Newly hatched Chinese mantis nymphs

[Morwenna]

I recently had an ooth hatch out and I got about 160 babies out of it. A few have died so far which is to be expected. I want to keep as many alive as possible because I will be giving some to friends to put in their gardens. I have a large fruit fly colony and I started a small roach colony to keep them fed. I separated them into 8oz vials on Sunday night, when I discovered they hatched, 6-7 nymphs in each. I had given them a few drops of water on the side of the vials to drink from but that proved to be too much for them. Last night I fed them fruit flies but only 1 or 2 of them caught and ate one. This morning I put them all back into the 20 gallon with dead lilac branches to climb on so that the vials could dry out again. I didn't mind doing this because they're very easy for me to handle and put back into the vials. I'm just not sure what the best way to keep them is and I did some google searches but I'm getting very vague answers. If they're in the 20 gallon tank, they'll have more trouble finding fruit flies, but even after 2 days of life outside the egg, they're not hungry yet. Any information about keeping/feeding/watering them would be much appreciated. I keep tarantulas but I'm totally new to mantids!

 

[hibiscusmile]

Those little babies are really easy to move if you use a bamboo skewer! My favorite tool!

Get a fine spray bottle and mist them with really warm water in am and again at pm, they need water. In that size tank they will need a good helping of fruit flies and they will find them, don't worry about that, Be aware, chinese nymphs die off real easy, no matter what you do, so expect to only have a dozen live. sorry but that is how God made them, food for some and breeders for the rest.

 

[Morwenna]

Of course. I just use my hands to move them, they're very cooperative. I may order another ooth soon before they all start hatching out and can't be shipped. I was told to expect about half to die off within the first day but that hasn't happened yet. I'll feed them some more flies this evening when I get home and I'll be sure to mist them. Their tank has paper towels on the bottom to help hold the moisture for longer. The lid is a screen lid but I pinned a piece of polyester cloth around it so they won't crawl through the holes.

 

[hibiscusmile]

ok, let us know how it goes!

 

[dgerndt]

Good luck, and congrats on your new babies!

 

[Mr.Mantid]

Hi Morwena,

Chinese nymphs do not usually eat until about 2-4 days old, after hatching or molting.

Cheers,

Mr. Mantid

 

[Morwenna]

Okay. They are all back in their big enclosure with branches to climb on and a few fruit flies. Once I see some flies being eaten or cannibalization, I'll start to feed more flies.

 

[Rick]

The larger the enclosure the more food you must add to make sure everbody gets enough. Expect more deaths with these. It is unlikely on your first attempt that very many will survive. It is not unusual to only get a couple adults from a large ooth, even for experienced keepers.

 

[Morwenna]

Yeah that's what hibiscusmile said. It's okay, I'm doing this for the experience and if I need to, I can always get another ooth.

Edit: 3 days and I haven't seen any cannibalism yet...hmmmm. :/

 

[Morwenna]

The babies should be molting within the next day or two, they're starting to turn dark. I've had minimal deaths and cannibalism so far.

 

[dgerndt]

Congrats!!

 

[sporeworld]

(IMO) To reduce cannibalism, increase visibility. Let 'em see it comin'!

You have dead lilac branches, so lots of twigs, and very little leaves - that should be great. I find (unless really hungry) they threat pose each other and avoid conflict, taking the smaller fruit flies instead. But when a little mantid head peaks up over a leaf, it gets clawed and eatten off immediately. Leaving lots of headless bodies littering the floor.

The next obstacle will be getting the roaches or crickets to move around and get picked off. You may have plenty of food, but it's all hiding. I haven't figured this all out myself, but putting food and water at the top, tends to draw up the crickets. Top lights and heat sources have a similar effect, as does spraying water.

The only other thing I've done is have a tube (toilet paper roll) at the bottom that I KNOW they'll eventually end up in, and just routinely shake them all back out.

I honestly have zero experience with roaches, so good luck with that.

Good Luck!

 

[Morwenna]

These roaches can climb glass, so they'll be easier prey items when the time comes.

 

[Morwenna]

Update: many have died as expected, the rest are eating well. No molts yet and it's been nearly two weeks, is this normal?

 

[dgerndt]

Yes, the time it takes for a mantis to molt depends on a lot of different factors. Amount of food available, temperature, and much more can all affect how long it takes for a molt. Just be patient, they'll molt soon enough.

 

[wyethia]

Update: many have died as expected, the rest are eating well. No molts yet and it's been nearly two weeks, is this normal?

Morwenna, if you are still on here, how long did it take for your Chinese to get to their first molt?

Wyethia

 

[Morwenna]

A couple of weeks. I only have 4 left from the first ooth. I ordered 2 more, and one of them tried to hatch out but for some reason failed, so I only got a couple of nymphs out of it.

 

[wyethia]

Sorry to hear that Mine are ok so far in my big enclosure, but not good in the smaller one. They just don't molt well in it and/or are eating the heck out of each other. The big enclosure has a live plant...I'm wondering if that has a lot to do with it? And tons of fruit flies.

We'll see...based on the forum, I won't count success at a measly L2

but boy are they cute!!

Wyethia