# my Ghost died :-(



## dlemmings (Dec 10, 2011)

So last night my ghost died, he molted into an adult @ 44 days ago. what is the average life span of a Male p. Paradoxa?

we have had colder weather so I sometimes place a space heater near them (set to 85 degrees) and my Sp. Lineola &amp; female Paradoxa were fine.

i have been misting only once a week since it has been cold and since they are all adults. he mated last week would that have an effect? he last ate 2 days ago but only ate about half a BB fly before dropping it. i'm gonna miss that little guy, but as I was about to trade him I am glad he passed before instead of after I traded him ( I mean that would blow for the guy I was gonna traade with) but still I wonder if i did something wrong. they stay in acrylic critter keepers in my kitchen so room temp but it has gotten cold the past few nights. he was okay when i started the heater up, but 45 minutes later when I went to feed them he was laying on the bottom of his enclosure. i misted him and carefully picked him up but no twitches or anything, so i misted his enclosure and placed him on a bit of napkin off the floor of enclosure...hoping he might revive. he had not moved a bit as of this morning. :blush:


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## Bryce08 (Dec 10, 2011)

2 of my L5 ghosts dropped dead for no reason, had just ate, nothing wrong with cage, plenty humid, everything perect...i couldnt figure it out...ghosts seem to do that sometimes, although yours could be partialy becuase of age, but ghost adults typicly live longer than 1 1/2 months if im correct


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## Precarious (Dec 10, 2011)

I would say misting only once a week is reason for a Ghost to die. Even though they require less humidity as adults that is way too little water. Humidity up to 80% is suggested. It's no trouble to mist them every day. And considering you were using a space heater which saps humidity further I'm surprised all your mantids aren't dead. Expect them to go soon unless you change the situation.

Drops in temp down to 68 are no problem for mantids, and cooler temps are no reason to deprive them of water. I don't get that logic at all.


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## dlemmings (Dec 10, 2011)

I will definantly mist more, what my concern was is that the misting might make the already cold temperatures "colder" especially since it is already dark when I get home. when I put the heater on them I do normally mist first cause I know it will not lower the temps, but it has only been a couple times i have needed to use the space heater, yesterday included, since sunday when i cleaned their enclosure (which means rinsing out and therfore humidifying their "brillo-pad" substrate) however when I got home yesterday I did NOT mist 1st because i was going to feed them "soon" so I put the heater on for 30 minutes or so while BB chilled out in fridge. but I had not Misted them since wednesday when I fed them so the heater sapping the last of the humidity sounds like the plausible mistake I made...it just turns my stomach to think my poor care lead to his early demise.


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## Precarious (Dec 10, 2011)

mantiscurious said:


> ...it just turns my stomach to think my poor care lead to his early demise.


I feel you on that. I literally lose sleep over things like that. Personally, I mist all my mantids every day. I have seen no ill effects even in species they say to keep dry. Better safe than sorry, I say. I see them drink all the time. It's the best insurance against mismolt due to am unexpected drop in humidity.

The bottom line is all life depends more on water than anything else. They can take cold for short periods, lack of food, poor ventilation, but take away humidity and drinking water and we all die off pretty fast.


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## hibiscusmile (Dec 10, 2011)

I think you are blessed it last that long, typically male ghost die very easily, they do not last long at all.


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## dlemmings (Dec 10, 2011)

I was pleased that he mated without being eaten ( I read the pinned topic Rick posted on how he does it) i normally mist dailey when i feed them, it has just been the past couple weeks where it has been cold enough (indoors anyway) for me to worry about them getting too cold. i had to move my BB fly pupa from the garage to inddors as the hatch rate has fallen dramatically, but had 10-15 fat BB's in their "feeding" container full of flyfood &amp; water soaked cotton balls. so thought i had all under control. we take on the responsibility of caring for a creature in captivity away from its natural habitat and owe it to those guys to provide the proper conditions.


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## patrickfraser (Dec 10, 2011)

Don't be too hard on yourself, but do learn from your mistakes. I try to give all my adoptees plenty of spritzing and food. Mismolts, "sudden deaths", and other mishaps are sometimes unavoidable, but you can do your best to eliminate the possibilities by providing the required keeping practices. Like I stated, Live and learn.


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## Precarious (Dec 10, 2011)

patrickfraser said:


> Don't be too hard on yourself, but do learn from your mistakes. I try to give all my adoptees plenty of spritzing and food. Mismolts, "sudden deaths", and other mishaps are sometimes unavoidable, but you can do your best to eliminate the possibilities by providing the required keeping practices. Like I stated, Live and learn.


Good advice. It's true. Sometimes bad things will happen regardless, but it's good to be able to eliminate yourself as the cause. So take what you can from it and move ahead.


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## dlemmings (Dec 10, 2011)

Will do...thats why I visit here dailey, hopefully we can all learn from each others mistakes &amp; missteps and further this stimulating hobby I stumbled upon not yet 4 months ago.


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## patrickfraser (Dec 10, 2011)

I just joined in February. It was a "crash" course, but the journey has been awesome. Good luck with your future in the hobby.


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## Psychobunny (Dec 13, 2011)

hibiscusmile said:


> I think you are blessed it last that long, typically male ghost die very easily, they do not last long at all.


Mine also died a few weeks ago.

No idea why!! temps and humidity were perfect, and it was eating fine!

One morning, it was just laying on the floor of the cage, dead!!

There was nothing else in the cage, so no cricket attack!

Just droped dead!!


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## rs4guy (Dec 13, 2011)

Think it's ok to feed freshly dead mantid's to my beardie? I'm not sure how quickly the innards decompose after death..


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## Psychobunny (Dec 13, 2011)

Unless they died of poisoning or parasites which could be transmitted, I dont see why not


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