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I have never ever seen a mantis survive any injury to the abdomen. This is a miraculous save.  Long story short: My mantis was hanging out on the top of the enclosure. My new cat clawed the mantis in the abdominal region. A brownish substance was oozing from her and she could not walk anymore. ...

I have a sub adult iris oratoria. I think her enclosure was too dry.  Now she has dry fecal matter i cannot remove with tweezers and water. Has anyone tried anything else like lactulose to lubricate, externally only. . . or oils? 

I was planning on transplanting my iris oratoria ooths to my backyard on my day off, so I had them in an enclosure near my back door. I figured the ooths would not hatch outside because it still drops to the 30's or 40's at night in Phoenix sometimes. Anyways, one of the ooths hatched inside...

Hello.  I have an egg bound iris oratoria, about 2.5 months adult.  About a month ago, I mated her with my male and she laid 1 nice ooth. After 1 month, she is too fat and unsuccessful--she tried to lay another ooth yesterday, but it was just a tiny blob. So mating her worked a little.  I could...

I fed my Iris Oratoria a green grasshopper from outside. when she ate it i noticed a black liquid just like the black death liquid in sick mantids.  I got scared because i never seen so much in a grasshopper besides a tiny bit of brown stuff from their mouths.  I got scared and sprayed it with...

I heard carrots are not good for crickets.  Most everything else can mold.  Has anyone had any problems feeding crickets potatoes?

My male iris oratoria was very healthy until about 5 days ago.  He started going into the threat pose for no reason for the first time ever.  Then 2 days ago, he lost half one of his front "paws".  So I fed him.  Yesterday he only could eat 2 fruit flies.  This morning he was running around in...

I have 3 L3 iris oratoria that are failing to thrive. Maybe no sun? They will not eat.  I would let them go, but they are not acclimated to the heat. Shipping needs to be overnight. Thank you

I found 3 new nymphs outside.  Conditions are not good here.  Where can I get melanogaster flies overnighted?

I thought my L3 male would molt 2 days ago. I put him a cage that I believe was too dry.  Then he had poop on his butt.  it took hours, but I removed it and made him drink water.   Then he pooped again and was able to eliminate it much easier with my help.  I think he sick from a bad cricket...

My Annie- L5 female Iris oratoria molted 3 days ago and her skin was  stuck on her butt. I have never seen any mantid survive so long with this scenario.  I used warm water to take off what I could. I used a magnifying glass to see that where she eliminates (poops), there is skin plugging her...

I found an L3 iris oratoria 2 days ago IN DECEMBER on a tree stump under a little palm tree.  I've posted about this find in other topics, but I am worried now because this little guy (who somehow survived mid 30 degree temperatures) will not eat the fruit flies. He is scared of them. He...

I live in AZ and have at least 9 iris oratoria ooths in my back-yard. I was sad to see that they were hatching in late November and early December. I only was able to catch 6 to take inside.  I did not know how to stop the hatching without hurting them. Does anyone know how to stop outdoor...

I live in AZ but these poor nymphs all died outside. I was able to catch a total of 6 and 2 died already.  Temps are only 50 degrees in day here and 30's at night now.  I'm having a hard time figuring out how to get these  little guys UV light and heat.  Heating the house dehydrated and killed...

I live in AZ. I have 3 nymphs that hatched in early December OUTSIDE when the temperatures at night were too cold, and 1 L2 that hatched in late November. I had 2 others that died. I believe they died because I cannot get the enclosures right. Heating our house dries everything too fast in the...

Does anyone know if there are any Iris oratoria left?  I have not seen any outside in over a year. I cannot even find any sightings from online sources. Are my babies all dead?

ooth or at any stage in life cycle

Hello! I live in Phoenix AZ. The last 4 years my back yard had many wild iris oratoria mantids.  Last summer hundreds hatched, but I noticed they were slowly disappearing. Oddly, the only ones that survived were the ones that lived on my cactus. They were mostly males.  I took the last 2...

I am a first time Chinese mom. I raised a little male nymph, and now he is adult (3 days ago molted) with dried  out wings. I am sure he is dehydrated.  He is drinking water, but is getting weaker and weaker. His head is hanging and he can barely walk. He will not eat.  I am afraid if I give...

Today I was given a new nymph! (The guys at the pet store gave it to me because they did not know how to care for it).  They told me it was a ghost mantis, but it looks Chinese to me.  Anyway, I normally raise iris oratoria; they like it dry.  This new little guy needs to have humidity and heat...