# bad moult



## bruty2fruity (Jun 6, 2006)

ok a chinese mantid of mine has had a really bad moult. one of his front pincer legs doesnt have the foot extension, the other twisted so badly it got in the way.

both hind legs are bent but one had to be cut as it was getting in the way.

my question is this:

if im patient enough and feed him by hand with tweezers u reckon he'll be on the road to recovery in a month or so?


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## yen_saw (Jun 6, 2006)

No worry, it will grow back with subsequent moltings unless your mantis is already an adult. Good luck.


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## FieroRumor (Jun 7, 2006)

Yeah, it should be ok, but Hopefully, it's next molt will go ok...

Just feed it every other day or so, and give it a drink at least once a day...I did it with a straw a few times...

Mine is missing its both rear legs and is doing ok:

http://www.mantidforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2925

Good luck!

-FR


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 7, 2006)

yeah i saw. what did you use to make its "bionic" legs? and can it catch food even with one front pincer?


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## 13ollox (Jun 7, 2006)

one of my nymphs had a busted pincer and it still managed to catch food with one ( it batted its meal with the other one ) . as for the bionic legs , i wouldnt do that yet ( as its still a nymph and they will contrict its shed ) FieroRumor's was an adult when it mismoulted !

Neil


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 7, 2006)

nah i wasnt planning to, was just curious as to what he used. this one i think im gonna have to just take special care of


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 9, 2006)

have to say this is one tough beastie. runs around like nothings wrong. still gonna hand feed him tho


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## Jwonni (Jun 9, 2006)

I hand feed mine she mismoulted but it only affected both her arms so she cant catch food but she moulted fine (although her legs were fine)


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 11, 2006)

got another one that moulted today. her adomen is hanging at a really acute angle. its crazy


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## 13ollox (Jun 11, 2006)

one of mine moulted with a dodgey leg at a backwards angle , but after about 5 days it was normal like the rest . maybe your not giving them enough humidity ? this is why most mismoults happen ! try spraying a bit more often and see if that clears up the situation , as for the abdomen , it shudnt cause it any trouble !

Neil


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 11, 2006)

there kept at the same humidity some are flawles and others arent. and ill get a pic of the abdomen for u to see its wierd


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## jonpat83 (Jun 11, 2006)

I think your mantids abdomen may have snapped, turn it upright and see if there is any strenght in the abdomen, if it just falls against its back or flops down then it has snapped and there isnt much you can do for it, I've had this happen with a gongy and a dessicata and both died but I dont konw why it happened.


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 11, 2006)

it returns to normal when upright but then flops back at the crazy angle when its upside down - he seems fit and healthy and still eats crazily - hmmm ill see how he goes


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## Peekaboo (Jun 12, 2006)

I've had mantids with bent abdomens before as well. They all molted into healthy adults, with non-bent abdoments. Hopefully you will have the same experience.


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 12, 2006)

yeah hes cool he seems nice. hes a nice dark red colour too real pretty almost the runt of the litter so he gets my preferencial treatment


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 28, 2006)

ok bent is back to normal now. the other one with two legs missing is in a wierd way.

he moulted, his legs are slowly growing back...slightly shitty back legs but will keep hi fed, though he has wings now, hes only 5cm long, they look all floppy and wierd not like normal wings, why would this happen?


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## Jwonni (Jun 28, 2006)

i once had a mantis shed to adulthood and her wings were fluid bubbles unfortunately she died within 24hours

Glad to hear bent is back to normal

so if your other has wings therefore is adult the legs wont grow back but on the upside he doesn't have to worry about hanging to shed and losing his grip


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 28, 2006)

so wings = adult, but i bought him in feb, he cant be an adult chinese hes tiny *saying in disbleif not actually that i know better than you.

ill try and get a pic, all his wings are floppy, is this bad?


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 28, 2006)

i know i keep banging on about this, but if a mantis has wings does that mean hes an adult? also if his wings are messed up if he moults again could they fix, IF he moults again? and at a weedy 6 cm does that mean the chinese mantis is fully grown?


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## 13ollox (Jun 28, 2006)

wings = adulthood which in itself means no more moults ! duno about the size of a male chinese though as i aint kept them before ! but if he has wings then he wont get any bigger !

Neil


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## Jwonni (Jun 29, 2006)

yeah as above... i know the females would be considerably bigger than 6cm but i have no idea re males


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 29, 2006)

but i have another with wings, and it has only six segments, shes small aswell. ill have some fotos for you guys tonight


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## Jwonni (Jun 29, 2006)

quote from mantiskingdom caresheet



> Appearance: It has the classic mantis appearance. The adults color ranges from bright green to brown. They have long usable wings as adults and grow to be about 4-5 inches with the females being larger.


so if your is just over 2 inches then i'd guess you may have received the wrong type of mantis but pics will certainly help, if its wrong type people here could probably tell you what you do have


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## bruty2fruity (Jun 29, 2006)

yeah ill get a foto of all my speicies i have. so you can see the other "two" i keep banging on about.

also if they are stunted, do the mantids produce a full size ooth, or just a smaller ooth will allot less eggs where the mantids could be normal size?


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