Mantida
Well-known member
i lost 3 of my 7 chinese mantids this week. i have no clue what is going on.
all of my mantids are housed in 1 foot x 6 inches x 1 foot containers and i mist and feed them daily...
the death spree began when i could no longer find insects outside because of the sudden cold weather and bought some petco crickets.
i fed most of my mantids who needed the crickets. they were all hunting, healthy, and active.
then one of my female mantids, about 3 or 4 molts away from adulthood, just dropped and died. she had a very unpleasant odor hanging around her body, and her eyes were rotting but she had only died a few hours ago.
today, i found another mantis dead, my male who had one more molt to adulthood, and a female who was still alive but dying. the male's eyes were rotting and there was a very unpleasant odor around him. the female was limp and twitching slightly, but her eyes were cloudy and she smelled VERY bad.
from what i remember, all of them did eat the petco crickets. what could cause this spree of deaths within my mantids from the crickets? maybe bacteria fungal infection within the crickets? i'm not completely sure what caused this, but i've taken note all of the mantids who died had rotting and discolored eyes, smelled bad (like mantis throw up or something rotting), and seemed to have one section of their abdomen "skinnied down" and another section swelled. perhaps an internal implosion? they did not eat that much either so i don't think that could be a possibility.
another one of my females currently is active, but she smells strange... like mantis throw up. she is active and showing no signs of lethargy but i am unsure because of the sudden deaths. for all i know she could drop down dead five minutes from now.
any input of what might have happened will be greatly appreciated.
all of my mantids are housed in 1 foot x 6 inches x 1 foot containers and i mist and feed them daily...
the death spree began when i could no longer find insects outside because of the sudden cold weather and bought some petco crickets.
i fed most of my mantids who needed the crickets. they were all hunting, healthy, and active.
then one of my female mantids, about 3 or 4 molts away from adulthood, just dropped and died. she had a very unpleasant odor hanging around her body, and her eyes were rotting but she had only died a few hours ago.
today, i found another mantis dead, my male who had one more molt to adulthood, and a female who was still alive but dying. the male's eyes were rotting and there was a very unpleasant odor around him. the female was limp and twitching slightly, but her eyes were cloudy and she smelled VERY bad.
from what i remember, all of them did eat the petco crickets. what could cause this spree of deaths within my mantids from the crickets? maybe bacteria fungal infection within the crickets? i'm not completely sure what caused this, but i've taken note all of the mantids who died had rotting and discolored eyes, smelled bad (like mantis throw up or something rotting), and seemed to have one section of their abdomen "skinnied down" and another section swelled. perhaps an internal implosion? they did not eat that much either so i don't think that could be a possibility.
another one of my females currently is active, but she smells strange... like mantis throw up. she is active and showing no signs of lethargy but i am unsure because of the sudden deaths. for all i know she could drop down dead five minutes from now.
any input of what might have happened will be greatly appreciated.
(?) Nasty, disinfect your enclosures. 
