Help! (Maybe)

[Idolofreak]

So I wake up yesterday morning and come downstairs, and to my horror, my ootheca and its stick decided to FALL. But only from about three inches off the cage bottom. I very carefully hot glued the stick back onto another branch, and did not damage the ootheca on any way. Will my nymphs be okay?

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Yeah, you should be fine... I know people that dropped them from 3 ft and it was OK.

You might want more than 3in for them to hatch from so they don't touch the bottom and deform.

 

[PhilinYuma]

Like Angel sez, but if they appear to be confused and disoriented when they hatch, running around without any apparent sense of purpose, you might want to do a quick mental status exam on them: "Where are you?" "What's your mother's name?" "Who is the king of the US?" Stuff like that, and if they don't pass, take them to urgent care for a thorough check up.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Or just take to Dr. Phil! but don't leave em with him!

 

[sporeworld]

Don't know if you already have this, but I've usually got a mess of excelsior under my ooths, so even if it did fall, it wouldn't hit the bottom (and they have something to climb on when hatching).

 

[PhilinYuma]

Don't know if you already have this, but I've usually got a mess of excelsior under my ooths, so even if it did fall, it wouldn't hit the bottom (and they have something to climb on when hatching).

And on a more serious note, this is what I do, too. It means that you can have a nice moist substrate without much danger of the nymphs drowning and helps keep them separated, reducing stress. I plan on hatching future ooths in a fairly humid environment -- it seems that ooths so treated yield more nymphs -- and I shall glue them to a tongue blade which I shall place over a lidless deli cup with some good old excelsior in it. I'll keep all of the pots in a net cage with a dedicated humidifier*. Much better than giving the pot a squirt or two or three, once or twice a day or once or twice a week. That method is about as effective as saying "gesundheit" to each pot once a day. Some of the ooths will actually hatch!

*Except for desert species, of course.

 

[sporeworld]

Ha! I essentially just did EXACTLY that! (Although i had to check google to make sure I knew what a "tongue blade" was). I just ended up cutting most of the lid they were already glued to open, but same effect. Humdifier blowing into net cage, with pots of ooth-gold on the inside.

Next up: I have a few small aquariums with mesh lids that I might use next time, so I can layer the bottom with cloth towels or sponges and soak them for relatively constant humidity. Then repurpose my heat pad (on a timer) to boost the temp. I'll experiment with covering the screen a little bit at a time and see how that changes things up. (I really should just buy a real incubator).

 

[lancaster1313]

I have had oothecae fall from the top of a 32 oz container, where a certain mantis likes to lay on the smooth surface of the lid. When I open the lid the oothecae fall to the bottom of the cup, with nothing on the bottom. I also accidentally dropped one on the carpet, when I was standing. The oothecae are hatching fine. :lol: I think that something alot worse would have to happen to hurt the eggs in an ootheca.

 

[Idolofreak]

@PhilinYuma

The bottom of the cage is really soft. It's made up of lots of moss and moist dirt, and I mist them a few times a day. Sixty squirts each time for about 50% humidity. I squirt the cage so much each time because it doesn't take long for the humidity to drop down to 35% or so. BTW they're not in a deli cup anymore. I actually have them on a branch in a twenty gallon aquarium with great ventilation and lots of branches.

 

[Rick]

You could toss an ooth from an airplane in flight and it wouldn't hurt it. They're so light. It will be fine. A fall of three inches is laughable.

 

[lancaster1313]

You could toss an ooth from an airplane in flight and it wouldn't hurt it. They're so light. It will be fine. A fall of three inches is laughable.

:lol:

 

[dgerndt]

When I got my Gambian ooth in the mail, it fell out when I was unwrapping it. It was so tiny, I didn't know it had been dropped! :lol: 12 nymphs, which is normal for that species, hatched out just fine about a month later. Ooths are made to be tough. They'll be fine.

 

[Idolofreak]

You could toss an ooth from an airplane in flight and it wouldn't hurt it. They're so light. It will be fine. A fall of three inches is laughable.

LOL Thanks.

 

[Idolofreak]

When I got my Gambian ooth in the mail, it fell out when I was unwrapping it. It was so tiny, I didn't know it had been dropped! :lol: 12 nymphs, which is normal for that species, hatched out just fine about a month later. Ooths are made to be tough. They'll be fine.

Oh MAN do I want a Gambian spotted eye. And/or a spiny flower mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii). So jealous...

 

[sporeworld]

And/or a spiny flower mantis (Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii). So jealous...

Yeah, wahlbergi are fabulous!

 

[animalexplorer]

Wahlbergii are extrememly beautiful!

 

[massaman]

I think if it was going to hatch at that time and fell I would worry or if it was already hatching then fell but I would not know if that would effect any future nymph hatching if the ooth fell and was reglued in place but they may still hatch unharmed!