Choeradodis sp.

[Sarkhan42]

I’d say 1 female and 3 males is pretty ideal from my experience as long as you keep the female alive and treat her like a princess lol. The more males you have the better. The females like to munch on the males. Their diet in the wild mostly consists of grasshoppers and other mantids so be careful.

They’re looking gorgeous though, nice work.

Thanks, I’m glad they’re all doing so well! As of now I’m giving the female about twice as much food as the males, however they’re all getting fed on the same schedule.

In your experience, what’s the most effective method of properly staggering growth between sexes? I want to avoid cooling down the males if possible, seeing as they’re so sensitive.

 

[Sarkhan42]

The female in question, who rejected food today but decided to let me take her picture.

 

[ToxoHP]

Thanks, I’m glad they’re all doing so well! As of now I’m giving the female about twice as much food as the males, however they’re all getting fed on the same schedule.

In your experience, what’s the most effective method of properly staggering growth between sexes? I want to avoid cooling down the males if possible, seeing as they’re so sensitive.

I simply give them less food, this staggers them enough in my experience.

That photo of the female is awesome! I can see why she refused, she’s fat as hell.

 

[Sarkhan42]

I simply give them less food, this staggers them enough in my experience.

That photo of the female is awesome! I can see why she refused, she’s fat as hell.

Also got this sweet threat posture from a male! Not as good of a photo because my phone was freaking out, but glad to at least capture the moment.

 

[Sarkhan42]

After removing the leaves and feeding heavily, my female has molted wonderfully ahead of the males! Still just so stunning.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Just some updates on my favorite mantis- rehoused into a beautiful new palace, eating well and behaving wonderfully for the camera!

 

[Chelbelle]

So perfect! Maybe one day i'll dive into these guys.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Molted again, and looking like she’s Sub adult now mayhaps? Still a molt ahead of the boys so fingers crossed when it comes to breeding.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Managed to get my hands on a second female, she’s 8th instar and one of my three males has just molted to 7th instar. Adults aren’t too far off now

 

[Sarkhan42]

Sub adult male being rehoused this morning, just absolutely stunning. Expecting a molt from the other female tonight, fingers crossed!

 

[Sarkhan42]

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I must announce that I’ve lost my larger sub adult female. Immediately after her last molt, she began having issues passing frass and showed significant bloating, what I suspect was an internal infection. I did my best to keep her cleaned up and cared for hoping she would pull through, but it was in vain.

The good news is I still have males, and my second smaller female is showing signs of molting within the next week or two. Hopefully they can carry on the genetic legacy of that beautiful girl that didn’t quite make it.

 

[ToxoHP]

View attachment 290215 View attachment 290216

It is with an extremely heavy heart that I must announce that I’ve lost my larger sub adult female. Immediately after her last molt, she began having issues passing frass and showed significant bloating, what I suspect was an internal infection. I did my best to keep her cleaned up and cared for hoping she would pull through, but it was in vain.

The good news is I still have males, and my second smaller female is showing signs of molting within the next week or two. Hopefully they can carry on the genetic legacy of that beautiful girl that didn’t quite make it.

That's a shame, man. I saw you were feeding them a lot of mealworms, which are very fatty and not the best, especially Choera and their sensitive digestive system. I suggest moving to red runners, flies, bees and moths, and only use mealworms when absolutely necessary and have nothing else to feed.

Let's hope the other female makes it

 

[Sarkhan42]

That's a shame, man. I saw you were feeding them a lot of mealworms, which are very fatty and not the best, especially Choera and their sensitive digestive system. I suggest moving to red runners, flies, bees and moths, and only use mealworms when absolutely necessary and have nothing else to feed.

Let's hope the other female makes it

Yeah I’ve been trying to transition to red runners and flies but my red runners aren’t breeding quite as fast as I’d like yet. Any suggestions for culturing flies? In the past I’ve always had issues having adults when I need them, and end up having huge population explosions at bad times.

 

[Sarkhan42]

That's a shame, man. I saw you were feeding them a lot of mealworms, which are very fatty and not the best, especially Choera and their sensitive digestive system. I suggest moving to red runners, flies, bees and moths, and only use mealworms when absolutely necessary and have nothing else to feed.

Let's hope the other female makes it

Everything looked to be just fine, Cheryl’s female was eating well and showed good hood shape adjustment for molt. I cranked up the moisture right before molt as recommended by Brian, but she just didn’t molt. Hung out for 2 days looking perfect to go, but she was never able to break the old exoskeleton and died hanging there.

My boys are headed to Brian to hopefully mate with the female he’s got.

Super frustrating to have all my issues at the very end, having gotten these shipped to me L1 and flawless up until sub adult. I just hope my males and Brian’s female can do what needs to be done to continue the species in the hobby.

 

[Sarkhan42]

Apologies for the image quality, but I finally have a second chance at breeding these guys in this beautiful female! I have her set up with live pothos and on a varied diet, along with plenty of humidity, ventilation, and mesh to molt from. Hopefully this time around everything will come together for a strong and healthy adult molt.

 

[mantisfan101]

I WANT!!! Good luck on this attempt, they almost look like little trilobites with their pronotum and their wing buds. It’s like a really overexaggerated rhombodera.

 

[Sarkhan42]

I WANT!!! Good luck on this attempt, they almost look like little trilobites with their pronotum and their wing buds. It’s like a really overexaggerated rhombodera.

I adore them but damn are they incredibly frustrating. I had another presub female as well but she fell from the pothos while molting they're just so sensitive it seems. Everyone else I've talked to has had identical issues with the adult molt, and those that have gotten adults have had absolutely 0 luck breeding(in the US at least).

 

[Arthroverts]

Oh man, that has got to be insanely frustrating. They are such a beautiful species; but I guess the struggle is what makes it worth it when success is finally found. I'm hoping you have a breakthrough @Sarkhan42!

Thanks,

Arthroverts

 

[ElytraXD]

Man! What I would do to get my hands on one of these! Amazing! Hope the breeding went well!

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Any updates?