Huge die off in first three days

[Schloaty]

It seems that I've suffered an over 70% die off on my H. multispina L1's since it hatched on Sunday.

I'm not sure why....Or is this normal for this species? Are the nymphs that fragile, or did I set something up wrong?

Temps: mid - high 70's (possibly 80)

misted every day - one cage did dry out more than the other, and suffered worse casualties.

humidity ~40% other than right after misting (I've since upped it to around 60%)

They have been fed D. hydei twice now....I don't know if there has been canibalism (presumably), but I do know tehre are a lot of little bodies at the bottom of the cage...

 

[ismart]

There is probably is not enough food or space. This species is very hardy. It's good you raised the humidity.

 

[Schloaty]

Thanks. We'll see what happens now. There are significantly fewer, and I've improved conditions.

I don't think it was the food thing....they got a good stuffing of FF's.

 

[LauraMG]

Sorry to hear that. I had about a 50% die off of my gonatista grisea nymphs that hatched about a week and a half ago. I did a head count last night and only had 18 left

 

[Seattle79]

I'm sorry for your losses guys, that sucks. I wish you the very best with your survivors.

-Kevin

 

[Schloaty]

I'm sorry for your losses guys, that sucks. I wish you the very best with your survivors.

Thanks - not like I had ROOM for that many mantids, but it is a drag nevertheless...

I COULD have sold or traded them...Oh, well...live and learn.

Next time I will do better.

 

[hibiscusmile]

The problem as I see it is they should have been misted am and again pm and fed melnogaster instead of hydei. A lot of people do not realize that the food if to big or too many will stress the babies out, this in turn causes the dieoff. This is a hardy species and should not have so many deaths.

In the other hand the c. g's are not as good in captivity, so a die off is going to happen.

 

[Schloaty]

Hey Rebecca,

They seemed to eat the hydea just fine - I think, in retrospect, the big culprit was the lack of misting. I misted them in the evening, and they just dried out by the next evening. Actually, I think even more important is that I forgot to make sure the medium was moist....that was so dry that I think it just sucked all the moisture out of the encloser even when I misted.

I had just gone through getting ghosts through their first few days, and they apprantly don't require as frequent misting, because they were fine with that schedule.

I failed to adapt to the new species requirements. But at least there are some left, and I guess they are the toughest of the lot....so at there is that to be said.

I do plan on getting some of the smaller FF's, though, as my hydea have been pretty much all eaten up.

Next time, Gadget! Next TIIIIIIIMMMMEEEE!

 

[hibiscusmile]

Oh good show then!

 

[Schloaty]

Well, it looks like my corrective actions have had the desired effect. No more die offs. I have ~10 left fomr the initial hatch, and they're doing quite well - eating well, and scurrying all over the place.

Hopefully I'll be able to breed the small population I have left, and give it a second go in about, what, a year?