hysteresis
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Im glad I bought the kids a PS4, because keeping mantids is long, hard work! 🤣
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I decided to only post molt updates weekly now, but i'll make exception on one because i'm so stoked. One of my R. megaera males just molted to what I believe is i7. You can REALLY see the size difference in molts with this one. And I suspect it'll continue to be so until he's an adult. I was just wrapping up for the night and saw he'd molted. So exciting!
Sorry for the spotty cup. Nonetheless, one can see the growth after the molt.
This will be his last instar spent in a deli cup.
This one with flash. I suppose we should see his shield become more and more prominent with each remaining molt. One can see a back leg has a curve to it. He completed the molt successfully though. It won't be an issue through his instar, i'm sure.
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My golden Noël is doing funny stuff with her butt. Guess she's looking for love. 🤣
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Is it just me, or do all yalls' orchid cups start to stink after just one day?
Pheeew!
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Yeh odd. Rinsed the cup / plastic plantsies and changed the pads last night. Tonight after work, one was rank, the other was on its way.
Washed everything up, installed two pads, and now using a mesh top vented 32oz lid.
The two pads should retain and release moisture. Hopefully this setup will keep their cups fresh between pad changeouts.
Maybe it's all the BSFL and waxworms they eat. Pheew!
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Well, they poop a LOT so that doesn't help, lol.
I change my cotton pads every other day and the cups will still start to smell if they aren't wiped frequently. The best routine I've developed is I mist and wipe the cups when I change the substrate every other day. Once a week, I use rubbing alcohol on a paper towel to wipe the cup instead of just distilled water. If you do this, just make sure all the alcohol fumes have evaporated before putting your mantis back.
I have no solid theory as to why the cups smell. I personally just assumed it was all mantis enclosures will smell due to frass and bug parts everywhere. I feel that my Ghost enclosures get smelly, too, so it's not just the Orchids. The Orchids get smelly a bit sooner, probably due to the higher humidity and temps
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Our female gongy finally molted to L6!!!
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I tire of hand feedings.
There has to be a way for a Canadian to buy pupae online directly.
I might have some BSF going in a week or two if i'm lucky. My prepupae are just starting to firm up.
I don't know what i'm doing. 🤣
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Our female greenie molted to L4.
It would be cliche to name her, Green Goblin, and I said I wouldn't do ghosty names. But Emerald - Emmy for short. Jade. Good names.
We'll see if she stays green. Her coloration is patchy, and most prominent in the frilly leafy areas. She's actually kinda olive green. That's a candidate for a name too. Olive.
We'll see how she looks once her exo sets up.
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Yes, ideally you wouldn't want any prey in the enclosure for a molt, however... Ive had many mantids molt perfectly fine with flies in the enclosure (house, BBF and FF). It isn't necessarily a make or break it for the molt to occur, if you follow me.
But yes, try to remove any flies if you know a molt is due
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My crew molts predictably. She was next up and molted on time.
I have three more ghosts and a spiny on my molt shelf.
HAHA just looked over. Ghost 3 is dropping as I type this. She jumped the schedule by one day. Still, my molt shelf is for the next two molt days sequentially. Any can molt whenever they decide to. I just put them up and away from little hands.
I love this hobby. 😁
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I am FULL of chicken and steak fajitas.
That is all. 😁
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BIG sigh of relief. My surviving bleph molted to L5! That explains her short eating hiatus. So back to bleph business soon!
Bummed about my rhombo with the bum eye! 😥
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I just swapped out the filter paper in my nymph cup lids with tulle. I wanted to increase ventilation.
To be able to do this is this dry house, I've reverted back to a steam humidifier in the room my mantis shelf is in. Now I keep a room humidity between 40 and 50%.
This should be far better than relying solely on cotton pads for humidity. Just a quick pump or two with my fine mister.
I think this will be safer for my spinys in the long run.
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@MantisGirl13 wow, i'm getting old. My eyes must be deteriorating, because I got in real tight with the DSLR zoom, and now I can see it's indeed damage.
From most angles, unaided eye, you see no irregularities in the spherical surface of the eye. Just the black patch. But as soon as I zoomed in, and more clearly in some angles of incidence than others, you can see a dimpling. The eye looks rotten. This guy, active and healthy as he otherwise appears, has a rotten eye. Maybe an injury during molt, maybe damage from a cricket. That would have been over a molt ago. I don't have any crickets nor do I have immediate plans to get any.
he
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Just got home. Good evening so far:
1x ghost molt to L4
1x orchid molt to L5
1x mio molt to
subadult👊🙂
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Indian x Sri Lankan fusion cuisine for lunch at work.
Big mistake. I am fire. 😵
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Do orchid's bellies ever go flat, or do they stay round?
I haven't fed mine for a few days and their bellies are still plump and round.
They have been pooping. Ickk! Believe that!
They each had a waxworm segment Feb 1st.
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What a gorgeous day here in TO.
53°F and sunny. 🙂
