I'm a Mantis Mommy! FINALLY!

[Teamonger]

After the heartbreaking loss of my first two ooths my back up Chinese ooth I had been diapausing in the fridge hatched last night. 

I am so ecstatic I can't even begin to find words! Hope was getting harder and harder to cling to after 2 and a half months of waiting and failure!

I am prepared as well. Now that the bug room is not a million degrees (heating issues) my fruit fly cultures have all exploded and I have an over abundance were before I was struggling to keep them producing or alive. Its amazing the difference 10 degrees can have on everything.

 

[Sarah K]

Congrats on the successful hatch! All those babies will certainly keep you busy!

 

[Serle]

Hey , Far Out , now the work/fun begins . Are you trying to count them all?

 

[Teamonger]

@Serle No way I'm attempting to count that chaos hehe. There are exactly... a lot of them.

 

[Zeppy44]

Woot! and Grats!  Will be a few months for the gift the wild caught gave me before it hatches if it does.

 

[CosbyArt]

Congrats on the hatch. I tend to usually count mine, and they typically range in numbers from 70 to about 100.

 

[CanadIan anter]

I counted 58

 

[CosbyArt]

I counted 58

Not bad, perhaps a late laid ooth by the mother (ooths tend to be lighter in numbers as the female gets old). Of course 58 babies isn't bad, or a nightmare to some to take care of.

 

[Teamonger]

I took a shot at counting and gave up after I reached 100. There are at least 50 more on the screen covered wall to the right that is not in the picture.  And another 20 or so that squeezed past the divider into the second section. 

 

[Serle]

Tea , a fantastic profile picture , you sure are proud..

 

[Teamonger]

@Serle hehe thanks! I sure am. That's my current favorite as its so calm and will just chill on my finger. The other one that's got its own tiny enclosure does nothing but jump and run as fast as its little legs will allow the second I take it out.

I have three in little habitat jars that get to go to work with me and be my desk buddies. 

 

[Chalc]

Glad yours hatched as well! I did the same and separated a few of my favourites in some plastic cups. If you have any pictures of your desk buddy jars I'd love to see! Congrats!  

 

[Teamonger]

@Chalc

Knowing me there will be a lot of habitats in the coming days so I started a new thread for them. You can see my first tiny desk jars there

 

[Teamonger]

Only a week in and molting madness has begun in the tank. Caught half a dozen all molting when I got home from work and snapped a few pictures. They are so pretty when they are still white/green and squishy. It never ceases to amaze me how they nearly double in size every time they molt, its like magic.

You can see my poor cooked ooths in the back ground. They are trapped in the tank in their little cups until I'm done with this brood. I had stuck them in there just in case as the humidity is controlled within the tank but it was not to be. Now the cups are jungle gyms for the ones that did hatch

 

[CosbyArt]

@Teamonger Glad to see the hatched ones are moving right along, nice photo.

They grow up so fast, my previous batch that hatched just molted to L5, and another ooth hatched Sunday (15th). It is a interesting process for sure.

 

[Teamonger]

The brood just started molting to L3. There was a spattering of freshly molted individuals amid the chaos this morning. 

Its only been roughly a week since the molt to L2 however, is that usual? It was my understanding mantises usually molt about every 2 weeks but these little guys have been going every week thus far. Do they slow down at higher instars?

 

[Sarah K]

The brood just started molting to L3. There was a spattering of freshly molted individuals amid the chaos this morning. 

Its only been roughly a week since the molt to L2 however, is that usual? It was my understanding mantises usually molt about every 2 weeks but these little guys have been going every week thus far. Do they slow down at higher instars?

If you are keeping your mantises warm, it can definitely speed up the molting process. And Yes, the molting frequency does slow down at higher instars. It can take a month or longer for the final molt between sub-adult and adult.

 

[Teamonger]

If you are keeping your mantises warm, it can definitely speed up the molting process. And Yes, the molting frequency does slow down at higher instars. It can take a month or longer for the final molt between sub-adult and adult.

Thanks! That's what I figured. They are kept warm and well fed so I assumed that was the cause. My first mantis's growth was a bit stunted I think from being in a colder room (to ensure the cats did not get him) for the first part of his life so the rapidity of the brood's molting surprised me.

 

[Teamonger]

The brood that still somehow has roughly a hundred members left after a quick count last night is molting for the third time and getting big and beautiful!

I also found out last night that they love phoenix worms, 3 out of 4 mantises I offered them to went straight for the little wiggle grubs and chowed down.