# Molting Gone Bad



## mlocher (Jul 9, 2011)

Greetings.

This is the first year I have attempted to hatch and raise Chinese mantids from an eggsack. They hatched last march and I now have three left. During the this last molting (4th I think)this particular mantis fell off the stick he was perched on when he began. This happened before he could remove his hind legs and I found him that morning on the bottom of his cage with his rear legs warped in a curving arc, and his exoskeleton had already hardened. He is a poor cripple now dragging himself along on his front arms. Just wondering if there is anything I can do. I thought about clipping his rear legs down so they wouldn't be such a burden. I am a new user and would welcome any suggestions.

Thank-you!

MarxIT


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## angelofdeathzz (Jul 9, 2011)

Welcome, I wouldn't do any clipping(infection), its either help him live if he can by hand feeding or what ever you might need to do, or to the freezer with him, a sad but quick and mostly painless death?


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## crucis (Jul 9, 2011)

Hello and good to see ya, im a new user too but from what i know we should _never_ attempt surgical intervention :lol: 

If your nymph is strong enough to survive to the next moult (and strong enough moult properly...) his injuries will certainly heal somewhat. If so, by the time he is an adult he just might have made a complete recovery.


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## kmsgameboy (Jul 9, 2011)

If he can catch food on his own you really shouldnt worry. If he cant catch anything then you can try to give him wet cat food from some tweezers or a cotton swab and that should keep him alive long enough to reach the next molt which should correct the problem with his legs. The only problem is that if he cant climb he probably wont be able to get up high enough to molt again.


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## PhilinYuma (Jul 10, 2011)

Welcome, MarxIT. This is a fairly large forum with a variety of views on almost any subject, so I shall try to disagree with as much of the above as I can.

Whether you decide to keep or kill this deformed mantis will depend on the value that you place on him (is his sex definitely known to you?). If you think of him as a pet, then you may want to save him even at some inconvenience to yourself. Similarly if he is male and the other two are females, he is yr only chance at breeding. Do be aware, though, that he might well still be deformed to a greater or lesser degree when he becomes adult and this may affect his agility during mating and the female's response to him.

I don't know where you live (could you write a note in the introduction forum, please?) but everywhere except for Ohio mantids do not feel pain (another MantidForum exclusive!) so you will not hurt him if if you cut off his useless legs, nor is he likely to contract an infection. It is a common practice to trim the deformed wings of adult females whose final molt is incomplete, and word has it that Rob Byatt, once an active member here, who is still breeding mantids, would take the tarsi of a defunct mantis and after removing the deformed legs of an otherwise healthy mantis, attach them with Superglue, but that is a bit extreme.

Certainly you can hand feed him for the next molt or two -- it is unlikely that he will have fully functional legs after the next molt, though I have heard that it can happen.

A more "natural" food than cat-food would be an appropriately sized cricket. Just chop its head off, hold it with a pair of tweezers or your fingers, and let the mantis taste the 'juices" which should stimulate feeding.You will need to do this every day, though, perhaps for a month.

If you do decide to kill it, killing a mantis by freezing it is painless, but if yr rents or S.O. doesn't want insects in the freezer, consider the humble brick.

Let us know what you decide!


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## angelofdeathzz (Jul 10, 2011)

If 20 members posted here on this for you, Phil is the one I would go with 9 times out of 10, He's our Yoda! :lol:


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## mlocher (Jul 10, 2011)

Thanks for the response!

The only clipping I had done was to remove the skin she had shed (I say she assuming 6 sections in it's abdomen indicates a female). She can eat cricketts if I clip their hind legs first or get store bought as they are not so timid then. I do not trust my hand or eye to do any type of limb replacement, so hopefully she may be able to recover in her next molt. I am only concerned for her being able to molt as she will not be able to fix her hind legs on anything as they are. As far as being able to breed them, and assuming 6 abdomen sections mean female, then fate has left me with three females, so I will have to go insearch of a male. I have attached a picture of her. Once again thank-you all. image is at flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/5922609776/


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## JLHayes13 (Jul 12, 2011)

One of my mantids broke her rear leg prior to a molt and then lost a rear leg in the molt, she was the largest of all my mantids at the time. I was worried that she would die but she has actually out lived many of them and continues to be a voracious eater. She just uses her front legs and hands? to crawl along to where the crickets are to feed. I don't believe in euthanizing them as they would normally go through this and worse in the wild, their odds of survival in captivity are much better even injured.


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## Arwen9 (Jul 12, 2011)

One of my mantids -- a java shield -- had an unfortunate incident with school glue. Lost one hind leg completely and half of the middle leg on the other side as an L5/L6. &lt;_&lt; 

She's now getting ready to molt to an adult, with nearly perfect legs. (one leg is back, the other one half back) I put her in a deli cup and using double-sided tape put rough paper towel on the lid and on the inside to give her something to grip better. I had to coax her to eat with crippled crickets, mealworms in pieces, and cold-dazed houseflies, but she survived.

Which is just to say, it is possible if you can get the mantid to survive to a molt or two, for things to improve.


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