# Blind Praying Mantis



## Mediocre_Rebel (Jul 14, 2015)

A few days ago I found a praying mantis sitting in my backyard. I noticed it didnt move and assumed it was dead.. until I picked it up. It stood unsteadily on my hand, with one of its legs sticking out in the air. Upon closer inspection I discoverd both of its eyes are badly damaged. The left is completely shrivled, and the right its 90% shrivled. I tried putting small insects like crickets and grasshoppers in front of her mouthparts to see if it would stimulate her to grab them and eat, even tried tearing one in half so she could taste the insides. She didnt eat them. I decided she would never survive and hunt outside and took her inside to put her in the freezer. Then, I spotted some cooked rabbit on the microwave that I had pulled out of my soup earlier, and thought it was worth a try. I placed it to her mouthparts and she chewed off some tiny little peices. I couldnt just send her to an early death if she was still eating. She also bit off and ate a peice of soft green pepper I had in the soup.

I brought her inside for the night and thought should would be dead in the morning, she didnt move an inch all night into the morning. Knowing I couldnt keep her inside, I wanted to build an outdoor enclosure, I put her back outside in a container, and went to the store for supplies. When i returned she seemed to be a little more lively than the previous day. In an attempt to feed her again, I rehydrated some bloodworms and tried to feed them to her, I put 1 tiny worm at a time to her mouthparts and she would nibble and drop them, and she tried to hold them down onto the leaf she was sitting on. When that failed, I tried a grasshopper again. I ripped off the legs so it would be easier to feed her, and after some patience, I finally got her to grab it with her claw. I was so happy when she began to eat!!!!

I then built her enclosure under the tree, using an old curtain and some bamboo stakes. I placed two potted plants inside with some sticks. after I put her inside and let her settle, I wanted to try feeding her again, this time, a whole grasshopper that was alive and kicking. It was a success! The very next day she was much, much, more feisty and lively than when I first found her. She even tried to bite my hand! I fed her one more small grasshopper yesterday. I have done some reading about praying mantises and over feeding, so today she did not get any meal, and is looking a little fat.

She still lacks the vision capabilities of a healthy praying mantis. I noticed she can still see light and the shadow of objects if theyre very close, but not movements around her. It almost appears that she uses her arms like a blind pedestrian would use a walking stick. I'm going to take care of her until first frost, and try to breed her with a male.

Any thoughts here?


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## dmina (Jul 15, 2015)

kudo's to you.. for keeping at it...she sounds like she found a great place to land... Sounds like you are doing a great thing for her.. Welcome to the mantis community...


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## LAME (Jul 15, 2015)

Wow.. Incredible dedication. Great job


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## CosbyArt (Jul 15, 2015)

Amazing she found you for sure, congratulations on a job well done! I doubt many would spend that much time or effort, myself included. Any pictures?


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## Mediocre_Rebel (Jul 15, 2015)

http://imgur.com/eaFELnz

Here she is, munching away at the face of a grasshopper.


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## Sticky (Jul 15, 2015)

Aww! Good job! I had a couple of nearly blind mantids. There was a small area that they could see thru the bottom of thier eyes. I fed them by touch mostly. I loved them dearly.

Blind pets are cool. She is going to make it for sure.


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## Mediocre_Rebel (Jul 15, 2015)

Also, this morning I checked on her because we had a bad storm last night. She was hanging upside down drinking water droplets off her feet. I read that they dont need to drink water often, and some people only mist them 1 time every three days. Is that correct? I dont want her to dehydrate, where else do they find water besides food, and the water that falls on them?


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## Mantis Man13 (Jul 15, 2015)

Dude just spray water onto her outdoor home lol.


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## Mediocre_Rebel (Jul 15, 2015)

Mantis Man13 said:


> Dude just spray water onto her outdoor home lol.


I thought that spraying the enclosure was just for humidity when the enclosure is indoors. Theres plenty of humidity outside. I want to know if she drinks from another source besides food and rain.


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## Melophile (Jul 15, 2015)

I've heard that they get all the water they need from their foods. As long as you are feeding the appropriate-sized prey, they should be fine.


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## CosbyArt (Jul 16, 2015)

Mediocre_Rebel said:


> http://imgur.com/eaFELnz
> 
> Here she is, munching away at the face of a grasshopper.


Looks like she is doing great! Nice to see her.  

I wouldn't worry to much about watering her outside unless it gets overly dry, and no rain for awhile. If it is anything like my area once the sun sets, dew starts about 2 hours afterwards and gets so wet my boots squeak walking in the grass (moth hunting lately).


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## Mediocre_Rebel (Jul 16, 2015)

Okay thank you!


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## [email protected] (Jul 18, 2015)

Wow! She is beautiful!


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## Mediocre_Rebel (Jul 20, 2015)

She escaped today and I freaked out. I found her a few feet away on a pokeberry bush ~_~. I know Im pretty much 'playing god' but I honestly think she doesn't know better because I've been feeding her, and she thinks she can run off and do what she wants. Unless a bug walks right into her face, she's not gonna get food. I stitched up the hole in the net with a tree root, so she can't escape again. I'm seeing signs she is going to molt soon, her left wing bud has been a little paler since last week, and the rest appear to stick out just a tiny bit.


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## Sticky (Jul 21, 2015)

I remember a picture here on the forum of a mantis trying to get thru a hold in a net cage! She only made it half way! She was unharmed and afterwards got a piece of apple to nibble on as a treat.


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## CosbyArt (Jul 23, 2015)

Glad to see she is high spirited, if not too much for her own good.  I imagine you were extrememly relived when you found her close by.

Was the hole in the netting she escaped from, a hole she made herself, something else, or is it just older worn netting?


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## Sticky (Jul 23, 2015)

I dont know about the hole, I notice in my cages they just seem to appear. The cage and mantice werent mine. It was someone else's.


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