Molting questions

Had our ghost nymph for about 4 weeks now. How can I tell if she’s molting? Been hanging in same spot for days and swaying a lot. Doesn’t want to come to our finger like she did before. My daughter got her out and fed her anyway and she took the food, slowly though/ should we leave her alone? Will she eat on her own if we don’t feed her ourselves?

There are a few things you can look at to tell if its in pre-molt:

If they have wing buds, then the wing buds appear to be thicker during pre-molt period.

They  lose apatite.

Their abdomen also will appear to be decently plump even though it didn't eat for a few days.

If it fits some of these signs then I suggest leave it alone in the mean time~

edit: also, 4 weeks sounds about like a molt is due soon, haven't kept ghosts yet, but for my others a molting cycle takes about that amount of time (or less).

Ghosts generally don't move around much, they just hang around (literally)!

Ghosts generally don't have mismolt problems so no need to be seriously worried about that. If it is taking food then the molt won't be for another few days. What instar is it?

It will be apparent when it molts, so look carefully at the mantis before picking up the cage. If it is hanging in an odd position from its skin, then don't touch the cage. Wait until it is done molting and you can pick up the cage.  If it is bigger and there is a shed near hanging from the top or lying on the bottom of the cage, it has molted. Do not touch or bother the mantis for at least 24 hrs after the molt. 

Hope that helped!

- MantisGirl13

MantisGirl13 said:

Ghosts generally don't move around much, they just hang around (literally)!

Ghosts generally don't have mismolt problems so no need to be seriously worried about that. If it is taking food then the molt won't be for another few days. What instar is it?

It will be apparent when it molts, so look carefully at the mantis before picking up the cage. If it is hanging in an odd position from its skin, then don't touch the cage. Wait until it is done molting and you can pick up the cage.  If it is bigger and there is a shed near hanging from the top or lying on the bottom of the cage, it has molted. Do not touch or bother the mantis for at least 24 hrs after the molt. 

Hope that helped!

- MantisGirl13

Click to expand...

L4. Does that make sense? That’s what was on the receipt

What do you mean, "does that make sense?"

 If she is L4, then the molt should be soon.

- MantisGirl13

MantisGirl13 said:

What do you mean, "does that make sense?"

 If she is L4, then the molt should be soon.

- MantisGirl13

Click to expand...

I don’t know what instar is? So I was just guessing it meant L4 because that was on receipt. I don’t know the mantis terminology yet. Is L4 the instar? 

I don’t know why but if we put food in the terrarium she doesn’t eat much at all, but if my daughter gets her out and feeds her on her hand then she will eat everything you give her. Is that common? I always thought the mantis likes to hunt.

Oh, ok. L4 means molted 3 times. Ghosts are not an aggressive species towards prey.

- MantisGirl13

Yes L4 should be the instar. A freshly hatched mantis would be L1, so as @MantisGirl13 said, this means your mantis has molted 3 times before. A month apart sound like your mantis would be due for a molt soon. Ghosts molt every 3-4 weeks until they get to around L6 and it starts to slow down and take a bit longer between molts. All Ghosts will molt 7 times

Ghosts are stationary hunters, so they typically just hang around and wait for food to come to them before striking. They also prefer flying prey, like houseflies (which is the size prey your Mantid should be eating at that instar). If you offer food and the mantis swats it away, it is definitely preparing for a molt. Leave it alone for a couple days and it should do the rest! After molting, it may be a day before your mantis wants a meal, so don't worry. 

Hope that helped! Definitely check out some videos of mantids molting on YouTube, it is cool stuff and you will see what you are in for!

Good luck and keep us posted

i have here a vid where you can see the molting proces:



This guy have more mantis vids: enjoy

Time to put my money where my big mouth is. I only used data from four of my ghosts.

i3 to i4 I averaged 16.5 days

i4 to i5 I averaged 25 days.