I found a stagmomantis carolina on my neighbors house last winter after the first snow. I brought her in and cared for her until she passed in february. During that time she laid 6 oothecae. They started hatching about a week and a half ago. I have them in 3 different critter keepers (I taped the inside of the lid so they can't get through the slats). The first round of hatchlings have all died except for one, who has molted once and is almost twice the size of when they hatched. The other two rounds of hatchlings have just hatched within the last week. I'm very excited, and also anxious about the mortality rate. I think the first round died off because they just didn't eat. I have wingless fruitflies in there for them all, and I make sure there are always at least a few in there with them. When I add more, I just shake them out of the fruit fly jar into the containers. I mist them a few times a day, because they dry out really fast for some reason. the larger one has a dish with a sponge in it that I keep wet, and I spray the door on the lid with water as well. Any suggestions for keeping the mortality rate down? At this rate I'll have 4-6 that live out of 6 oothecae. This pic is the mom.
Glad to be here
Zed
Glad to be here
Zed