Heat does make a difference

[minomantis]

I am just finding it amazing how much heat and of course eating can make a difference to the growth of your mantids. I has taken about a solid four days for my mantids from each molt to molt again. It has been about 90 degrees and humid for a while and my mantids are loving it! I'm sure there are many factors that are at play here, but in my previous years of raising mantids they have never grown this fast!

 

[BugLover]

Woah just four days?! thats crazy!

 

[aNisip]

However fast they are growing means they won't live very long...high metabolism of the mantis is the result of the increased temps...it's definitely not a win-win...so I look at it as a win-lose... just a thought...

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[minomantis]

wow, never thought about it like that! Maybe it'll cool down over here!

 

[Rick]

Of course it does. But molts four days apart I am skeptical of.

 

[Precarious]

I would also suggest that more time between molts allows the mantis to get better nutrition to build a strong healthy body.

Slow and steady wins the race.

 

[minomantis]

should I stop feeding them often so they grow slower? It's literally the heat in my room that's causing them to grow fast... opening the window can only do so much.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Feeding them less is unlikely to solve the issue and will probably cause other problems. Younger instars are capable of molting pretty quickly, but if these are older nymphs you should probably cool them down a bit--try utilizing evaporative cooling in your room. High temperatures means greater metabolic rate and evaporative loss--they'll need plenty of food and water when they're in a high temperature environment.

 

[aNisip]

Feeding them less is unlikely to solve the issue and will probably cause other problems. Younger instars are capable of molting pretty quickly, but if these are older nymphs you should probably cool them down a bit--try utilizing evaporative cooling in your room. High temperatures means greater metabolic rate and evaporative loss--they'll need plenty of food and water when they're in a high temperature environment.

Yes, precisely! +1

The key isn't to restrict food bc their metabolism will still b that high bc of the temps...so keep them fed...but cooling them down will be the best option...

All the best,

Andrew

 

[hibiscusmile]

Also a mantis needs to empty itself of food before a molt, so if molting and remolting, it cannot get any nutriction that way.

 

[minomantis]

They just molted to L3 so they are still pretty young! I'm sure they will lengthen out in terms of molting but maybe I'll try moving them downstairs. There is about a 10 degree drop downstairs so maybe i'll try that!

 

[Termite48]

High temps and elevated humidity is great if you are growing mushrooms. For mantids it is a sure way to a quick life. You might try a batch of your nymphs at one set of parameters and the other half and the other set of temps and r/h. Keep a log and see which turn out the best for you and them.