Need help with hatchlings in MD

[w84jen]

Hi,

My grandfather called me today to let me know that an egg sac that he found and kept last year has started to hatch. He now has hundreds of baby praying mantis and he is looking to me to help him figure out what to do with them. Apparently this isn't the first time that he has been in this situation, the last time he had the egg sac he waited for the babies to hatch and then set them all free in his blueberry bushes, but the birds took full advantage of that easy free meal almost immediately. He doesn't want this to happen again, so he is looking for guidance on the best way to keep them protected until they will be big enough to be set free.

He is a farmer, and would like to keep them until his plants are in the ground this year, which will probably be a few more weeks. I have a 5 year old "bug loving" son, and after reading all of these posts, I might be interested in keeping one or two for us to care for.

SO, where should I start? In my reading, I saw the suggestions to use a warm water mist for the first few days. I called him and told him this information already, but how should I prepare to move forward?

1. Will they need to be separated?

Right now they are in the jar that the egg sac was being stored in, and they appear to be just fine.

2. When should I start feeding them live prey?

My grandfather cut up a few grapes and dropped them in, and he said he has seen them "doing something" to the bits of grapes. Is this a good idea?

3. Should I start with a fruit fly culture, or will they need something smaller?

4. Realistically, should we try to keep them all for a few weeks, or let some of them go sooner?

5. If we are to let some of them go, where is the best place to do that?

6. When should we expect them to start molting for the first time?

7. What are the temperature requirements when they are this little (about 1/4 inch long, right now)

8. Anything else that I need to know as I begin this exciting new adventure?

Thanks, in advance!

Jen

 

[Rocksitter]

If you read the forums most of what your asking is already here Iam new but I have spent alot of time reading on here and it has helped me a whole bunch..

Goodluck

 

[angelofdeathzz]

If you read the forums most of what your asking is already here Iam new but I have spent alot of time reading on here and it has helped me a whole bunch..

Goodluck

+1 "reading is fundamental"

 

[w84jen]

I am the working mommy of two small children, and a third on the way. I won't have a whole lot of time to do more than skim the forums for this information, but I will do my best.

Thanks

 

[PhilinYuma]

While I agree with the two preceding posts, I also appreciate that you are helping out yr granddad, and at my age, that is always a Good Thing, so here goes:

1. Will they need to be separated?

Right now they are in the jar that the egg sac was being stored in, and they appear to be just fine.

Keeping them all in a jar is terribly stressful. It is in their nature to get away from each other. You will read here that a lot are eaten by their siblings, but a lot die from stress. If you really want to keep them, put them in a really large container that fruit flies can't escape from or in a number of small er ones. I would realease those that you don't want to keep ASAP.

2. When should I start feeding them live prey?

My grandfather cut up a few grapes and dropped them in, and he said he has seen them "doing something" to the bits of grapes. Is this a good idea?

They are probably getting some moisture and a little sugar from the grapes, but they need live food from the third day.

3. Should I start with a fruit fly culture, or will they need something smaller?

Fruit flies are fine.The tiny ones are Drosophila melanogaster and the larger ones are D. hydei. Try PetCo

4. Realistically, should we try to keep them all for a few weeks, or let some of them go sooner?

If they are Chinese mantids many of them will be dead by then.

5. If we are to let some of them go, where is the best place to do that?

Thick grass is good so that they can hide from those pesky birds.

6. When should we expect them to start molting for the first time?

About a week from now,if they hatched a few days ago.

7. What are the temperature requirements when they are this little (about 1/4 inch long, right now)

70F - 85F or so, during the day. A bit lower at night. Give them about as much light as they would get outside.

8. Anything else that I need to know as I begin this exciting new adventure?

In the wild, one egg case or ooth should produce ONE or less sexually mature adults, but if you keep some as pets, you should do better than that. There is a discussion on this in another thread, but you might try putting three nymphs in each 32 oz deli cup with ventillated cloth tops, a piece of paper towel for moisture, and a little excelsior or raffia for them to climb on and hide from each other. Mist the pots daily with strerile water (it doesn't leave stains on the plastic cup) once a day using a squirt bottle (Mantisplace and Mantispets are two of a number of online stores that sell these things, and the owners are both members, so you're in good shape there.). Six pots = 18 nymphs. Rearrange them according to the mortality in each pot until you end up with one per pot. You've still got a lot to read, but that will get you started.

Cheers and good luck!

I hope that this helps. Maybe in a year or so, if you catch the "mantis bug", you'll be advising some beginner yourself.

 

[angelofdeathzz]

It's nothing personal, it's just that the same questions get asked over and over, and it would take a whole page to answer most of it. I hope you understand. :flowers:

Wish you the best with all the little ones, and the one on the way.

{Edit} But theres always Phil to the rescue!

 

[w84jen]

While I agree with the two preceding posts, I also appreciate that you are helping out yr granddad, and at my age, that is always a Good Thing, so here goes:

1. Will they need to be separated?

Right now they are in the jar that the egg sac was being stored in, and they appear to be just fine.

Keeping them all in a jar is terribly stressful. It is in their nature to get away from each other. You will read here that a lot are eaten by their siblings, but a lot die from stress. If you really want to keep them, put them in a really large container that fruit flies can't escape from or in a number of small er ones. I would realease those that you don't want to keep ASAP.

2. When should I start feeding them live prey?

My grandfather cut up a few grapes and dropped them in, and he said he has seen them "doing something" to the bits of grapes. Is this a good idea?

They are probably getting some moisture and a little sugar from the grapes, but they need live food from the third day.

3. Should I start with a fruit fly culture, or will they need something smaller?

Fruit flies are fine.The tiny ones are Drosophila melanogaster and the larger ones are D. hydei. Try PetCo

4. Realistically, should we try to keep them all for a few weeks, or let some of them go sooner?

If they are Chinese mantids many of them will be dead by then.

5. If we are to let some of them go, where is the best place to do that?

Thick grass is good so that they can hide from those pesky birds.

6. When should we expect them to start molting for the first time?

About a week from now,if they hatched a few days ago.

7. What are the temperature requirements when they are this little (about 1/4 inch long, right now)

70F - 85F or so, during the day. A bit lower at night. Give them about as much light as they would get outside.

8. Anything else that I need to know as I begin this exciting new adventure?

In the wild, one egg case or ooth should produce ONE or less sexually mature adults, but if you keep some as pets, you should do better than that. There is a discussion on this in another thread, but you might try putting three nymphs in each 32 oz deli cup with ventillated cloth tops, a piece of paper towel for moisture, and a little excelsior or raffia for them to climb on and hide from each other. Mist the pots daily with strerile water (it doesn't leave stains on the plastic cup) once a day using a squirt bottle (Mantisplace and Mantispets are two of a number of online stores that sell these things, and the owners are both members, so you're in good shape there.). Six pots = 18 nymphs. Rearrange them according to the mortality in each pot until you end up with one per pot. You've still got a lot to read, but that will get you started.

Cheers and good luck!

I hope that this helps. Maybe in a year or so, if you catch the "mantis bug", you'll be advising some beginner yourself.

Thank you very much for taking the time to lay it all out in one place for me. I want to do my best for the little guys, and my grandfather really wants to do the right thing this time. He recognizes the benefits of these amazing creatures, for his garden, and wants to help them survive this early stage of life. Tomorrow I will see if he has a larger container to put them in to take some of the stress off of them immediately, and I will go order some of the supplies from the sites that you listed.

I will continue to read as I have time, but this information is really helpful to get us started. I appreciate you taking the time.

Thank you,

Jen

 

[w84jen]

It's nothing personal, it's just that the same questions get asked over and over, and it would take a whole page to answer most of it. I hope you understand. :flowers:

Wish you the best with all the little ones, and the one on the way.

{Edit} But theres always Phil to the rescue!

I didn't take it personally. Please understand if they hadn't been thrown in my lap (so to speak), but I had actually planned for this new adventure in my life, I would have researched it to death before making my first purchase. That is just how I am. I like to have all of the facts in order to ensure that I do EVERYTHING I am supposed to do to make sure that my care will be sufficient. If I do something wrong, and the whole lot of them perish, I WILL take that personally. But the sense of urgency in my current situation led me to the original post.

Perhaps a "Getting started, when you least expect it" quick read general document would be a handy thing to have on this site. My research originally directed me to this site because it was noted as the "premier site on mantid information". I will agree with that, but the information is spread out amongst hundreds of individual threads and I was worried I was going to miss something.

I think, for Mother's Day tomorrow, my 5 year old and I will find a good place to let most of them go... that way, the one's that we keep will be more manageable. I'm a little overwhelmed by the numbers of them, right now.

Thanks again! Happy Mother's Day to any of the Mom's that are still up browsing the new posts!

Jen

 

[lancaster1313]

Happy Mothers Day! I only have one kid but it has been difficult to try to manage my hyper kid and do research. My kid waits until I get online and then proceeds to misbehave and climb all over everything. <_< It can be difficult to concentrate on reading. :lol:

 

[wyethia]

I didn't take it personally. Please understand if they hadn't been thrown in my lap (so to speak), but I had actually planned for this new adventure in my life, I would have researched it to death before making my first purchase. That is just how I am. I like to have all of the facts in order to ensure that I do EVERYTHING I am supposed to do to make sure that my care will be sufficient. If I do something wrong, and the whole lot of them perish, I WILL take that personally. But the sense of urgency in my current situation led me to the original post.

Perhaps a "Getting started, when you least expect it" quick read general document would be a handy thing to have on this site. My research originally directed me to this site because it was noted as the "premier site on mantid information". I will agree with that, but the information is spread out amongst hundreds of individual threads and I was worried I was going to miss something.

I think, for Mother's Day tomorrow, my 5 year old and I will find a good place to let most of them go... that way, the one's that we keep will be more manageable. I'm a little overwhelmed by the numbers of them, right now.

Thanks again! Happy Mother's Day to any of the Mom's that are still up browsing the new posts!

Jen

Happy Mother's Day Jen and good luck with your little one's. I'm a few weeks ahead of you on the baby mantis (chinese ooth [ooth = egg sac]). My 8 year old is having a grand time with the mantids. You do get a lot of loss in the first week, but mine are doing a lot better now that they are bigger (they have molted 2x now and starting the 3rd). I know how hard it is to search around and find specific information on the forums! Maybe we can use Phil's response to you as the start of an "I have a zillion baby mantids...what do I do post

I kept mine in a huge net enclosure with a live plant in it and they did good. Make sure the smaller enclosures you create have good ventilation...I found made some with clear drink cups, scissors, net and a hot glue gun:

My link

http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=20922&st=0&p=156025&fromsearch=1entry156025

Wyethia

 

[hibiscusmile]

Welcome and sorry Phil got there first! not really! as his advice is always good to go! thanks Phil and hope u do good with them Jen!