Tenodera sinensis: My Very First Time Raising Nymphs!

[Storm&bugfreak]

Hello everyone!

It has been a few days since my T. sinensis egg, that I thought was a dud, hatched! So far, they are doing absolutely phenomenal! When they hatched, I just selected 8 mantids right off the bat, waited 24 hours, and then fed them fruit flies.  The rest of the mantids that hatched I gave to friends who also wanted to take a nab at raising a little mantis, and my former science teacher who was interested in having them as class pets!

Here's some photos I snapped right after I separated them and introduced them to some large flightless fruit flies. Aren't they adorable??  :wub:  The last image is one of the mantids that grabbed that fruit fly it's eating in the image right after I threw in 4 more flies and doing housing maintenance. They are all stubborn little buggers, they love to hop around, and sprint.. Very active little critters. My goal is to try and get them to molt a little faster so I'm feeding them a little bit more, and I'm leaving them under a lamp where it gets comfortably warm. So far, they are doing great! And I think one might be on its way to molting as it's the only one that did not went straight for the fruit flies after changing their bedding/cleaning their containers.. And as I type this, it still hasn't touched a single one. The time has begun!!! 

I'll keep you all posted with more updates in the weeks to come as they get bigger and healthier with each and every molt!

 

[LAME]

I suggest seperation within 3 or 4 days. they'll start to cannibalize by then. Mine always did.  

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

I suggest seperation within 3 or 4 days. they'll start to cannibalize by then. Mine always did.  

Thank you for the suggestion LAME! That's what I plan to do when I do my second round. This current hatch was a huge surprise for me, so I kinda scrambled to get all my supplies and had to rig some dollar store containers (Definitely recommend dollar stores.. They are container city when it comes to storage containers.. Best selection I've seen yet have been at dollar stores!) Over the winter when eggs will be more available online, I plan on buying a few ooths, hatch one again over the winter and try and keep them together for a few days that time, and then separate them. I still kind of have low hopes for this surprise bunch that hatched, mainly because I was so unprepared and I had to quick-rig stuff together to keep them in.  Rest of the ooths I plan on releasing into my yard in the spring and hope to make a summer time mantis story based on the mantids that hatch from the outdoor ooths!  I hope to have my neighborhood filled with these wonderful insects next summer as I've never ever seen mantids in my old neighborhood (I'm living in an apartment right now, plan on moving back to my parents, where I plan to really start my mantis collection as my dad loves them too, and plan to save up to buy property and build my own house.)

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

Small quick update: Yeesh, these youngins are bug-eating machines.. I put in 4 fruit flies for each nymph in my 8 containers and every single one of those fatties ate every single one of those flies overnight.  :blink:  Man they are going to grow up so nice healthy  Going to wait a while, maybe a day or two to feed them again.. I don't want my mantids to pop from eating too much  :lol:

 

[Digger]

How I love T. sinensis! I say they have the best personalities of any of 'em.  :clap:

This is sub-adult male Orion happily watching TV, a few years ago:

 

[CosbyArt]

@Storm&bugfreak They look great, congrats! Indeed they are eating machines, wait until they grow, it can be hard to keep up with them - I call them the hay burners of the insect world, bottomless pits always looking for more prey (the larger 4" adult size helps them with that too).

Glad you tried the dollar stores, they are the best for selection and prices for habitat making - besides the cup method. The only suggestion is on misting, as it looks like they might be getting over watered - mist just enough that it evaporates in 30 minutes or less (to prevent mold/bacteria problems).

The Tenodera is a very inquisitive species, and one of the friendlier species too (even in the wild). Have fun and enjoy.

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

@CosbyArt Thank you! Couple days later, and they're getting even bigger!  :blink:  I don't think they've molted yet, no skins laying around, but they are looking quite plump and I can see the smaller features on them now! I think they're close to molting though. They're moving slower now, and are ignoring the fruit flies with one out of 7 of them that's still eating. I hope to have some L2 nymphs in the next few days! If they all make it to L2, I'll be stoked! Means a better and stronger pets, and better chance for them to live a full and healthy life!  

EDIT: And yes, I noticed a lot of the mist wasn't evaporating and just stagnating over a couple days.. I just changed their bedding so they can have a clean environment to molt in and so it's not overly humid. This time I just sprayed 2-3 times in each container and made sure there were a couple spots where they could drink whenever. Now the waiting to L2 begins! 

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

How I love T. sinensis! I say they have the best personalities of any of 'em.  :clap:

This is sub-adult male Orion happily watching TV, a few years ago:

:wub:  They are something that's for sure. I remember when I was 8, just moved here from Seattle. We don't have these fellas there.. I was outside waiting for my parents to check into our hotel room as we were still looking for a home. I saw something move at the corner of my eye real close to me on a bush.. I look over, and I see this freaking alien starring at me right in my face and doing its little dance, while turning its head side to side trying to figure out what kind of creature I am.. To an 8 year old, this thing was a behemoth.. She had a full sack too so her size was pretty amplified.. Scared the heck out of me at the time.. But my mom convinced me to keep her.. She was so cool! She'd climb up to my shoulder like a parrot and would flap her wings every few seconds while looking around and trying to find the next thing to climb on. I let her go a few days later! Ever since then, I've been fond of them! T. sinensis will always be my favorite species! I honestly cannot get myself to own another kind of mantis.. But maybe that'll change after I do a couple rounds of raising T. sinensis!

 

[CosbyArt]

@Storm&bugfreak Your welcome. They likely just filled out now that they fully hardened and have been busy filling their abdomens, as when they molt there will be plenty of shed exuviae everywhere. For a Tenodera to refuse food is a sure sign of molting.

No problem, misting the right amount takes practice, and if anything mist a bit less as you can always spray more (rather than trying to dry out the habitat from too much).

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

@CosbyArt Well one just started molting real quickly.. But, bad news, it fell  I hopt it's okay, but I'm going to assume it won't make it. Hopefully it falling on the damp paper towel will help.

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

UPDATE: It pulled through! Gosh that was a quick molt! Under 45 minutes! It fell twice.. I just grabbed it back up, held it until it started moving again.. perked right back up, and looked right at me like "Thanks bud, I would have been screwed without you!" and hopped right back into the container.. Now it's just chillin' out and drying out  It is now GREEN!  All other mantids are now frozen still. Oh man I'm so nervous!

EDIT: And it is a male!!

 

[CosbyArt]

@Storm&bugfreak Very nice, glad to hear you were able to save him. Well hopefully the rest of them molting will go without issue.

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Cagn, the survivor of the fall! He has absolutely no problems and loves to hop around! So far, 4 of my mantids have molted, and they're all turning green!

 

[CosbyArt]

@Storm&bugfreak Great to see Cagn is doing so well, and seems even his walking legs are problem free.

Ah yes the nymph hop. Just keep a watch out for their leap of death to the carpet below too - I haven't had any nymph suffer a injury doing it from usually 3-4 feet up, but it can take some effort tracking them down afterwards.

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

@CosbyArt Ohh yes they are fast little hoppers.. Ever since they've molted, they seem much more active! I've already had one hop right into my garbage can and it scurried deep into my garbage when trying to put fruit flies into its cage   - is that bad that it got into garbage with germs and whatnot?

So now that they've all pretty much reached L2 now, I think most of the ones I have are going to live well into adulthood! Man I'm so stoked for L3! I can't wait until what these creatures will be like by new years! By then that'll be under two months from now, so they'll probably be sub-adult L5, with males being two more molts away from having wings and females probably three. With them being born on November 7th, think early to mid March would be a good bet on when they reach adulthood?

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

So I finally got some bigger containers for the mantis family! I felt like it's better now than later to get them into bigger containers with some modifications that'll give them a better spot to molt on. The one that fell was on the lid, and because I was in a rush to save them when they were born, I never made mesh setups in the smaller containers.. Plus they are 8" long and 6" tall, so I plan on keeping them in these containers until they're close to getting their wings. When they do reach full adult, I either just might keep them in these bigger food containers, or if I have enough money at the time, drop a few extra bucks on netted, pop-up butterfly cages for each mantis!

 

[CosbyArt]

@CosbyArt Ohh yes they are fast little hoppers.. Ever since they've molted, they seem much more active! I've already had one hop right into my garbage can and it scurried deep into my garbage when trying to put fruit flies into its cage   - is that bad that it got into garbage with germs and whatnot?

So now that they've all pretty much reached L2 now, I think most of the ones I have are going to live well into adulthood! Man I'm so stoked for L3! I can't wait until what these creatures will be like by new years! By then that'll be under two months from now, so they'll probably be sub-adult L5, with males being two more molts away from having wings and females probably three. With them being born on November 7th, think early to mid March would be a good bet on when they reach adulthood?

I would try to avoid letting them in the garbage, but doubt any garbage inside your home would have any germs/bacterial/parasites that would affect the nymph from such contact (as it is not exposed to the elements and wildlife outside).

When your nymphs will reach adulthood depends on several factors, but generally the time span is 4 to 6 months - which puts adulthood at March, April, or May. So they may be there in March, but likely a bit longer.

So I finally got some bigger containers for the mantis family! I felt like it's better now than later to get them into bigger containers with some modifications that'll give them a better spot to molt on. The one that fell was on the lid, and because I was in a rush to save them when they were born, I never made mesh setups in the smaller containers.. Plus they are 8" long and 6" tall, so I plan on keeping them in these containers until they're close to getting their wings. When they do reach full adult, I either just might keep them in these bigger food containers, or if I have enough money at the time, drop a few extra bucks on netted, pop-up butterfly cages for each mantis!

...

Well I see someone has been to their local PetSmart to buy fruit flies.

The containers look great and will serve the nymphs well until they are half grown.

Regarding container size for mantids you want a container that is 3 times the mantids length for height, and 2 times the mantid length for width and length. So in order for a 2" long nymph to molt successfully it needs a container that is (3 times the length for height) 6" high from lid to substrate. In other words the 6" tall containers will work for half their molting lives, but will need a taller container for the rest of their molts.

As winged L8 adults they can get away with smaller habitats, as there are no worries of molting problems, but is still a good idea to give them 2 times their length for height/length/width. Personally I give them more room, as with some individuals it puts them more at ease, and helps gravid females in finding locations to lay their ooths.

The only issue I see in the containers are the dowel rods are currently placed at 45 degree angles or less. Nymphs will often molt low on such dowel rods/sticks and can get molting issues ranging from deformed legs (no room) or even get stuck and die half molted - I've had it happen many times with such a degree angle when I first started. To prevent the problem if you place the dowel rods at 70 degrees up to 90 degree angles it will keep the nymphs from molting too low (a small dollop-glob of hot glue will keep them in place).

 

[LAME]

Alternatively you can divide a 10 gallon aquarium in half,making two 5 gallon homes within the tank for two mantids.

This will give both individuals in that setup ample roaming and molting space. With the Chinese you'll want something bigger... bigger than a 32oz cup. (With Chinese I've always stuck to aquariums...) a good spot to find a cheap one would be locally on craigslist. I've found people practically just giving them away. Keep eyes on that every so often.

Or.....

Another trick of my own (and I'm not sure if anyone here has done this yet...) is you can also find the cheap mesh foldable style laundry baskets at the dollar tree. Which you can also use as a a net style enclosure by either flipping it upside down, or constructing a sort of top/lid for. If your a d.i.y project type  

 

[Storm&bugfreak]

@LAME @CosbyArt Thank you both so much for your inputs and suggestions! I've thought about snagging a large aquarium and dividing it up with mesh walls/superglue. I've found some decent ones at Petsmart for around $60 that could be divided up into several spacious sections! I'm moving out December 12th at this point in time, so I probably won't be able to work on this next housing step until after I move out - I'll be in a more spacious house then and will be able to do more DIY stuff.. Making these 7 containers was an absolute nightmare in my apartment, got glue everywhere lol. I also found a few designs online where someone grabbed a huge cardboard box, meshed it up and created an opening lid on it and turned it into a 3 ft X 3 ft mantis mansion! If money is tight at the time, I may just grab some boxes from my work and rig those up into mantis homes! I'll definitely look into those foldable laundry baskets! I saw one at Walmart yesterday, one of those prop-up meshed ones, and thought hmm.. this could easily be DIY'd into a home!

And yes @CosbyArt Petsmart was the only place I could think of where I could easily score some fruit flies! I'm trying to find a place locally that may have small roaches for sell, I'm trying to avoid having to shop online and deal with shipping (My landlord would flip if she saw a box of insects show up at the main office lol) I want to try pin-head crickets as well, but I'm doing my best to avoid crickets until the mantids are finished molting through all their stages.. but if I have no other choice, I may have to resort to pinheads.