Laying one on top of the other

[gynnyr]

A slightly happier topic this time, haha. My wild-caught Chinese decided this morning to lay me a huge ooth. She's already laid one in her tank which made me roll my eyes as it was laid in the screen top. A good bit of it was poking through on the other side and it was pretty firmly embedded. I decided to leave it, for now, and go about my business.

Cut to about two hours ago when she decided to lay her second. Not only is this one also going through the screen, but she's laying it right up against and slightly on top of the first. Her enclosure has some nice sticks and fake plants that would've been preferrable, haha, but this girl isn't known to be particularly bright.

Is there anything to be done about this? Will it hamper any potential hatchouts? Is removing them from the screen advisable? Is removing them from each other advisable? Am I overthinking this a bit?

Edit:

 

[massaman]

you can try to cut them apart but would kill off a few eggs but prob not any big loss since you got two ooths and you can try to pry the other one off the cage as well but nothing to get frustrated over it happens and just make do with a small damaged ooth which wont hurt it one bit and just means there will be a few less nymphs but cant hurt to cut them apart!

 

[Rick]

It is pretty common for them to lay them on the lid. It is also not unusual for them to lay one on top of the other. I've even seen it in the wild.

 

[gynnyr]

It is pretty common for them to lay them on the lid. It is also not unusual for them to lay one on top of the other. I've even seen it in the wild.

It's not so much on the lid that has me shaking my head, it's in the lid. The screen is big enough for nymphs to squirm through without much effort and I would like to potentially move it, especially now that there are two of them, so that I don't have several hundred babies climbing my walls and over my desk.

But as for laying on top of each other, it's not really a problem then? I'm not especially sure where these hatch out from so I wasn't sure if it was going to keep some of them trapped inside or what have you.

 

[massaman]

well you got 4-6 weeks till it hatches to pry it off the lid and to split the ooths from each other so however you deal with them prob wont hurt them that much!

 

[PhilinYuma]

Once the ooths are dry, you can pry them off the lid and each other, just using your fingers, with no problem. Often, when you buy an ooth, you will see screen marks (grid pattern) from where it has been pried off, or a concavity from where it has been removed from a twig.

Glue the ooth to the surface of yr choice using super (AC) glue (the thick kind -- don't use an accelerator!), a glue stick in a low temp gun, or a craft tacky glue. I prefer the last, because it has instant holding power, even when wet, and doesn't need to be plugged into anything. It is also clearly labeled "non toxic."

 

[gynnyr]

Okay, Phil, I trust you on this, haha. I carefully followed the lines of the screen with a knife and worked it free with my fingers. The fresher one wasn't nearly as well embedded and came off really easily with relatively no damage. The older one had a tougher time, especially right in the middle. As I was gently pushing the middlemost piece through, a bit of fluid began to show around where the screen still had it caught, so I'm concerned that I may have damaged it. Other than that one spot, there's no damage to it, it looks like.

I was surprised how easily they separated from each other, thanks for giving me the confidence to pull them apart, haha.

 

[Rick]

Okay, Phil, I trust you on this, haha. I carefully followed the lines of the screen with a knife and worked it free with my fingers. The fresher one wasn't nearly as well embedded and came off really easily with relatively no damage. The older one had a tougher time, especially right in the middle. As I was gently pushing the middlemost piece through, a bit of fluid began to show around where the screen still had it caught, so I'm concerned that I may have damaged it. Other than that one spot, there's no damage to it, it looks like. I was surprised how easily they separated from each other, thanks for giving me the confidence to pull them apart, haha.

Well the ooth material comes out as a thick liquid so it does go through the screen. They are not too hard to remove if you take your time. It sounds like you did damage some eggs as that is the only place fluid could come from. Don't worry though because the rest should still hatch.

 

[gynnyr]

Well the ooth material comes out as a thick liquid so it does go through the screen. They are not too hard to remove if you take your time. It sounds like you did damage some eggs as that is the only place fluid could come from. Don't worry though because the rest should still hatch.

Yeah, I was afraid of that. I was as slow and gentle as I could be, but that one portion was through the screen about half a centimetre. Lucky for me these have high hatch rates, right? I'll be reattaching them to a new container shortly. Thanks everyone for the info/help.

 

[PhilinYuma]

Well the ooth material comes out as a thick liquid so it does go through the screen. They are not too hard to remove if you take your time. It sounds like you did damage some eggs as that is the only place fluid could come from. Don't worry though because the rest should still hatch.

+1

 

[Rick]

Yeah, I was afraid of that. I was as slow and gentle as I could be, but that one portion was through the screen about half a centimetre. Lucky for me these have high hatch rates, right? I'll be reattaching them to a new container shortly. Thanks everyone for the info/help.

They do. There should be more than enough. I find that going parellel to the top of the screen with a razor blade as close to the screen as possible works best.

 

[sbugir]

Doc, you'll have more than enough nymphs. I might consider you crazy for having two ooths. :lol:

 

[gynnyr]

They do. There should be more than enough. I find that going parellel to the top of the screen with a razor blade as close to the screen as possible works best.

Yeah, I considered that, but I thought there would be less damage if I followed along the threads and wiggled it free. I thought if I cut it parallel, I would end up exposing a whole row of eggs rather than just a few per slice. Either way, I suppose there's plenty to go around, even with the loss.

Doc, you'll have more than enough nymphs. I might consider you crazy for having two ooths. :lol:

I know! I might consider myself crazy as well! If all else fails, there's the sales board, right?

 

[sbugir]

Yeah, I considered that, but I thought there would be less damage if I followed along the threads and wiggled it free. I thought if I cut it parallel, I would end up exposing a whole row of eggs rather than just a few per slice. Either way, I suppose there's plenty to go around, even with the loss.I know! I might consider myself crazy as well! If all else fails, there's the sales board, right?

Mhm, that's very true.

 

[Rick]

I know! I might consider myself crazy as well! If all else fails, there's the sales board, right?

I doubt you will be able to sell chinese nymphs. Might have to give them away.

 

[gynnyr]

I doubt you will be able to sell chinese nymphs. Might have to give them away.

Haha, yeah, maybe. Then again, I bought some off of lemmiwinks not too long ago, so there might be someone else interested like I was.

If not, I keep them until spring and release them around here. Native species are good for that, at least.