, plus I gave him some water. Besides feeding him more is there any way to guarantee he'll molt fairly soon? What's the best temperature to keep him at right now?
Second, what are the best conditions for helping them to mature properly? (Temperature, food, etc.?) I know I can get plenty of flies when I get to school (in a week), but should I supplement with crickets, too? Would that help?
Also, I've heard various things about when they'll be ready to mate. I was thinking of putting them together about 2 weeks after the male became an adult. Would that work? How soon is too soon? How late is too late? I don't need expert advice, just bits of information, things that you've found useful if you have experience breeding this species.
Any other information you can think of is welcome. Thank you.
First of all, is there anything I should do to help the male and the other female catch up to the first one? I don't want them to mature too far apart. I gave the other female some crickets today but she just ran away from them and she drank a lot of water, which makes me think she's probably getting ready to molt soon, so I'm not too worried about her. The male ate a good sized cricket and I'll give him some more tomorrow, plus I gave him some water. Besides feeding him more is there any way to guarantee he'll molt fairly soon? What's the best temperature to keep him at right now?
Second, what are the best conditions for helping them to mature properly? (Temperature, food, etc.?) I know I can get plenty of flies when I get to school (in a week), but should I supplement with crickets, too? Would that help?
Also, I've heard various things about when they'll be ready to mate. I was thinking of putting them together about 2 weeks after the male became an adult. Would that work? How soon is too soon? How late is too late? I don't need expert advice, just bits of information, things that you've found useful if you have experience breeding this species.
Any other information you can think of is welcome. Thank you.
