I can't breed these guys, and I'm upset

[Mitch65009]

Okay, so I've tried many times to get these guys to breed. And I wanna know if it's normal for the male to walk by the female, and then the female to give him that deathly look? I can't keep them in that tank together cause I'm terrified he's just gonna get killed. He was much close, but I moved him to take the photo. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, or if this is just normal, and I should take the chance of him dying. He's the only male I got. 

 

[Jaywo]

It is not uncommon for the male to be wary. They know its life or death. What temp is it at? FOr some species bringing up the temp. makes the female more receptive.

 

[Mitch65009]

So by the male passing right next to her means he's being wary? Seems like he just wants to die, lol. But their at room temp. About 23°C. @Jaywo

 

[hysteresis]

So by the male passing right next to her means he's being wary? Seems like he just wants to die, lol. But their at room temp. About 23°C. @Jaywo

@Mitch65009 I told you the male needs to be warmed up.  And stage them at 25°C and higher..

 

[hysteresis]

So by the male passing right next to her means he's being wary? Seems like he just wants to die, lol. But their at room temp. About 23°C. @Jaywo

@Mitch65009 I told you the male needs to be warmed up.  And stage them at 25°C and higher. Keep trying. Be cautious. 

 

[Budwing]

Its normal for some males to walk past the female or even walk over them as if their not there, it means hes unsettled or showing no interest. Its not the best practice for him though, If she was annoyed at him or hungry enough she would have nailed him there and then. Just make sure the female has had roughly a month to mature and the male half of that.  As hysteresis said warm the male to 25°C  or more. Theirs no guarantees he wont be killed but you can lessen the chances by providing her food while your trying. Keep moving him a bit behind her. He will start watching her and his antenna will point towards her when hes interested.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Sometimes turning down the lights helps them get in the mood. I had a pair of ghosts that refused to mate with the lights on. When I finally turned the lights off and it was almost completely dark in the room the male immediately made a B-line for her and got down to business. 

Another thing I've tried: After stuffing the female with as much food as she will accept (might be a LOT) and while she is still eating place the male directly on her back. It doesn't always work but if you can cut out the approach it's a lot safer for skiddish males.

 

[hysteresis]

I find larger mantises are more aware of our presence. If one loiters, sometimes they just watch us instead.

 

[Mitch65009]

Alright, so here's a little update. 

I tried again, this time, I did what @hysteresissaid, and bumped his temp up to about 26°C. 

I was then told it's better to introduce the female to the male, so I did that, I made sure she wouldn't accept food before encountering the male. So I also tried what @Predatorhousepet said, and put him near her back, and he wouldn't budge. 

I'm still trying to put him behind her while she eats, but still nothing. They were left alone all night, so I'm not sure if I could tell if they did something in about 7 hours. 

 

[Mitch65009]

Oh their going at it right now! Should I leave them be? Or feed the female?

 

[Budwing]

Result. You can offer her food but personally id just leave them to it and not disturb them. He should be fine if shes been fed well before hand.

 

[Mitch65009]

Aw man, she ate my males head

 

[MantisGirl13]

I'm sorry for your loss! Did they get it done?

- MantisGirl13

 

[Mitch65009]

@MantisGirl13

I'm pretty sure they did. I would have stayed and watched to make sure he was okay, but I had an appointment  

 

[Budwing]

Hopefully there's some fertile ooth on the way. 

 

[Jaywo]

fingered crossed

 

[Mitch65009]

Yep, I sure hope so. 

 

[Predatorhousepet]

It happens. Last week I put my ghosts together to mate again and they were fine staying together almost the whole time, mating on & off over the week but came to remove the male and only found a pile of wings under the female. She decided to eat him after all that time together! She had been well fed so it wasn't out of hunger, I guess he just made the wrong move and suffered the consequences. I've already gotten 2 fertile ooth hatches from them so he had already succeeded in mating. He was also an elderly old man at the time of his death, just over 10 weeks into adulthood, one of my longest lived male ghosts ever (they generally last 6 to 8 weeks as an adult) so I was expecting him to drop dead from old age but nope he got the violent death. She could probably tell how old he was and decided he made a better meal than a mate.

 

[Frenabo]

Hey @Mitch65009,

Did she ever lay for you?