My new ooths ....want to know what you think

spider_creations · Mar 23, 2016

Hi I just received 2 new ooths today they are H.major (gaint boxer mantis ) and want to know if the ooths look good both detached in shipping but they seem fine the ooths are really cool H.major ooths are weird and cool there foamy and green the last pic one looks white that's just the photo I think it's funny that one is twice the size of the other lol

CosbyArt · Mar 23, 2016

The ooths look fine to me, they don't look damaged or anything. Best of luck getting many little nymphs

The bigger ooth is likely older than the other, or from a younger female than the other. With my mated females they tend to lay larger ooths when they first start, and each ooth afterwards tends to be a bit smaller than the previous one. It can also be caused from the female not having as much to eat, in the wild, however that shouldn't happen with a captive mantid.

The only thing I would recommend though is to reattach the dowel rod closer to the top of the container. The emerging nymphs will hang below the ooth on a "string" to untwist their bodies and dry before pulling themselves up - it looks like when they hatch now there is no place for them to hang/dry themselves, besides hitting the paper towel and becoming deformed. Here is a video of a ooth hatching, from member Precarious to show you...

spider_creations · Mar 29, 2016

On 3/24/2016 at 6:35 PM, CosbyArt said:

The ooths look fine to me, they don't look damaged or anything. Best of luck getting many little nymphs

The bigger ooth is likely older than the other, or from a younger female than the other. With my mated females they tend to lay larger ooths when they first start, and each ooth afterwards tends to be a bit smaller than the previous one. It can also be caused from the female not having as much to eat, in the wild, however that shouldn't happen with a captive mantid.

The only thing I would recommend though is to reattach the dowel rod closer to the top of the container. The emerging nymphs will hang below the ooth on a "string" to untwist their bodies and dry before pulling themselves up - it looks like when they hatch now there is no place for them to hang/dry themselves, besides hitting the paper towel and becoming deformed. Here is a video of a ooth hatching, from member Precarious to show you...