# Non-hungry mantid, getting worried...



## Herp13

Hey all, my Chinese mantid is not eating. I will get pics up as soon as possible but basically i don't know how old it is(i'm very new to the hobby) and it isn't eating, it only had half a cricket the night i got it(Monday the 7th) and has eaten nothing else since then. Everytime it gets a chance to eat, it seems to "miss" it's prey, or could it be flicking the prey away in preperation for a molt? Right now it's in an Exo-terra explorarium (18"x12") with just a bandable vine for extra surface to climb on, although it seems to like hanging upside down. Should i just leave it alone, or what? ANy suggestions would be great


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## Rick

If it's not yet adult it is probably about to molt. If it acts and looks fine otherwise just leave it alone and see what happens. Welcome to the forum, we have a new member introductions forum so you can introduce yourself.


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## Herp13

Oh, ok. Another thing is that the "open air" terrarium can't really hold any moisture, but it's an awesome terrarium and i would like it to work for me, how can i get the humidity up?


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## Rick

Use some substate in the bottom that holds moisture. I like to use the dry spaghnum moss you can buy. It hold a lot of water. Or you can mist the enclosures sides.


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## Herp13

Ok I have a bunch of moss, i'll definetly try it, but i noticed he drank a lot when i heavily misted the cage this morning, could it have been he was dehydrated? Over here in Maryland it is REALLY hot right now, and VERY dry. So after that i went out to my neigbors lil garden and happend to see a bunch of these little "stink bugs" and caught a few, but he hasn't eaten any, yet


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## wuwu

have you had him for awhile?


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## Rick

I've noticed that the only times mine drink water is when I have let the moss get really dry and have forgot to mist.


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## Herp13

I caught him outside on Sunday night, and he has still only eaten half a cricket.


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## Johnald Chaffinch

my mantids dont like stink bugs, i think their natural stinky defence works well on them :wink: . the same goes for ladybirds.

i'm not sure what an open air terrarium look sliek but is it possible to turn it on it's side maybe? as oen way to increase humidity would be to stop it escaping ( though you would still need good ventilation for the mantids ) .

do you know if it's a nymph or an adult?

if it gets defensive over small insects coming near it then they're usually about to shed.

if it's not about to shed it would normally quickly grab any animal small enough that goes past it. though i've not had a chinese


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## Herp13

Actually, it's a nymph and, and i think it's shedding right now. It started to move it's abdomen up against it's body as if it was trying to "burst" the outer skin off. Is it shedding?


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## Rick

Just leave it alone. If it is going to shed it will be over very soon. I can tell when mine are about to because they look swollen and they don't move much. And most mantids I've kept do eat stinkbugs but won't touch ladybugs.


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## Herp13

Oh, ok It really hasn't been moving and active like it ussualy is, so i guess it's been waiting for this important night


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## Herp13

I have some good news, and some bad... Good news is, it made it out of it's old exoskeleton, but the bad news, it fell 18" as a soft squishy lump in the middle of the night, it's still alive, but it can't fully lift itself, yet, it's wings aren't strait against it's body, they are all floppy and just begining to harden at the very front, and her right front hook is damaged, it's not like a reaper, more like a dull ended spike(maybe from the fall?) but other than that, she looks normal to me. Is all this normal? Will she survive? How can i help her? I feel so bad, she's wild caught so i feel like i did something wrong, but if she doesn't make it she left a pretty exoskeleton for me to remember her by


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## Rick

It's not normal but it does happen. Try to get her up and hanging from something so she can harden up. If she was laying down there for awhile it may be too late. Depends on what was damaged when she fell and how much she has dried already.


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## Herp13

Well, i checked her out again, she has this green liquid that dried up on the tips of her feet so her calws are "clogged" up, she can't really hang on anything, this stuff was also on her eyes(i removed it) and her properly formed front leg(also removed). She is still active, and moving around, she just can't hold on to anything very well, what should i do?


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## Rick

Personally I would put her in the freezer for about five minutes and end it there.


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## Herp13

You meant basically euthanize her?


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## bruty2fruity

not if it seems healthy and moving around. you know where this ooze came from


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## Herp13

She's gone, i euthanized her, i noticed some of her legs were splayed too, and the ooz was also in her exoskeleton, it was a green liquid that dried up after a while, i removed it from her eyes, to reveal an unhardened surface under it, and from some of the tips of her legs. And her wings were all bent up and pretty much useless, i am now worried about using the explorarium, i don't want other critters to fall after their molts Do they ussualy catch themselves, or do they always fall to their death?


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## Rick

I would of put her down to if she is as you described. Mantids rarely fall during moulting so I wouldn't worry about it. If you want you could get some kind of mesh to put onto the lid of your enclosure for extra grip. I've only had a couple mantids fall during a molt and they were hanging on the same type of surface all the other mantids molted from. Sometimes it just happens. They usually die or get really messed up if you don't see them right away.


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## Herp13

Yeah, to tell you the truth, it's kinda depressing, if i could just keep my @$$ awake during this kinda stuff, i feel so bad, like it's my fault. I actually have her in an Exo-terra mesh Explorarium(expensive, just 18"x12" was $36.50 USD!), i'm pretty sure she had enough to grip, but i feel bad because i was worried she wouldn't make it out if she was only pointing down, i figured she needed to be upside down so gravity would work for her, so i took he off the hanging vine(about halfway down, plus there are tropical "trees" under her to break her fall, but as a worried lil kid i had to take her off her chosen spot) and put her on the ceiling but she still moved to the side, at the very top, and now shes gone


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## Rick

Best advice is to leave them be. I've seen mantids molt while standing on the bottom of the cage. Also disturbing them close to a molt isn't good.


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## Herp13

Thats something i'll never do again.


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## wuwu

> Best advice is to leave them be. I've seen mantids molt while standing on the bottom of the cage. Also disturbing them close to a molt isn't good.


really? that's interesting. i thought all mantids molt hanging upside down, besides the ground species of course.


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## Rick

Next time I will get a pic of it.


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## wuwu

oh i forgot to ask you, what species was it?


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## Herp13

Me or Rick? Mine was T. sinesis, the Chinese mantid.


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## Jwonni

moulting while stood on the floor? thats the first time i have heard anyone mention that

dont feel too bad herp as rick said its not too common but it does happen i've had 7 mantids and 2 of them fell although one was in transit on its way to me which when it arrived i had to end it as it had no movement but was alive, and the other ended with damage arms but i hand fed her as her legs were fine so i knew she could still grip therefore could attempt her next moult

she got to adulthood one arm was almost right she could hold prey the other arm never really improved


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## Herp13

Yeah, i miss it already, but i am getting some ooths soon, so i will have some replacements I can also go out and harves some chinese ooths from outside too


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## 13ollox

sorry to hear what happend !!! especially when its yor 1st mantis , i know from experiance as my 1st decided to fall during her last moult ! . sometimes we can forget that there only insects .. they dont need fancy stuff like a whole 18 inch explorarium . if you bought one of them for every mantis youd be in serious debt ! :lol: . i keep mine in small/medium exo terra plastic faunariums . bit of vermiculite at teh bottom and some fake leaves bluetackked to the side make it practical for feeding and moulting plus there cheap while looking good as well .

that explorarium sounds like the perfect thing for a colony of ghosts !!!! or a mating tank ! :wink:

good luck in your next attempt !

Neil


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## Herp13

Well, i guess i'm not alone I can't wait for my ooths to come


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