Ok, yeah, I know I'm weird...

FieroRumor · Apr 3, 2006

Awww, Last night, I could tell Splinter was getting ready to molt, he wouldn't eat, he was moving like his skin was too tight, and climbed upside down "into the position", on the top of his tank. I made sure the tank was moist, and went to bed. When I got up to go to work, I saw he was just starting to molt.

When I came home, he had fallen during his molt , and was in bad shape. His rear legs were totally messed up,(The one had grown partly back after the last molt but they both were totally folded back kinked and basically "dead") and his other legs were all bend out of wack too. His wings were totally wrecked. He was wiggling around, and he still had not hardened, so I took some heat-shrink tubing, snipped off the legs were they had bent, sealed them with crazy glue,and slid the heat tubing over the stumps. I then hung him upside down, and the middle legs are now straight. He's stretching out his front arms and seems VERY happy to be hanging upside down again.

I didn't want to kill him because of a bad molt, He is moving around now and is actually is using the rear "legs" like normal ones!

Poor little bugger.

Mike · Apr 4, 2006

looooool wow you must love your little mantis there lolssssss. I say good job and nice inventions u should sell amputee parts to ppl with these problems looooools. :lol:

hmm I dont think your that wierd i had this one mantis that got cripplted and couldnt walk whatsover and he just layed on his back and i hand fed him crickets, chicken, fruits, and juice/water and he lived for a while. He lived for couple weeks up until i left another mantis on a cup beside him, aand he was lieing on the table, and i went to do something and i came back and the small little mantis was eating this huge mantis 3 times its size but it was crippled so i just let the little guy eat him up :?

Lee2k4 · Apr 4, 2006

OMFG LOL!!!

Sheldon Johnson · Apr 4, 2006

Rob Byatt once told me he has had great sucess playing Dr. Frankenstein with mantis legs. He told me that when hes had bad moults he has taken legs from recently dead mantids, removed the old bad ones to the point of where the leg is still undamaged, cut it there and glued the new ones to the stumps. Apparantly it has worked very well for him, maybe give it a try

FieroRumor · Apr 4, 2006

Splinter is doing well with his new bionic legs!

He just ran over and ate a piece of chicken...

13ollox · Apr 4, 2006

That's such a great photo !!!! one of the best laughs ive had in ages too ( not meaning to be mean, but my mantis died on her final shed and i like how you saved yours )

, i like your style !!! maybe you could paint em so they look like a cast from a broken leg or arm ( don't know how ) . hope splinter lives a furfilling life with his sexy new legs :wink: ! you might even get some robo-mantis crossbreed babies from him :lol:

thanks

Neil

julian camilo · Apr 6, 2006

do you think it will still be able to moult next time?

Rick · Apr 6, 2006

I think it would be best to put her out of her misery. That is a female.

Mike · Apr 6, 2006

hmm i think it would be hard for it to moult with the robot legs lol.

julian camilo · Apr 6, 2006

me too. though my first ever mantis moulted horizontally, on the floor. at the time i knew nothing about mantids other than the "spray it and chuck a few fruit flies in every other day" i got from the reptile shop guy. i kept it in a little tin bowl with some tissue paper on the bottom and cellophane wrap with air holes (disastrous conditions looking back on it but i thought this was fine, i didnt know any better. and yes, i know its no excuse and i shouldve done the adequate research but i was pretty young). one morning i thought it was dying from some kind of skin complaint, and i didnt know what to do to help it. i watched it "die" over breakfast thinking there was nothing i could do, but slowly realised it was still alive and that it was actually just moving out of its old exoskeleton. it came out bigger and shinier and noticeably weaker than before. i had witnessed my first moulting.

it had done it by placing its head onto the tissue on the floor, and kind of backing out of the skin which was held somehow to the tissue. i later found out they need to do this whilst hanging and obviously all my mantids since have had adequate housing. its not advisable and its best avoided, but its possible.

FieroRumor · Apr 6, 2006

She isn't exactly "in misery", I would do it if she seemed unable to move around... but she's doing just fine.

She's an adult, (she fell during her last molt) so she doesn't hafta worry about those bionic legs of hers...

I bring her out and she crawls all over. I put her in the bottom of her tank, and when I get home, she's hanging happily upside down.

I am just VERY surprised she hasn't tried to remove them! (you know how they are about being clean!)

I was going to add little rubber feet on the ends, but it doesn't seem like she NEEDS 'em...

Jwonni · Apr 7, 2006

did something go wrong with her wings in her final moult i cant see em

Rick · Apr 7, 2006

did something go wrong with her wings in her final moult i cant see em

Yes that is obvious. I just personally would put her down if she was mine. Ooth laying will be more difficult among other things.

Mike · Apr 7, 2006

hmm i wouldnt she seems happy that he made her thoes legs lol.

FieroRumor · Apr 7, 2006

Yeah, I can't see killin' her if she can still catch crickets.

Her wings were completely messed up when I found her.

She doesn't have much trouble moving around. layin' Ooths will be another story...

We'll just hafta see.

--------------------------------------------------------------

IN THE FUTURE, THERE WILL BE ROBOT MANTIDS.

Orin · Apr 8, 2006

When I got to the second pic you had me laughing my butt off.

If you cut off the messed up wings then she's an adult and is done molting fortunately. If you can get a male that's really not picky I'd bet you could get some good oothecae.

FieroRumor · Apr 8, 2006

Yes, she fell during her final molt.

I just made a video of her cleaning herself - I am still amazed she didn't try to remove the bionic legs!

Check it out:

http://media.putfile.com/Mantis-Cleans-his-Bionic-Legs

Edit: whoops, I keep forgetting that it's a "she"

Mantis Keeper · Apr 8, 2006

Never seen anything like it. Thats something.

Isis · Apr 8, 2006

Amazing :0 That makes you the first mantis prothesis maker :]

I think it's a great thing you've done and your mantis won't have any problems laying oothecas!

Ok, yeah, I know I'm weird...

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