# Newbie from Houston, Texas :)



## Dinora (Dec 16, 2008)

Greetings!

I'm about to be the owner of a Hymenopus coronatus (Orchid) - we are waiting for the delivery now!  

Before I finally became brave enough to make the first step and purchase one, I had done lots and lots of research on the internet (websites and forums) and in books - I was paranoid that I would make a fatal mistake.

Well now I'm ready, what I don't already have by way of supplies are being delivered with the new pet, the only thing I wasn't able to find out anywhere, in books or online or on forums, was this:

How often can I handle my new pet? Can picking it up too often be stressful to the little guys?  

And how long after delivery should I wait before handling it? (For example: with small pet rodents pet shops will advise you allow the pet at least a day or two to acclimate to its new surroundings before picking it up again.)

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance!

Dinora

Oh, and brilliant site here! Thank you to the moderators for creating this and thank you to all the other new owners for asking all those great questions! They were questions I had myself.


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## Katnapper (Dec 16, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, Dinora! Glad to have you here.  

This thread might give you some better insight into some opinions on the subject of your question:  

Just wondering...., Do you let your mantids out?


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## shorty (Dec 16, 2008)

Welcome to the forum and good luck with the new hobby.


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## revmdn (Dec 16, 2008)

Welcome to the forum. I'm new also, so your not alone.


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## Rick (Dec 16, 2008)

Welcome. I firmly believe that frequent handling is not good for them. To me they are a look don't touch kind of pet. Occasional getting her out and letting her sit on your hand is ok.


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## hibiscusmile (Dec 16, 2008)

Hi Dinora, welcome to the forum, from OHIO!  , You will find they are not like other pets and a few minutes after being let out of their packaging, they will be lookin around and bobing their little heads up and down wondering where the bloody fruitflies are and their warm drink and wondering where to perch! They do not need to be left in a container by theirselves, I let them right out onto the container to perch and give them a drink and then introduce them to their new house and dinner! They will act like they have always been there.


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## The_Asa (Dec 16, 2008)

Welcome to the forum!


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## Dinora (Dec 16, 2008)

Thank you for all the warm welcomes.

I've sad news to report.

I received my mantis this afternoon and opened the packaging to discover it was mid-molt and very tangled in it's old skin.

I did my best to help by keeping it misted (to keep the old skin soft) and I held the old skin in place with tweezers so the little guy could tug a for few seconds at a time resting for minutes in between. It took several hours before it could detangle itself. The last part to pull away was the skin from it's front legs.

After it was all said and done I noticed it was letting its front legs just hang there instead of picking them up and folding them at it's chest as I've seen in photographs. When it walked the front legs just dragged along to one side, one leg even dragged below it's abdomen.

I had to get a magnifying glass to see that it's "hand" is missing from it's right front leg and the other "hand" was broken on it's left arm.

After about an hour it passed away.  

So my dream of owning an orchid mantis only lasted about 4 hours. *sigh*


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## Katnapper (Dec 17, 2008)

Oh, Dinora.... I'm so sorry!


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## Rick (Dec 17, 2008)

Dinora said:


> Thank you for all the warm welcomes. I've sad news to report.
> 
> I received my mantis this afternoon and opened the packaging to discover it was mid-molt and very tangled in it's old skin.
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear. In that case there is nothing you can do. It sucks but you are going to experience many losses in this hobby.


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## Dinora (Dec 17, 2008)

Oh! Good news!!!  

Last night I had sent a couple of emails to the breeder I purchased my orchid from, this first one was asking for advice to make sure I was doing the right thing by helping the little guy untangled itself and the second was letting her know that it had passed.

This morning she let me know that she's sending me another!

I didn't even ask her to because technically the little guy did arrive alive - not her fault the molt began in shipment.

I just wanted to thank her here, because she is also on this forum:

Thank you, Rebecca, with the Mantis Place!!!

After a long night of being upset (I've been looking forward to my very first mantis for so long...) she made it all better!

I can't wait to meet my new little friend!!!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


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## Katnapper (Dec 17, 2008)

That's wonderful, Dinora!  Yes, Rebecca is the best.


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