Now what do I do with my Chinese Mantises?

[Cryptid]

Hi everyone...

I mostly raise scorpions but decided to buy a couple of Chinese Mantis ooths because I always wanted a Chinese Mantis and had heard they were docile and you could hold them. That, and the fact they got a lot bigger than the native species I found in my garden.

Long story short, after their first molt I collected all of them and gave them to a guy down the road who has a large greenhouse where he raises orchids and Bromeliads. I now have 15 L4(if I understand the molting sequence correctly) and don't know what to do next. I currently have them in 32 oz. deli cups with a little coco fiber base, a little green moss and several dowels to climb on.

What next? Can I keep them together in a large enough encloser or do I keep them separated until I try to breed them?

 

[massaman]

Have to keep them separated so they do not eat each other at most stages of their development

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Well if you put them together you will eventually have just ONE big fat mantis. :lol:

 

[packer43064]

Yep, don't keep them together unless you want a blood bath!

 

[hibiscusmile]

Oh my! lions and tigers and ....mantis! beware human, mantis babies eat mantis babies!

 

[Cryptid]

Now that I know they will eat each other if kept together at any stage of their lives, let me ask two questions;

1. At what age will I be able to accurately sex them?

2. These people on the internet - that offer ooths in great numbers, implies they are breeding them in great numbers. Logistically, they couldn't be keeping hundreds and hundreds of these Mantis separate through their entire lifespan and only bringing the sexes together when they have achieved the penultimate molt or last stage in their lives. How are they doing it?

 

[packer43064]

2. It is most likely they are wild caught ooths.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Yes, I have a field I don't plow or mow and they take care of theirselves, and last year I did not collect to let them regenerate so also this year I did not collect, most go to fields n collect them.

 

[Rick]

The ooths are most likely gathered up from the wild. I know of a few places around here where there are hundreds of ooths to be taken if someone wanted to. They can be sexed now if you know what you're doing. I suggest removing at least half of that moss you have in there.

 

[Cryptid]

Thanks for all the info everyone. I didn't realize Chinese Mantises were that plentiful here in the U.S. I knew they were common to certain parts of the country but didn't realize how many there were.

Rick,

I'll do as you suggest. I put the moss in there to help retain moisture to aid in their molt. I'm so used to having problems with my arachnids molting that I instinctively worried about them. Is the moss bad for them?

 

[packer43064]

I don't think Rick is suggesting that the moss is bad, just that you don't need that much. I have less than an inch in my mantid containers.

 

[dgerndt]

You use the same canisters that I use! :lol:

 

[Cryptid]

Whoops...I got into my photobucket account and deleted the Mantis photos I took for the New Topic I started and forgot about whole "link thing". I only shot this photo and a few others for my question. I guess enough of the locals have seen it to understand my question and rearin' techniques.

Well now I know Chinese Mantises aren't that rare here in the U.S. I still think they are neat. I grew up in the central part of California and had lots of bugs around me. There were Praying Mantis everywhere but even if you came up on them slowly they would just flare back and strike at you then buzz away. Chinese Mantises are very docile. What's neat about them is when I grab their container they automatically run to the top of the container. Probably to get out and make an escape. But that would imply they are THINKING!

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Deby

Posted Today, 09:50 AM

You use the same canisters that I use!

Yeah. I bought a bunch of extra when I ordered my fruit flies to feed my baby Mantises. It's funny...I paid $8.00 for two ooths and spent almost $40.00 for their food. Your avatar shows the one type of Mantis I've always wanted!

 

[dgerndt]

Yeah, I was so upset when I saw that ONE ff culture costs $10+! But I had to buy it because I was getting hungry little nymphs in the same day. <_<

My avatar is a picture of one my little Ghost nymphs. They're a great species. You should get a few some day. You definitely won't regret it!

 

[Cryptid]

Yeah, I was so upset when I saw that ONE ff culture costs $10+! But I had to buy it because I was getting hungry little nymphs in the same day. <_<

My avatar is a picture of one my little Ghost nymphs. They're a great species. You should get a few some day. You definitely won't regret it!

$10.00 for FF? You're in the same state as Josh's Frog's. They have fruit fly cultures starting at 3.99 for D. melanogaster. I think they are located in Owosso, MI.

I was going to buy some Ghost Mantises but right now I sort of have my hands full with several gravid scorpions that are going to pop and a bunch of others that are outgrowing their containers. It's really a matter of space, not time or money. In several weeks I'm going to thin out the ranks of my Chinese Mantises and keep only about five or six. Even while I'm writing this reply I just noticed one of them shed. L5 --- Black eyes. It looks awesome!

 

[dgerndt]

Well, I didn't know that I could get fruit flies from anywhere but Petco at that point. I was a n00b. :lol:

Wow, it must be very interesting keeping scorpions. I've always thought they would be really fun to keep. Oh, and congrats on another successful molt!

 

[Cryptid]

Well, I didn't know that I could get fruit flies from anywhere but Petco at that point. I was a n00b. :lol:

I guess I'm a Mantis noob. According to the info on the side of my posts I'm only an ootheca, you're a 7th Instar. I need to start making more posts!

The species of scorpion that are ready to pop are an American species from our southwest. I've only kept African species but had an opportunity to get a couple trios. I've had them for about six months and I read somewhere their gestation can be long. Both of the females had to of bred before I bought them. They are definitely gravid because I can see the embryos through the sides of their body.

As soon as they give birth I'll posts some pictures in the arachnid section.

 

[dgerndt]

You'll learn very quickly here. You won't be a n00b for long, especially because you have some experience with other inverts.

That's so cool! I remember when I bred guppies, you could see when a female was going to give birth soon because you could see the little eyes of her young inside her. Do scorpions lay eggs or give birth to live young?

 

[Cryptid]

Scorpions give birth to live young. When the baby scorpion comes out it has a tissue around it and the mother helps it break free and it then crawls onto the mothers back and stays there till the 2nd instar.