mated an iris oratoria 2 months ago- why won't she lay ANYTHING?

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I have a female adult iris oratoria, (she may be a clone). She has been an adult for 3 months, and she has NOT laid ONE ooth! The others of the same age are on their 3 or 4th ooths. She is the only one that may be a clone and the only one left that was raised in a critter carrier. She is in a big cage now. Everything else about her is normal.

I took her outside 2 months ago at night and witnessed the most beautiful mating! The male was beautiful and so respectful! When he was done, he hopped off and flew on me. (I swear he wanted to tell me not to worry). Anyways, then he flew away and my sweet female seemed perfectly happy. She ate lots more food.

So here are my questions:

!. Is it dangerous for a female to not lay eggs when she is sooo fat?

2. Could she not be laying eggs because she wants to be where she was raised (in a critter carrier)?

or outside? (She seems content).

3. I have seen fat mantids eat something big and almost immediately lay eggs afterwards. Could I try feeding her a big cricket? I'm afraid she is just too fat, and could get hurt!

4. Does anyone have ideas on why she is not laying eggs?

 

[Ntsees]

As people might say, your mantid could be eggbound. If that mantid has been adult for that amount of time, she should have already had ooths like your other females.

 

[sally]

Check out the laying surfaces that are used in nature for that species. Do they like to lay on leaves or bark etc. Make sure the temp and humidity are correct also. Your others are laying so it might just be that she is egg bound. Sometimes you can try remating also.

 

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What is egg bound? I tried changing her cage ad I forgot about the big cricket in there. She is eating now and sooo aft. Do I stop her? I'm scared she will explode!

 

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Oh my God! I can't get the cricket away from her. I've tried knocking her off her perch and grabbing it with tweezers. I don't know what to do. She will be too fat. If she can't lay eggs. . .

I tried showing her my cat. She just spread her wings and ran with the cricket.

As far as mating again, she is not calling. I only have females in my back yard. I think all the males are gone.

She is the last in her line, so I'm sad she can't lay eggs but I'm more concerned about her

 

[Ranitomeya]

Do not panic. If she's eating, she doesn't feel like laying an ootheca yet. Mantises that are near laying or molting will not accept food. Do not knock her off her perch and do not manhandle any fat female because you can cause her damage and a fall may cause her to pop.

They do not continue eating if they're physically incapable of fitting any more food in themselves. It would be an extreme disadvantage for an organism to not know when to stop eating and die as a result--such organisms would likely have died off ages ago.

Egg-binding is when a female is just incapable of laying. It's usually because the females have no suitable location for laying or are unhealthy due to poor diet or some other factor.

 

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She now as brown spots on her abdomen on her belly side. It looks like her abdomen is soo stretched and I can see her insides.

As far as her stopping eating, I believe what you said as long as they are in nature. I feel that since I took her out of nature, that they are just not as smart because I screwed with nature. She is strong and in the right conditions she might have made it outside. (Her outdoor siblings did not make it due to extreme weather). However, some of my other mantids would never have made it outside. They are just not as strong as the outdoor ones.

Anyways, I put her outside with the idea to "ramp up" her metabolism. It is still 100 degrees outside. I have noticed that some of the others laid eggs after being more hot. I will only give her water for now. Is this a bad idea?

She seems healthy except for her over fat belly. So, I will try to find a more suitable location for her.

Is she doomed if she does not lay eggs?

So, should I give her water daily? Maybe she just didn't have enough water and that's why she can't lay?

Thank you everyone for your help!

 

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I put her cage by the sunny window. Hopefully SUN IS KEY!

 

[sally]

The brown spots may be an infection . Hopefully not.

 

[MantidLord]

1-take a deep breath.

2-don't put her outside in a glass container because she will fry

3-a picture would help so we can see just how fat she is.

4-Follow what everyone above has said to do and what not to do.

5-take a deep breath. If she lays, she'll lay. If not, i'm sorry for your loss but you did say you had others lay a couple of ooths. Not to mention if you're in the states, these are introduced species anyway so it's not like they're going extinct.

 

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She got the brown spots immediately after eating the cricket. She is still not laying eggs. I don't know how to get pictures up. I tried buying a camera and a better phone. . .

Anyways, so if she does not lay she will die?

 

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Update: She is still alive and NEVER laid any eggs! I think she is about 4 months adult now. She has sores and scabs on her abdomen and she leaks fluid so that her wings get wet. I just keep giving her water and an occasional fruit fly. So, even if she did lay eggs they would probably be bad.

 

[Ranitomeya]

It sounds like she's nearing the end of her life if she's beginning to fall apart.

All you can do now is keep her comfortable and let nature take its course or euthanize her if she begins rapidly declining.

 

[Jay]

I have kept an egg-bound Isis Oratoria before. Here is my opinion: in order to have her survive it may be wise put her in a very well ventilated space, such as a net cage and giving her lots of light, heat, and large flat rough surfaces to lay on. Here in Tucson this particular mantis can survive extreme heat coupled with often very dry windy conditions and may even benefit from being outside whatever container she is in.