So a few months back I purchased a mantid egg from a reptile expo. Warmer weather came around and I took it out to hatch. Well a couple days ago I looked and saw that the container it was in was filled with little mantids!!! Now in my 30yrs of life I've seen one mantid so I wanted to do this for my kids as well as myself. I guess now im not quite sure what to do lol. I would like to keep one to two of them but have a bunch of questions about the rest. I now have them in a 10 gallon tank with a screen top... bought some flightless fruit flies for them. What more can I do and when can they be released? Any info would be greatly appreciated
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Ocelotbren
Well-known member
How exciting! What type of mantids are they? Chinese? I think if you want to keep 1-2 in the long run, plan on keeping more than that for the first few instars because the mortality rate is quite high. I think a lot of people keep them all in the same tank for the first few instars and then pick out their favorites to separate and keep because in theory those ones should be stronger and more likely to survive. At that point you could release the rest. If you're overwhelmed by the current numbers you could also possibly release half of them now, if the weather is warm enough in your area. Here in Michigan I have read that ooths tend to hatch late May to early June.
As for care, provide lots of fruit flies so they're full and less likely to eat each other. I mist mine twice a day and plan to go down to once a day when we stop turning the heat on for the summer, so that could be a guideline for you, depending on your region's humidity.
I'm no expert though and haven't hatched an ooth before, so the above is based on what I have read.
Good luck and welcome!
As for care, provide lots of fruit flies so they're full and less likely to eat each other. I mist mine twice a day and plan to go down to once a day when we stop turning the heat on for the summer, so that could be a guideline for you, depending on your region's humidity.
I'm no expert though and haven't hatched an ooth before, so the above is based on what I have read.
Good luck and welcome!
Thank you! Yes Chinese. How many fruit flies should I put in the tank for all of them? I'm worried I don't give enough for all of them lol. I saw a few start eating right away but some others don't seem too interested . What is an instar? Like the molting process? I'm in NH so the weather is from 50s-80s depending on the day ( it is New England after all lol) how often should I feed them?
Ocelotbren
Well-known member
Instar is the stage they are at relative to how many molts they have had. Newly hatched nymphs are L1 (first instar), and after their first molt, they become L2 (second instar), etc. I'm not sure on an exact number of fruit flies; for mine (I only had two mantids), I fed them until plump which was just a visual thing. But for a tank full of them, I guess keep adding so that there are always some in there I would think. Someone with hatching experience could maybe give more specific advice on that haha. You are going to need a lot of fruit flies anyway!
It's possible that is warm enough to release some now but it might still be a bit chilly. Not positive on that.
Basically, just make sure there is always food available, so keep adding fruit flies as they go through them!
It's possible that is warm enough to release some now but it might still be a bit chilly. Not positive on that.
Basically, just make sure there is always food available, so keep adding fruit flies as they go through them!
Ocelotbren
Well-known member
Lots of tiny mouths to feed!
Welcome to the forum
