# Dripping / oozing liquid from rear - normal or dying?



## germaineglass (Nov 8, 2013)

Hi - Our beloved mantis is having some trouble. A few days ago a clear (no color) liquid started coming from what I think is his rectum. It stayed there as a little drop for most of the day. Then later the drop turned black - I am assuming it was his poop mixed in with the liquid. He has had several diaherrea-like poops over the past few days (in the past his poops have been little dry balls). I've given him honey a few times in hopes that it could help him fight an infection. He has continued to be active until today but now he seems really out of it - doesn't look at me, isn't interested in honey or eating, and his posture and position in his habitat is more curled in (vs. legs splayed out like he normally rests). Now he is hanging under a stick and his rear is pulsing and something white and opaque is coming out and sticking to the stick and side of his habitat. Any advice? Is this normal? Is he dying?

We found him outside in June (we live in Southern California) and he has molted 4 times - the last time more than a month or so ago. I am not sure if this is the end of his natural life, or if maybe he caught an infection from one of the feeder crickets I occasionally give him.


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## sally (Nov 8, 2013)

Offer water also. The honey is a good idea too. It looks like a female? Also the liquid in the picture doesn't look very watery. In the picture it looks like she is laying an ooth? Maybe I am not seeing it well enough....


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## bobericc (Nov 8, 2013)

Lol I'm with sally here

This looks like a female laying an ooth


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## Ntsees (Nov 8, 2013)

That's a female mantid (_Stagmomantis limbata_). It is producing an oothecae - a case that is used to protect the eggs inside. Tomorrow morning, it'll harden. From your description, it looks like the oothecae won't hatch if you haven't mated her with a male. She will produce other ooths later on. If you happen to find a male for her before the next ooth, those succeeding ooths will hatch next year.


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## Precarious (Nov 8, 2013)

OMG! That's horrible! That is some nasty diaherrea. Please stop feeding him Taco Bell! Mantids are not able to digest Mexican food.

The best you can do is throw a roll of TP in the tank and hope for the best.

Oh, wait... That's a female and she's laying an ootheca! You tricked me!

Why I ought'a... :wheelchair:


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## agent A (Nov 8, 2013)

Precarious said:


> OMG! That's horrible! That is some nasty diaherrea. Please stop feeding him Taco Bell! Mantids are not able to digest Mexican food.
> 
> The best you can do is throw a roll of TP in the tank and hope for the best.
> 
> ...


i applaud u for playing "freak out the newbie" :clap: i was gonna do that but leave it to u to beat me to it :lol: 

the mantis is depositing an ootheca

she will lay a few more then get old and die


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## germaineglass (Nov 9, 2013)

My whole family is so relieved she isn't dying. We are more attached to her than we are to our cat ;-) We've been so worried. We thought she was a male because her wings didn't extend to the end of her abdomen, but I guess we got that mixed up. She is almost done and it definitely looks like a ooetheca now. Shew! Thanks for all the responses.


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## germaineglass (Nov 9, 2013)

Oh! One more question... is there any chance that the ooth could be fertilized? She hasn't been around another mantis' since early summer. I'll occasionally clean out debris from her habitat and wipe down the sides and I don't want to disturb the ooth if it could contain babies...


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## Ranitomeya (Nov 9, 2013)

The males of most mantid species are actually the ones with longer wings relative to their body size.

The ootheca may be fertile if she mated before you caught her. If she was an adult when you found her, there's a chance she's already mated.


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## agent A (Nov 9, 2013)

u said she molted 4 times since u caught her

shes not mated


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## Sticky (Nov 9, 2013)

Give her plenty of water and she will be very very hungry! The ooth took up alot of space so she could not eat much before laying it. Give her plenty to eat.


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## Extrememantid (Nov 9, 2013)

shes not mated, she will be coming to the end of her life soon though sorry..


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## ussjeep (Dec 18, 2013)

Once they lay the ooth's, generally how long does the female mantis live on?? "Manti" has produced two ooth's over the last few weeks, but she seems to be getting a lot weaker. Can't really climb sticks or the little shrub I have in the cage without a lot of difficulty. Most of her limbs are nubs on the ends. Only her front arms and one of her rear legs have the little feelers on them. When do you know it is their time to go, without discovering they died on their own?


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## Precarious (Dec 18, 2013)

ussjeep said:


> Once they lay the ooth's, generally how long does the female mantis live on?? "Manti" has produced two ooth's over the last few weeks, but she seems to be getting a lot weaker. Can't really climb sticks or the little shrub I have in the cage without a lot of difficulty. Most of her limbs are nubs on the ends. Only her front arms and one of her rear legs have the little feelers on them. When do you know it is their time to go, without discovering they died on their own?


Some females die after only a single ooth. Others will be much more prolific. It varies between individuals and species but in general a female can lay between 3 and 10 ooth given enough food. 3-4 months of life as adult is a good run but I've had females of some species last well over a year.

Older adults do tend to lose their ability to grip as they age and they will lose their feet if they grip the wrong kinds of material. In my experience metal screens seem to do the most damage but some will also lose feet from a tight mesh, like what they use to make butterfly net cages. As a general rule it's best to stick with materials they can wrap their feet around so the bigger the species the more space between the knit in any woven materials.


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## ussjeep (Dec 18, 2013)

Precarious said:


> Some females die after only a single ooth. Others will be much more prolific. It varies between individuals and species but in general a female can lay between 3 and 10 ooth given enough food. 3-4 months of life as adult is a good run but I've had females of some species last well over a year.
> 
> Older adults do tend to lose their ability to grip as they age and they will lose their feet if they grip the wrong kinds of material. In my experience metal screens seem to do the most damage but some will also lose feet from a tight mesh, like what they use to make butterfly net cages. As a general rule it's best to stick with materials they can wrap their feet around so the bigger the species the more space between the knit in any woven materials.


Thanks for the info! "Manti" is a Carolina Mantis... I just rescued her from outside before deep winter set in (going on about a month now). Her limbs were like that when I brought her inside. At first, I had wondered if they could get frost-bite.


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## Precarious (Dec 18, 2013)

ussjeep said:


> Thanks for the info! "Manti" is a Carolina Mantis... I just rescued her from outside before deep winter set in (going on about a month now). Her limbs were like that when I brought her inside. At first, I had wondered if they could get frost-bite.


If she's wild she may have already laid many ooths before you found her so no way to know how long she will last. I brought a Chinese in for the same reasons. I'm collecting her ooths to put out in the spring. If you don't want the ooths to hatch keep them in the fridge in a container with a paper towel holding some moisture. You don't want the ooths to get wet but you want a source of humidity in the container.


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## Digger (Dec 20, 2013)

Precarious said:


> OMG! That's horrible! That is some nasty diaherrea. Please stop feeding him Taco Bell! Mantids are not able to digest Mexican food.
> 
> The best you can do is throw a roll of TP in the tank and hope for the best.
> 
> ...


Henry... you're incorrigible :devil:


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