Safe set up for molting

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CoolMantis

CoolMantis

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Joined
Nov 21, 2024
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Location
Virginia
Last night my girl did not have the best judgment in choosing a place to molt. She loves to hang from the mesh at the top of her enclosure which is about 20” tall. Last night she attached herself to the mesh fairly far away from any sticks or flora that she could have grabbed as she finished her molt. I could tell she would probably fall so I took a soft washcloth and held it just below her. She eventually dropped onto the cloth and I gently placed it on the bottom of her “house”. She is fine now and happily clinging to her mesh again. It looks like she will have another molt before she is fully grown. I would like to improve her set up to make it safer for a future molt. I do not want her to fall and hit a stick or something on the way down. Do I need to make her a mantis safety net or what???
 
CoolMantis said:
Last night my girl did not have the best judgment in choosing a place to molt. She loves to hang from the mesh at the top of her enclosure which is about 20” tall. Last night she attached herself to the mesh fairly far away from any sticks or flora that she could have grabbed as she finished her molt. I could tell she would probably fall so I took a soft washcloth and held it just below her. She eventually dropped onto the cloth and I gently placed it on the bottom of her “house”. She is fine now and happily clinging to her mesh again. It looks like she will have another molt before she is fully grown. I would like to improve her set up to make it safer for a future molt. I do not want her to fall and hit a stick or something on the way down. Do I need to make her a mantis safety net or what???
Click to expand...
Mine has a habit of forgetting how to mantis occasionally, so I’ve combatted it with some soft and strategically placed plants at the bottom of her enclosure.

I have a couple of nerve plants which are only “short” but quite leafy and wide so she has a soft landing if and when she forgets to hold on.

Here’s an example of one of her crash mats near to some of the trailing decor items so she can clamber back up

IMG_7018.jpeg
 
“Forgetting how to mantis” 😂 Yes, my girl can totally relate!

Looks like you have a pretty sweet set up! Thanks for the advise. Up to this point I’ve been using plastic plants and some sticks. I had my day off yesterday and took your advise. I chose a few leafy plants and I found some exotic angel plants which look very similar to what you have. It was a fun project. I also got her some isopods to clean up the dirt and possibly snack on. She tried to eat a pill bug, but either didn’t like or it just got away from her. So far she seems to like her new digs well enough but still prefers to observe her domain from the side of the enclosure or the mesh at the top.
 
Forgetting how to mantis & the mantis safety net, LOL! It’s like you can read my previous thoughts. You’re doing AWESOME having mesh at the top. The nerve plant crash mat suggestion is 10/10, wish I would’ve thought of that! To clarify, it’s not metal mesh right? I found that a layer of shelf liner on top of the mesh at the top was easier for my guy to hold onto. He survived a horrific final molt. If you’d like to PM me I would love to hear more about her and offer any possible suggestions I can from my experiences of a T sinensis who forgot how to molt!
 

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