AikoAiko
Active member
I mated my orchid mantises a couple of days ago. My female, Kerrigan, is about three weeks adult. I made sure to feed her up the last few weeks so her abdomen is full and round. I also had to turn up the heat in my house to 75 degrees F since my room is much colder now than the heated terrarium I keep my mantises in.
I put Kerrigan on a blanket hung over the vertical blinds and shooed the male towards her until he climbed on her back. She didn't seem to notice, just kept crawling up the blanket. Fifteen minutes later, the male started drumming on her back. Thirty minutes later, he connected and stayed that way for about six hours. I let him stay on her back for about 24 hours, then had my boyfriend seperate them while I was at work.
I was afraid if I let them stay together any longer Kerrigan would eat him. Boy, was the male ever pissed when he was finally pried off! He kept striking at my boyfriend's hand and trying to climb back on Kerrigan. He's back in his own container now and eating/behaving as normal. I fed Kerrigan a couple of moths.
Today, I introduced a different male to Kerrigan's enclosure. As of this post, he is on her back and drumming, but hasn't connected yet. I don't know if it will make a difference in ooth fertility if she is mated by two different males, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I'll post the pictures I took tommorrow.
Hoping for many ooths...
How many do you think she'll lay if I keep her well fed? Are orchid mantises very prolific?
I put Kerrigan on a blanket hung over the vertical blinds and shooed the male towards her until he climbed on her back. She didn't seem to notice, just kept crawling up the blanket. Fifteen minutes later, the male started drumming on her back. Thirty minutes later, he connected and stayed that way for about six hours. I let him stay on her back for about 24 hours, then had my boyfriend seperate them while I was at work.
I was afraid if I let them stay together any longer Kerrigan would eat him. Boy, was the male ever pissed when he was finally pried off! He kept striking at my boyfriend's hand and trying to climb back on Kerrigan. He's back in his own container now and eating/behaving as normal. I fed Kerrigan a couple of moths.
Today, I introduced a different male to Kerrigan's enclosure. As of this post, he is on her back and drumming, but hasn't connected yet. I don't know if it will make a difference in ooth fertility if she is mated by two different males, but I figured it couldn't hurt. I'll post the pictures I took tommorrow.
Hoping for many ooths...
How many do you think she'll lay if I keep her well fed? Are orchid mantises very prolific?
