I have two giant asian mantids, one male and one female. The female is A month old and the male is a month and a week or 2 old. I tried many methods of mating them but none work. I tried Rick's method and I tried placing the male on the females back. The female doesn't usually mind the male but the male sees the female points his antenna towards her, but right when I think he's going to jump on his back, he loses his attention on her or he freaks out and jumps backward. I even left them alone for a few hours and they didn't move at all.
Hierodula breeding prroblem.
- Thread starter hierodula
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My input might not count for much but here goes. Have you tried putting the male together with the female while she's eating? Chances of my males mounting my females by themselves are increased when the female is eating. Also, is your male well-fed? I try and make sure my male is well-fed before trying to pair him with a female. Seems like they toughen up after killing something recently themselves.
batsofchaos
Well-known member
I'd say stick them in a cage together and leave them that way until they mate. Since you've left the two together for a few hours without any cannibalism, I'd say you're probably safe leaving them together for longer. Just make sure they have a fairly large space so the male has room to run when he's done, with plenty of foot-holds and abundant food. I had a couple that I left in the same cage for four days before they had successfully mated, so it can take a while.
Ntsees
Well-known member
What I would do is force them to mate. I would hold the female's forelegs to prevent her from turning around and grabbing hold of the male and then put the male on top of the female with my other hand. With both of my hands occupied, I would use my pinky (the one on the same hand I'm holding the male) and move the male's abdomen below the female's. Most of the time, the male senses the female's abdomen and tries to connect. After connection, I make sure the male has grab ahold of the female before letting go of the male. I let go of the females forlegs afterwards and make sure she doesn't try to turn and grab the clinging male. Lastly, I feed the female something to get her attention away from the male.
note: don't try this if you are not able to deal with the female nibbling on your hand because she may or may not.
note: don't try this if you are not able to deal with the female nibbling on your hand because she may or may not.
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The male is definitely well fed, I try to feed him a superworm or a large cricket every day if he'll take it. I think he's just scared of the female. I think it might be because of her wings. ( they are ruffled up.)
Ill be sure to try that
I half tried this I put the male on the females back and tried to connect his abdomen to the female's, but when it comes in contact with the female, he tries to attack the female (scare her away). Ill try holding both of them
thanks Rick but I tried your method several times. It worked on european mantids but not my hierodulas. I think the male is afraid of the female because once the male started walking to her but when he got to her abdomen, he attacked it
try the feeding method as give her a big cricket or something and then put the male behind her and that may or may not work but you would need to keep her occupied so she wont be so inclined to attack the male if at all!
He didn't attack it :lol: That's what they do. Sometimes when the male jumps on it can look a little crazy. They jump on and sometimes will turn around a few times among other things.thanks Rick but I tried your method several times. It worked on european mantids but not my hierodulas. I think the male is afraid of the female because once the male started walking to her but when he got to her abdomen, he attacked it
He didn't jump on, he stayed back and struck it once he jumped on, slapped the female with his antenna but then got off
