Hi I am new

[breezes127]

dont worry rick when my mantis lays its eggs ill give you a peice of the pieoh and how old is your son?

My son is only 7, this mantis thing started a week ago, with a mantis that my son lost at my mom's house, long story. Needless to say it is becoming a hobby or something like that.

BTW Rick if I find another mantis, I'll send it to you. :wink:

 

[worldofmantis]

are you planning on mating your female european mantis?

 

[breezes127]

are you planning on mating your female european mantis?

Well I am really a newbie, I wouldn't know were to start and I am afraid they'll eat each other.

 

[worldofmantis]

Well ehrs how ya do it. When they have both been an adult for a few weeks you load em both up on food. Until there abdomen is really full. Then you take the male out of his cage and set him down on a desk and wait until he is calm and just standing there. Then you st the female down infront of him by a few inches. If they are old enough he will juimp on and hold for dear life. She will probably struggle but thats how it will go. If she starts to grab him simply seperate them wait a few days and start all over.

 

[breezes127]

Well ehrs how ya do it. When they have both been an adult for a few weeks you load em both up on food. Until there abdomen is really full. Then you take the male out of his cage and set him down on a desk and wait until he is calm and just standing there. Then you st the female down infront of him by a few inches. If they are old enough he will juimp on and hold for dear life. She will probably struggle but thats how it will go. If she starts to grab him simply seperate them wait a few days and start all over.

But I would have to find 2 adolescent mantis, right? Porky is adult or so I assume? :?

 

[Andrew]

She's an adult, and chances are she has already mated. If you find a male(males have more segments on the abdomen than females) do what Chris said and it should go fine.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[worldofmantis]

Yea you would need to find two adults but i found one rick sold it to me.

 

[worldofmantis]

She's an adult, and chances are she has already mated. If you find a male(males have more segments on the abdomen than females) do what Chris said and it should go fine.Thanks,

Andrew

you absolutley right andrew she has probably already mated (im chris)

 

[breezes127]

Well if I come across another,which is very possible it seems they are every where this year, I will give a whirl. I can't mate 2 diff species of mantids,right?

 

[breezes127]

She's an adult, and chances are she has already mated. If you find a male(males have more segments on the abdomen than females) do what Chris said and it should go fine.Thanks,

Andrew

you absolutley right andrew she has probably already mated

Could she be preggers now? :shock: :?:

 

[worldofmantis]

no they have to be the same species. You will know because european mantids normally have two white dots on thire fore arms. And chinese mantids are incredibly large and have green and brown wings. Carolina mantids are smaller than european mantids. Males will be smaller than females but will have 8 segments instead of 6 on there abdomenand all the characteristics as females ill post a pic in a bit

 

[worldofmantis]

she could be pregnant ill show ya some pics

 

[breezes127]

she could be pregnant ill show ya some pics

Wow is this breeding season?

 

[worldofmantis]

heres a link to some pics http://bugsincyberspace.com/mantids/mantis_religiosa.html

Mantids breed when they become adults. They dont have wings until then. They molt their skin and become bigger. The size of a new born is the size of a misquito ( just a little bigger) I think a better comparison is a baby grass hopper. heres a pic of a baby one http://bugsincyberspace.com/mantids/tenode...a_sinensis.html

It also has a pic of an ootheca (egg case) although the second link is chinese mantids but they are around that size

 

[breezes127]

heres a link to some pics http://bugsincyberspace.com/mantids/mantis_religiosa.htmlMantids breed when they become adults. They dont have wings until then. They molt their skin and become bigger. The size of a new born is the size of a misquito ( just a little bigger) I think a better comparison is a baby grass hopper. heres a pic of a baby one http://bugsincyberspace.com/mantids/tenode...a_sinensis.html

It also has a pic of an ootheca (egg case) although the second link is chinese mantids but they are around that size

How long is there "pregnancy"? a month? If Porky has babies , do I seperate them from her right away?

 

[worldofmantis]

when she becomes pregnant she will lay eggs. EeVn if there not furtilized. the eggs look like the link i just posted. Then it will take 2-4 weeks for them to ahtch. Then boom lots of babys. Feed them fruit flys and you can keep them together until they molt twice then seperate them. You probably will see some canabolism but uless you go buy 100 little cages you cant seperate them. I seperate them when they are born cause i love the lil buggas so my advice is to buy 300 lil styrafoam cups rubber bands netting or food wrap with holes poked in it a sponge and a mister/ spray bottel that ahs been cleaned and has never had chemicals in it. raising them from lil babys can be expensive and hard

 

[breezes127]

when she becomes pregnant she will lay eggs. EeVn if there not furtilized. the eggs look like the link i just posted. Then it will take 2-4 weeks for them to ahtch. Then boom lots of babys. Feed them fruit flys and you can keep them together until they molt twice then seperate them. You probably will see some canabolism but uless you go buy 100 little cages you cant seperate them. I seperate them when they are born cause i love the lil buggas so my advice is to buy 300 lil styrafoam cups rubber bands netting or food wrap with holes poked in it a sponge and a mister/ spray bottel that ahs been cleaned and has never had chemicals in it. raising them from lil babys can be expensive and hard

Well hopefully she is not preggers, if she is I will be on here selling some baby european mantis. Do they eat more if they are preggers( I know females eat more in general)? because she is ceratinly a little piggy (hence the name porky).

 

[worldofmantis]

lol by the way i like the name i named mine martina. I Think they eat alot mroe to support the babys

 

[Andrew]

Like Chris said, mantids get wings when they molt into adult. After about 2 weeks from their last molt, they are ready to mate. In the wild, mantids hatch in the spring and die in the winter. In captivity, however, females can live much longer.

Porky will probably begin laying oothecae soon. M. Religiosa(European mantis) oothecae(mantis egg sack) need a cooling period before they hatch, and it normally takes about a month for them to hatch after the cooling period. So you could keep the ooths in the fridge until spring, hatch them, and release/sell any that you dont want if you prefer to do it that way. Female mantids will lay an ootheca every couple of weeks until they die.

Im sure you could find plenty of hatching techniques by looking at some old posts. You can keep the oothecae the same way you would a chinese mantis ootheca(tenodera sinensis).

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[worldofmantis]

I diddnt know that they NEED a freezing period. How short is the shortest i can make the freezing period?