Hobbles for mantis breeding

[alicenwnderlnd]

I am wanting to design a hobble for a vicious Chinese Female Mantis. :lol: I have this Female Mantis that I know For sure is ready to breed, But she has eaten 3 Males this weekend. I am frustrated beyond relief and want to hobble her! She has been adult for 4 1/2 weeks and had 3 males that molted to adult about 3 weeks ago. She is not hungry, as i keep her in a mass fed environment. (about 30 bb all the time) I have one male left, that is sub adult, so now i have to wait for him to catch up, this will be her last shot! this is my third generation of chinese, but it might all end with this bad girl! just had to vent that!

 

[psyconiko]

You can hold her head so she can t bite.

 

[Rick]

SInce she is only being fed bluebottles it is hard to feed enough to really fill them up. Despite that, making sure the female is well fed is far from a guarantee she won't eat the male. The problem probably lies with the technique you're using. You didn't mention that so we can only guess. You can try just placing the male on her back and standing by to grab her if she turns around and tries to get him.

 

[[email protected]]

I remember seeing a post by Yen where he made hobbles out of o-rings. He put the o-rings over the females arms. I tried to find the post but couldn't.

 

[psyconiko]

http://fanatic-mantis.xooit.fr/t726-Theopropus-elegans-Suivi-Djoul.htm?start=45

scroll down to picture.

Give your female a small roach,she will be full for a little while.

 

[alicenwnderlnd]

SInce she is only being fed bluebottles it is hard to feed enough to really fill them up. Despite that, making sure the female is well fed is far from a guarantee she won't eat the male. The problem probably lies with the technique you're using. You didn't mention that so we can only guess. You can try just placing the male on her back and standing by to grab her if she turns around and tries to get him.

rick, the first i just tossed them together, my mistake, the second i removed them both and put the female on the top of a screen enclosure and gave her a silkworm, she was occupied the male went straight for her and as he went to jump on her back she dropped the worm and grabbed him, i was not quick enough to stop it. the third i did almost the same way but stayed closer and still was not quick enough. not sure how i will attempt the next, i may just toss her outside (as i have a lot of chinese in my garden) I have never had this much problems from a female, most wait untill after breeding to eat the mate :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[alicenwnderlnd]

http://fanatic-mantis.xooit.fr/t726-Theopropus-elegans-Suivi-Djoul.htm?start=45

scroll down to picture.

Give your female a small roach,she will be full for a little while.

Thanks Nikko, I might try that! :lol: :lol:

 

[angelofdeathzz]

They make small rubber bands for braces (teeth) that could work nicely for binding those troublesome raptors.

 

[PhilinYuma]

http://fanatic-manti...ul.htm?start=45

scroll down to picture.

Give your female a small roach,she will be full for a little while.

Yeah, this little forum is worth following.

There is one odd idea in the thread, though:

Ca m'est déjà arrivé de faire ça aussi, mais jamais de cette façon, ceci dit pas mal

Croisons les doigts pour ta femelle, c'est un peu pénible avec cet espèce, impossible de retrouver le spermatophore, il est trop petit et se brise à la sortie

"I've already tried to do this but not in this way, here's why it is bad: Crossing the female's legs is a bit difficult for this species. [it will be] impossible for her to retrieve the spermatophore. It is too small and breaks on emergence"

I agree that it is not a great idea, though the spermatophorethat the female often retieves and eats is no more than a snackie and is not always eaten even under normal circumstances..

I plan on writing this guy on other business today, so I shall ask him about it. Watch this space!

 

[hibiscusmile]

she shoould be laying soon anyways, if u feed her to much she will end up being egg bound. imo

 

[Rick]

she shoould be laying soon anyways, if u feed her to much she will end up being egg bound. imo

What is too much? Gravid females eat a lot and I feed them as much as they will eat. Chinese are one of the easiest mantids to breed so it is likely she simply isn't ready.

 

[alicenwnderlnd]

What is too much? Gravid females eat a lot and I feed them as much as they will eat. Chinese are one of the easiest mantids to breed so it is likely she simply isn't ready.

thats what i thought... and they have always been easy, just not this female. :lol: :lol: :lol: my hubby says she just doesnt like boys... :lol: :lol: seriously though, she laid an ooth this morning so maybe my timing has just been off. this week end i will attempt one more time. ( i found an adult male outside)

 

[PhilinYuma]

thats what i thought... and they have always been easy, just not this female. :lol: :lol: :lol: my hubby says she just doesnt like boys... :lol: :lol: seriously though, she laid an ooth this morning so maybe my timing has just been off. this week end i will attempt one more time. ( i found an adult male outside)

I'm with Rebecca on this. Although low humidity is sometimes cited as a cause for egg bound femals, Doug recently reported that the first egg bound female that he had was a S. limbata, and I know from experience that in October it is not rare to have a maximum humidity of 20% RH in this area where they abound but I have never found a wild, egg bound female (what's yr experience with WC S carolina, Rick?). What they don't get in the wild, though, is a surfeit of food and I suspect that this is a cause of egg bound mantids whose condition is sometimes cured by starvation.

 

[alicenwnderlnd]

I'm with Rebecca on this. Although low humidity is sometimes cited as a cause for egg bound femals, Doug recently reported that the first egg bound female that he had was a S. limbata, and I know from experience that in October it is not rare to have a maximum humidity of 20% RH in this area where they abound but I have never found a wild, egg bound female (what's yr experience with WC S carolina, Rick?). What they don't get in the wild, though, is a surfeit of food and I suspect that this is a cause of egg bound mantids whose condition is sometimes cured by starvation.

Interesting! I always thought that if you fed them more they laid better I did have an egg bound chinese last year and could never figure out why, I guess this might of been why. i think it might be time to put the fat girls on diets ! I have them on seafood diets now. they see food they eat it! :lol: :lol:

 

[MantidLord]

I've never had an "eggbound" female in any of the three us species I've kept. And I gutload my mantids until they refuse to eat. My chinese female has been laying ooths (just laid her fourth) and I feed her on an average day, two adult locusts and an adult female house cricket. She's like a balloon afterwards. When she's finished I give her some water to wash it down with and she's perfect. True mantids in the wild don't always eat as much as we feed them in captivity. But what about the females that get lucky enough to catch the large prey items? e.g., lizards, hummingbirds, frogs, etc? Do they get eggbound after eating them? That's a serious question because I don't think anyone has tested that out. However until it is proven, nothing can be concluded.

 

[Arwen9]

With my Chinese I used a bamboo skewer. I kept her raptor claws pinned flat to the screen top while I laid my male on her back, until she relaxed.

I've also seen in this forum people using paper cones (kind of like how vets use on dogs to keep them from reaching their stitches) to keep her from being able to get to the male.

*shrug*

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I'm guessing I'm going to be in the minority here but, no means no! =p

If you really are determined though why not try and set the mood because she is clearly a high class lady. Start her off with a mist of some fine wine, a nice clawful of steak for dinner, and some smooth music in the background. Yes, I am clearly no help.