So my wahllie has been mated, at she is super fat! she eats about half a dozen bb's a day, and every other day a medium sized cricket. She is in a container that i like to call the ooth laying chamber. it has a vertical popsicle stick in the container, and two diagonal popsicle sticks. She hasn't layed in over a week, so my question is is there anything i need to change in her tank?
Wahllie ooth laying tips?
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aNisip
Well-known member
Raise RH, give her as much water as she'll want to drink (from a pipette or straw) and don't just give her those flat popsicle sticks, add some real ones...and/or remove the pops sticks completely and go with the real ones...
Dont feed them crix
They and creos get plugged up on crix
They and creos get plugged up on crix
Has she laid any ooths yet? I've probably had about 50 wahlbergii ooths that have been laid on branches. Every now and then one lays an ooth on a plastic lid. I keep my adults in 80 ounce plastic containers and exo terrar faunarium critter keepers. The branches I use are thick.
The crix are usually small (relative to the mantis), and they have also been gut-loaded
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I have popsicle sticks, but they are more flatter than thicker. Shes mated, eaten her mate, and has eaten a lot of bb's and2 or 3 crickets.
Have you used popsicle sticks with other species? The branches I use are oak and very dark and bumpy. The wahlbergii seem to like them a lot. The ooths darken so much that they blend right in, and sometimes I don't notice them right away. Once I moved branch in with a male Orchid that had been used by a wahlbergii female and was surprised one morning to find that he had a bunch of little wahlbergii nymphs to keep him company.
go to acmoore and get some fake vine or plant stuff and is less than $10 if u know wat u r doing 
Termite48
Well-known member
I would follow the words of Tammy W. She is the Wallie Queen. It works, so just do it if you want to copy the best.
SilentDeviL
Well-known member
Termite48
Well-known member
In my opinion, it is. I have had plenty of othecae laid on twigs of that size. Update: 12-13-12 Last night before bedtime I saw that the Wallie female I was couting on for an ooth, looked pretty fat. I placed a twig in a mostly vertical postion during the day so she could get a perch. This morning there is a 2"+ long ooth attached at about 2-3" from the top of the net cage and she is guarding it a little below the ooth. I use birch tree twigs. The one I used is about 5/16" diameter at the fat end,
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Tammy, i moved her to an exo terra critter keeper, and placed half inch sticks in her tank. However, she is acting wierd, she didnt eat anything today, and when i offer her a fly, she just strikes at it. She also seems a lot more agitated.... signs of an oncoming ooth?
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Could be. It seems as if they don't eat before laying an ooth. Make sure to give her a good drink. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
thank you! i really hope too. This will be my first exotic to lay an ooth. So far i have always been plauged by troubles with exotics. My giant asian female's digestive system became clogged and she died, the year before my male giant asian died, but i was left with a beautiful brown female. So far i have only had luck with european mantids.
Edit: i should also add, the sticks are diagonal, should they be at a different angle?
Edit: i should also add, the sticks are diagonal, should they be at a different angle?
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I really don't think it will make a difference. My sticks are more like branches though and are thicker. I've never known them to be that picky. Let us know if she doesn't lay in the next 24 hours.
