# Im not sure if she can eat :?



## Summers

hi,

my mantis had a bad moult which resulted in half of her old skin being left on her face, she kept trying to get it off but only got it halfway there. I noticed that she had lost both antennas because of her constant scratching. A little piece started to come off and i managed to remove it and now she has stopped scratching as i think all of the old skin has now been removed.

The only thing is i think she has deformed her mouth as she kept trying to get the old skin off and as her new skin being quite soft i think she is stuck like it.







Its now the 2nd day after the moult and she still hasnt eaten. She doesnt seem interested at all :?

Any ideas?

Many thanks


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## robo mantis

take a cricket or whatever you feed her grab the food with a tweeser and hold it in her mouth and she should eat it


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## Summers

no she keeps running off, i also put one right infront of her (cricket) and she jus looked at it and wandered off. didnt even make an attempt to grab it. she is starting to look a bit thin now 2


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## Rick

I wish you would of posted a pic when we talked about this before. Just leave alone for a couple days. Constantly messing with her is not going to do her any good. She will be fine without food for a couple days. Then you can try to feed her. If she can't eat don't let her suffer, put her in the freezer to end her quickly.


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## Summers

i only took the pic today so i put it on straight after i took it. yeah, i have left her now, i will wait until 2mo evening and then see if she eats. In the freezer :? is that the best way then? i suppose its better than starving to death but still not quick tho is it?


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## Rick

> i only took the pic today so i put it on straight after i took it. yeah, i have left her now, i will wait until 2mo evening and then see if she eats. In the freezer :? is that the best way then? i suppose its better than starving to death but still not quick tho is it?


Freezer is best way. It's quick.


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## Summers

ok

well i will leave her for a while, there is still hope!

thanks for the help


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## MantisDude15

i have a question... i know everyone suggests the freezer, but wouldnt it be easier to smash it? i know its cruel, and i know nobody wants crush their mantis (including me) but would be faster and less painless wouldnt it? just smash it flat. instant death


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## robo mantis

no because the cold is one of the main reasons they die


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## Summers

> i have a question... i know everyone suggests the freezer, but wouldnt it be easier to smash it? i know its cruel, and i know nobody wants crush their mantis (including me) but would be faster and less painless wouldnt it? just smash it flat. instant death


This is exactly what i have been thinking about, with the freezer they will obviously know that its bloody cold and that they are gonna die!  

At least with crushing her i thought it would be less painless and much, much quicker and they wouldnt even have a chance to know whats going on.

If it were me, i would rather get squashed than freeze to death!


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## Rick

Do whichever you want. Which is more humane? I think the freezer is. If you crush them they are gonna still be moving around but all mashed up. In the freezer they simply slow down and just quickly die. In temperate climates thats how mantids die. Then of course with the mashing you gotta bring yourself to do it.


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## xenuwantsyou

All I know is that I would rather freeze than get smashed up. It's called dignity.


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## Summers

fair enough,

Finally!!

She is attempting to eat now, i put a smaller cricket on there and she still wasnt interested. She didnt want to hunt for it. So the cricket worked its way round the enclosure and met her. She jus sat there for ages looking at it and then caught it and started to eat. But jus this second she has dropped it!! :evil: i dont think she can do it. she is jus walking away now.

I think it might be the end


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## Rick

> fair enough,Finally!!
> 
> She is attempting to eat now, i put a smaller cricket on there and she still wasnt interested. She didnt want to hunt for it. So the cricket worked its way round the enclosure and met her. She jus sat there for ages looking at it and then caught it and started to eat. But jus this second she has dropped it!! :evil: i dont think she can do it. she is jus walking away now.
> 
> I think it might be the end


Sounds that way.


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## Shelbycsx

I think that the freezer would be the better method because you basically just go to sleep and never wake up. If I had AIDS or something, I'd rather go sit in a freezer for an hour rather than lay my head on a traintrack. :twisted:


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## Jwonni

Did you try feeding her it alive when she ran away? when i had to hand feed mine i gave a quick whack with a cd case to stun them and quickly took the head off, then put the gooey end to her mouth and she fed

I have used both methods with my VERY small nymph it was paralysed and on a pice of tissue so i put a second piece of tissue on top and stood on it full weight (18 stone ish) and twist my foot as i put it down i am sure it was instant

With my large adult female she went in the freezer its harder to instant kill somethjing bigger and would be messier (plus i was much more attached to her and would not have been able to do it)


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