Just thought I’d share my Mantis “Gene” laying her 2nd ootheca. Its not something I see very often!
She’s never been paired with a male, she’s my only mantis and I got her from a friend before she had her final molt. I’m 99% sure the ootheca is infertile, though I know some species can lay partho babies. Really cool to see either way! 
So cool!! No idea if mantises do partho, but it would be super cool if you got some nymphs from at least one ootheca.
I gotta get myself a mantis one of these days. I find them around my work from time to time and it’s always such a treat to interact with them, they’re so freaking cool. But I don’t want to remove them from our campus, because we need all the help we can get with controlling our yellow jacket population. One day I’ll pull the trigger on a CB nymph.
They are really cool, theres just an intelligence and grace about them that isn’t seen in many other insects.
Gene isn’t the most handleble mantis I’ve kept but she’s still really neat to watch and feed lol, she loves dubia roaches!
Remember, laying an ootheca is really stressful and hard for the mantis. Make sure to give it plenty of water and wait 1-2 days before feeding again.
Yep! She’s settling down now, I misted her enclosure down not long after she was done and she was drinking the droplets off of the enclosure wall
Sounds like she’s recovering well then! If she starts acting differently, maybe reach out to someone, as I don’t know a lot about mantises lol.
I’ve kept 3 in the past 5 years, but my last 2 were males. They were well taken care of but their life spans weren’t very long because by the time I got them they were already almost adults (about 2 or so molts from maturity).
Once they have their final molts the males just don’t live very much longer, if even a few months tops. 
This is my first female mantis so I’m happy that I’ll have more time with her
Awesome! All creatures, invertebrates, reptiles, mammals, etc., are so fun to keep. Good luck with your mantis!
