newbie with problem

[sevenoaks]

well its been ten days after i last posted and my mantis is still alive and doing well i might add. she is feeding on crickets everyday! am i giving her too many now?

i spray the ooth every other day or so and place it in the sun by the window. i am hoping it doesnt dry out since the heat is on because of the cold weather. i will do my best with it as ive read and bought items to care for it. i just dont know when to expect it to start hatching?

 

[Katnapper]

well its been ten days after i last posted and my mantis is still alive and doing well i might add. she is feeding on crickets everyday! am i giving her too many now?i spray the ooth every other day or so and place it in the sun by the window. i am hoping it doesnt dry out since the heat is on because of the cold weather. i will do my best with it as ive read and bought items to care for it. i just dont know when to expect it to start hatching?

About 4-6 weeks (maybe a little longer) from when it was laid. Patience waiting for them to hatch is hard... I know.

 

[sevenoaks]

OH NO>. she layed another ooth!!!

what is going on? i thought her belly looked big again , but i have been feeding her one large cricket a day because i thought she was going to die soon. i though that is why her belly was so fat. on my. now what? please help.

 

[massaman]

dont be alarmed its suppose to happen and just take out the ooth and put it in its own container and mist it daily and continue feeding the mantis and keep the ooth warm!

 

[Rick]

OH NO>. she layed another ooth!!!what is going on? i thought her belly looked big again , but i have been feeding her one large cricket a day because i thought she was going to die soon. i though that is why her belly was so fat. on my. now what? please help.

That is normal. T hey keep laying ooths their entire adult lives.

 

[sevenoaks]

well, what should i do with it. i am nursing the other one she layed about three weeks ago. since she was taken out of the wild in novemeber i am thinking it is fertile. dont know about this one since shes been in a tub since then.

 

[Katnapper]

well, what should i do with it. i am nursing the other one she layed about three weeks ago. since she was taken out of the wild in novemeber i am thinking it is fertile. dont know about this one since shes been in a tub since then.

Just do the same with this ooth as you have done with the last one. If she is fertile, she wouldn't need mating again between ooths for successive ooths to be fertile also.

Note, sometimes breeders do try to mate the female again after she lays a few ooths to increase chances of fertility in later laid ooths. But I wouldn't worry about this with yours.

 

[sevenoaks]

oh thanks. im so new at this and learning as much as i can here. can i put both ooths in the same container together and wait to hatch or keep them separate? i know which is which because this one she layed on the top of her plastic tub not on a branch i had in there like last time.

 

[massaman]

no

You should keep the ooths separate and mist them in their own container!

 

[sevenoaks]

how do i attach the ooth to a stick because it wasnt layed on one. also is room temp ok for the heat or do i need to keep it near a lamp?

how often do i mist and do i mist with warm or water temp water/ thanks so much

 

[sevenoaks]

oops double post. sorry

 

[Katnapper]

Keeping the ooths in separate containers would be better; because if both end up hatching, you'll have one batch significantly older/larger in size than the other batch... and the smaller ones will likely fall prey to the larger ones. Plus you might end up with too many nymphs in the size of container you are hatching them in, and trying to separate the different sized nymphs would be a nightmare.

 

[sevenoaks]

do i attach it 'zipper' side down. the zipper is the unsmooth side right? thanks again.

is room temp ok for the ooth or do i need extra heat?

 

[massaman]

yes face the zipper to the floor when hanging it and use super glue or glue from a glue gun to attach it to a stick or a piece of plastic or something to attach to the underside of the lid of the containers your using to hatch them!

Room Temp is just fine for most ooths but dont let the temp get below 50 or 60 degrees when trying to hatch them and there is methods to help with keeping the ooth warm like using a styrofoam cooler and use one of them light bulbs in a dish and place a hole in the side of the cooler and stick the dish inside the hole made in the cooler and then place your ooth containers in there with some water on the bottom of the cooler and place maybe a sheet of clear glass or plastic on the top of the cooler but only if you want to use a bulb to incubate them but if not room temp is the way to go!

 

[Katnapper]

No extra heat, styrofoam coolers, or lightbulbs required. Room temperature, mist every couple of days. Wait.

 

[sevenoaks]

well. today she is gone..

thanks for all your help.

is there any special way to dipose of her? should i bury her outside? any special place.?

i will try my best for her babies.

i just bought 15 crickets for her. yesterday i gave her two instead of one. i should have given her more so she would have been happy...

 

[massaman]

well most of the mantids I had that died would just get the royal flush meaning I would just flush them down the toilet or if you got lizards or any reptiles or birds you could feed the deceased mantis to them as well!

 

[Rick]

You can put the ooths outside and they will hatch in spring. If you keep them indoors they are going to hatch. Make sure you have fruit fly cultures ready to go to feed them.

 

[sevenoaks]

You can put the ooths outside and they will hatch in spring. If you keep them indoors they are going to hatch. Make sure you have fruit fly cultures ready to go to feed them.

i had the ooths inside and have been misting them and keeping them in the window sill for daytime sun. and night time by a radiator in the house. i think its too late to put them outside .. what do you think.

the first was layed january 9, the last one on sunday.

 

[Rick]

i had the ooths inside and have been misting them and keeping them in the window sill for daytime sun. and night time by a radiator in the house. i think its too late to put them outside .. what do you think.the first was layed january 9, the last one on sunday.

Not too late at all. They don't need sunlight really. Just warm temps. I can't think of an easier ooth to hatch.