# Water for molting



## Nanodot (Dec 4, 2017)

Hi Everyone, 

I live in Phoenix, where the humidity averages 23 to 47%.  It can be 15% in the summer.  So, I keep my bugs in vivariums, I use humidity gauges, and I pay attention to this stuff. 

I'm also a biochemist.  I can pick my way through etymology journals, and I've been researching the effects of humidity on molting.  I don't think humidity has much direct effect on molting.   Insects molt in the desert, and jungle mantids don't melt.  The cuticle being shed can be entirely dry in low humidity, and still shed normally.  The cuticle is waterproof.  This process is controlled by hormones which trigger cell growth and digestive enzymes. 

http://bugs.bio.usyd.edu.au/learning/resources/Entomology/internalAnatomy/imagePages/moulting.html   

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1250302/

What I think what mantises need is internal body water.  

Before a molt, water has to be used to make the molting fluid.  During a molt, mantises use air and water to pressurize their bodies so that the old cuticle cracks open.  They again use air and water pressure to move and to inflate while getting free of the old cuticle.  After the molt they use water and air pressure to inflate and stabilize their new shape until their new cuticle hardens.  

While their new cuticle hardens, they can get dried out because the soft cuticle can't prevent evaporation yet.  Humidity can be a factor in problems at this point.  

A couple of anecdotes:

1.  I have young Gongys in a viv at 95 to 105 degrees, at 30-40% humidity.  Every few days I mist them, and they lick the water off their faces.  Overnight the humidity goes from 90 to 50%.  By the next night it is down to 40% again, and one or more of the gongys molt that night.  I have seen this happen several times.  

2. I have an L5 orchid who wouldn't eat for over a week, I figured she was molty.  She is at a steady humidity with damp eco earth in the bottom of her container.  I took her out of her enclosure and put drops of water on her head and mouth, which she drank.  I also gave her some honey.  I stopped giving her water when she started flicking it away.  Within 48 hours, she molted perfectly.  

Once molting is triggered hormonally, it can't be reversed well or easily, if at all.  If a mantis gets dehydrated between when molting is hormonally triggered and when the cuticle is shed, the mantis won't have enough water pressure to crack and escape the old cuticle.    

 Humidity can help prevent the mantis from losing body water to the air as they breathe so they stay hydrated, but drinking water is what they really need to molt safely.  Humidity alone can't give the mantis what it needs to molt.


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## Krissim Klaw (Dec 5, 2017)

Yes, this isn't new news although there are some beginner keepers that misunderstand how humidity works. This is why you will always see experienced keepers warn that spraying a mantis that is having problems emerging out of its skin will not solve the problems at that point. Most in the hobby try to mimic conditions similar to what the wild mantises would experience in their natural environment. Proper humidity will slow moisture loss and ease the shedding process but it is no substitution for making sure the mantis is properly hydrated though the prey they eat and water droplets that simulate dew and rainfall.


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## Okoboji22 (Dec 5, 2017)

Yeah I heard something like this! After I heard it I decided to always try to get the mantis to drink some water droplets before their molt and nearly every mantis did. After I started doing that I haven't had a single mismolt. I always thought that internal water was the most important thing for them.


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## Nanodot (Dec 5, 2017)

Awesome, I had seen some debate about it, and I wanted to figure it out.


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## Rofufus (Dec 5, 2017)

Really great post, for beginners like me I wasn’t 100% sure what to believe when looking at the molting process. You clearly know what you are talking about.

Also: any tips to make sure your mantis drinks enough? Mine ignores water on my hand most of the time, and doesn’t seem to care about droplets in his enclosure too much.


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## Connor (Dec 5, 2017)

@Rofufus sounds like he’s properly hydrated. Just remember that mantis get most of their water from eating.


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## Rofufus (Dec 6, 2017)

Connor said:


> @Rofufus sounds like he’s properly hydrated. Just remember that mantis get most of their water from eating.


Cool, thanks. He/she also doesn't seem to be very interested in food most days, I actually made a topic about it in the health section.


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## Ocelotbren (Dec 13, 2017)

Very interesting, thanks for sharing.


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