Loops Collection Thread

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Loops117 said:
ty ty. I've been super excited for this day to come. Do mantids have feelings? Cuz i think Khal is missing his girl.
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Of course they do!

They feel enjoyment, anger, fear, curiosity, hate.....

Their feelings are simpler than ours, but also are definitely there.

 
Hey guys. It finally happened. I added the two together the other night and they mated. I put the female back in her cup cuz i didnt want her to lay her eggs on the screen top. Should i have waited longer?

 
For most species you only want them together long enough to mate; however, with Ghosts there is no hurry. Other than that it's up to you when to separate them.

 
Loops117 said:
Hey guys. It finally happened. I added the two together the other night and they mated. I put the female back in her cup cuz i didnt want her to lay her eggs on the screen top. Should i have waited longer?
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Congrats on a successful mating! As long as you seen the connection, no problem with separating them as soon as he is off her back. Even with ghosts there is still a risk of the female going after the male. I mated all my ghost girls with the same male. No one was aggressive towards him before they mated with him, but when he tried to get on one of my girls backs again a week later, she grabbed him and nearly ate him! Luckily, I was watching them at the time, and was able to intervene before it was too late for him!

 
Oh, it happened. I added them together at about 10PM. It was 4am when i checked them again, and he was going at it again. So i let him stay until i woke up for work and they were finally separated. Male connected about 6 times that i counted.

Mantids_Mating.jpg


 
Welp, first question was asked. Her first ootheca has been laid. Shoot, i havent read this far yet.

Edit: Ok, so i read that i have to suspend the ootheca in a container at room temp ...etc... Well, she laid her ootheca on theunderside of her 32oz cup screen lid. Do i just put her in a new container and leave the ootheca container in the bug cupboard for a while?

 
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Loops117 said:
Welp, first question was asked. Her first ootheca has been laid. Shoot, i havent read this far yet.

Edit: Ok, so i read that i have to suspend the ootheca in a container at room temp ...etc... Well, she laid her ootheca on theunderside of her 32oz cup screen lid. Do i just put her in a new container and leave the ootheca container in the bug cupboard for a while?
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If her first ooth was laid that soon after mating the ooth is most likely infertile - a dud.

Currently the ooth is a soft marshmallow type mess for at least 24 hours, so let it harden before you do anything. The female will be protective of it and will only cause her more stress if you do anything so soon as well. It's easier to remove as well once it hardens, and you risk damaging the eggs much less.

In reality you can leave the ooths with her until they are about ready to hatch, or you sell them, as it hurts nothing leaving them in there unless it is a tiny container as it could be covered in ooths in a few months (my ghost female laid 14 ooths before she died). Also the ooths will be in optimal temperature and humidity in their mother's habitat, so why move until you have to.

Ideally though you should leave the mantid mother in her own habitat, as many mantids will get upset if moved to a new home.

If changing out the lid with another habitat with the same size lid is a option just do that to collect the ooth, and place it on the other habitat if possible. Otherwise the easiest method is once the ooth has dried (I prefer to let mine dry multiple days) carefully pry one corner of the ooth up (I use a small knife tip or flat/slotted screwdriver blade) and usually they will come loose completely - if not a little rocking side-to-side will make it come loose (much easier than it sounds, I did it with my Ghost female ooths without issue).

 
Ithink it was 4 days in between mating and laying. So, we'll find out. As for changing out the lid,, i'm gonna just put it on another cup and her witha  new lid.

Thank you guys for the help!

 
Loops117 said:
No babies yet. 2 Othecas, and kaleesi is still alive. My male died though =(

Am i supposed to have babies yet?
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My fist two ghost ooths hatched exactly 37 days after being laid, and were  incubated between 75 and 77 degrees F. I think it can take longer if the ooths are kept colder. Also, did she only lay one ooth, or are there multiple ooths you are waiting on to hatch?

 
KevinsWither said:
So cool with the ant farms and everything. I love it! Anyways how did you find those ants? 
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Thank you. And i collected my ants in the wild. Not too hard to find your first queen. Then it's addicting after that.

I started a website for my ant projects. I am selling ant items and formicaria that i create myself.

http://117colonies.com/

dmina said:
How are thing going? any updates?
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Unfortunately none. She's still alive, but her two oothecas didn't hatch. I thought i did everything right. Perhaps she wasnt ever fertilized? My Khal was shooting blanks.

 
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Hey guys, it's been one heck of a long time since my last update. Since then, my two P.paradoxa mantids have passed away. The oothecas left behind were also infertile so i was unable to continue to with species. BUT! I have recently captured an L3 Tenodera sinensis??? Not sure, but he/she has been moved to the community. So far she's taken a couple ants from inside the community, but that's it. The species of ants that live in the community are known as Coconut ants, or T.sessile. This species does not prey on living insects, and will only scavenge on dead/dying insects. So far they've been in the setup for over a month and i've had zero issues.

May eventually switch out the green mantis for a small colony of Ghost mantids. I wanna buy an ootheca.

Here's a video, hope you guys like it.





Loops

 
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I love it!!!  This setup is wonderful! You really care about your creatures. The music is perfect for it too. Who made the music?

 
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@Loops117 Lots of various creatures for sure in there, glad you found something that is working for you. Although it appears you went bigger and did a whole bio-dome setup with at least seven species. :D

I've been keeping local millipedes and snails in with my isopods anymore that I collect, and they seem to flourish too. :)

 

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