Mantis Nymph care question.

[Joemantis]

Hi everyone,
I recently purchased a Praying Mantis Ootheca and hung it off a bonsai I had placed in a terrarium filled with moistened sphagnum peat. They hatched about two weeks after. I placed several rose stem cuttings covered in hundreds of red aphids for food. The aphids range from double the size of the Nymphs' heads to about the size of one of their eyes. I've seen the odd nymph munching on an aphid, but for the most part have not seen any mass feeding. They seem totally content just hanging off of things, grooming themselves and drinking the condensation on the glass. Also, I haven't noticed any cannibalism yet. It's been 36 hours since they hatched.

I have approx 200 nymphs in a 40 Liter tank at 23 degrees Celsius (rising since I noticed that the heat pad had fallen off the bottom) and about 80% humidity.
I was thinking of adding some fruit flies if they don't start eating the aphids soon.
Any suggestions?

 

[MooSmoo]

I'm not sure if this is correct but I thought newly hatched nymphs could live off what they got inside the ootheca or the remains of the ootheca after they've hatched, as I read they stay by the case for a while after hatching.

Not sure about that though

 

[petshopguy]

Newborn mantid nymphs have no desire to eat the first 2-3 days after hatching. Their bodies are still hardening. They are the same way for a day after molting. According to my records, 38 hours after hatching was the soonest that any of my hatchlings have eaten.
You definitely want to get some fruit flies. They are much more visible to the mantids. Also, I start fruit fly cultures about a month before I expect hatchlings - it takes a good 2-3 weeks for each culture to be ready for feeding. And, mantids are voracious eaters - you'll fly through the feeders (pun intended).
The nymphs won't eat part of the ootheca, they are strictly carnivores.
Also, it's typical to lose approx. half of the mantids by the time they are L4 - even if you separate them into individual containers, you lose about 1/3. Things happen - they don't eat enough (even though the food is walking right in front of them 24 hours a day), molting issues, humidity, some cannibalism, etc.
Your humidity levels are good - keep spraying the enclosure every other day to offer drinking water. Feed daily. I like to separate them when they hit L3. That is when they are big enough to easily overpower the mantids that are still at L2. If you feed them daily, L2's won't attack L1's.
Good luck!

 

[Joemantis]

Thanks.

Thanks for the tips. I just noticed today that almost all of the aphids were gone from the tank and all that were left were in the claws of the nymphs. I filled the tank with more aphids and they seem satisfied with that for now.
I plan on dispersing the majority of them in my garden as pest control once it gets a bit warmer here. I'll keep 5-6 as pets probably.

 

[Gr8Reptile]

Hey what kind of mantises are they?

 

[MooSmoo]

I plan on dispersing the majority of them in my garden as pest control once it gets a bit warmer here.

Where abouts do you live?

 

[Joemantis]

I live in Vancouver, BC. Canada. We've been having a strange coldish spell that seems to have stopped now.
I'm unsure what kind of mantis they are. They're brown, with two very light brown stripes down either side of their abdomens.

 

[Fingolfin]

Hey Joemantis, I'm from Langley... where did you get that from? I just noticed my LPS here selling mantids, only 5 bucks so I picked one up....

 

[Joemantis]

Haha no way, I was just at probably the same store today (Petland) on fraser hwy in langley buying pinhead crickets for the nymphs. The mantids they had on sale looked identical to the ones I just hatched. I think the egg sac I had was from costco of all places.

 

[Fingolfin]

Oh wow! Yep, petland it was.... you came all the way out here from Vancouver? Anyways, Costco was selling the eggs? I had no idea... I need to go over there, I guess. I can't seem to get a good pic of the little guy I got thus far. The guy at Petland wasn't sure of the species either...

 

[Joemantis]

Well I actually live in surrey, I use Vancouver to mean the lower mainland.
I'm not too proud to live in surrey, haha.

 

[Fingolfin]

Nor should you be lol! Kidding, I'm a Guildford transplant out here anyway....

 

[Fingolfin]

Two pics of the little one. Though he has molted since and has turned a more greenish colour than this brown.