great surprise...

[Montana]

I am no expert so take this for what it's worth.

Recently I have hatched T. Sinensis and S. Lineola, and I have kept about half in a very large net container and other half I divided up to groups of 8 to 10 in 32 oz deli cups. Both have the same conditions because they are all in the same room. The half that were all together, a lot died in the first two weeks. Maybe like 50% or more. The groups that were separated in the 32oz containers, maybe 10% died. I didn't see any canabilism going on or even aggressive behavior. So i'm not sure really why. Maybe the experts can give a reason. This happened on both the T. Sinensis and the S. Linola.

Maybe too much room in the net container prevented the nymphs from seeing the feeders? Maybe you could confirm - were there dead flies at the bottom and thin, starved-looking dead nymphs?

 

[garin33]

Hi Montana,

The net cube had tons of fruit flies. I would dump in a bunch and made sure I always saw alot of fruit flies running and climbing around. I kept some paper towels at the bottom and sprayed daily but I get the feeling that it was maybe the humidity level. In a net cube, the humidity is pretty much the humidity of the room and the room has been a little more on the dry side because of the heater. That's the only thing I can think of. It was quite interesting.

 

[Paradoxica]

I think it might have to do with stress, I always see one nymph bump into another and it causes a huge "Stampede" though the whole container. Seems pretty stressful to me.

 

[garin33]

Maybe that was it, it's very strange. I'm going to try another batch soon and this time try to keep the net cube in a higher humidity room to see if that makes any difference.

 

[patrickfraser]

I think it might have to do with stress, I always see one nymph bump into another and it causes a huge "Stampede" though the whole container. Seems pretty stressful to me.

I concur. When keeping full ooth hatches together I do not feed for the first couple days and mist lightly. When it comes time for the first feeding, I will add a small amount of fruit flies and check the reactions. If no eating takes place and mass chaos ensues, I will wait another day or two before introducing more but mist daily. I believe there are probably more "stress related" deaths than deaths to cannibalism. You can always wait to feed them until you see the cannibalism start. You know they are hungry then and they should gobble up what you put in. It is easier than going after something your own size. :lol: