A fall while molting

cassy · Dec 28, 2011

Hi,

I am new to keeping Praying mantis and already her first (whilst I have had her) molt has gone terribly awry. I have had help keeping her however and looked after her well, though she seems to have fallen overnight from the branch she had attached herself to and is now in trouble. I have read the previous posting by LLCoolJew and she seems pretty much in the same position though she isn't eating. I only have tiny crickets and am hesitant to put these in with her as they will hurt her more. I have held a few for her though she isn't interested. She isn't able to move much apart from her front legs. I have misted her and been keeping her warm. She hadn't really been a big eater prior to this anyhow which folk assured me was fine.

To the freezer option...how long does that take? I think I could do this if it put her out of any pain she may be in.

Ideas? Thoughts?

cassy.

Psychobunny · Dec 28, 2011

Keep them away from crickets just before, and 2 or 3 days after molting as they are too soft.

You did not say how old your mantis is. When they get older, they do fall sometimes.

If still a nymph or subadult, most molting errors will be corrected in the next molt or 2.

Also, it's normal for them to not want food before and a day or so after a molt.

If, after the 3rd day, she is still not eating, you need to hand feed her to build her strenght

back up for a few days.

I use cricket puree (smashed cricket guts) served on a toothpick to feed them.

Since they are only attracted to things that move, you will need to put the cricket puree right

into her mouth or rub some of a front leg for them to realize that its food.

Then they will eat it.

I have restored several mantids to health this way even when I was so sure they were going to die.

Hope that helps

cassy · Dec 28, 2011

Thankyou so much...that is such helpful information.

I am not sure exactly how old she is though I don't think she is that old, perhaps a subadult.

Ok...so all is not lost just yet. I will keep her warm and mist her regularly and try to tempt her with some mashed up cricket maybe tomorrow. It has been less than 24hrs after her fall which was overnight sometime.

She really doesn't look well but your posting has given me hope. Thank you again.....as I said this is my first mantis and I have become quite attached to her.

Cassy

cassy · Dec 29, 2011

Hi,

So here she is....

I have tried tempting her with crushed cricket but she hasn't appeared interested. Interestingly she is very sensitive to sound and will move her front legs quite a bit but she still can't walk.

I am so new to this I can't work out which are her molted back legs and which aren't...though it appears her front legs are fine-are those the old legs at the tip. She does seem to have some old skin around her mouth...would it be OK to try to get this off?

I have been sitting reading many of the posts on this forum about molting and not sure whether I should try to hang her upside down from something, or let her try to grip onto something like paper towel (which I have her on at the moment), keep misting her or let her try to dry out or just let her be.

It is really heartening to read so many stories of mantids that have come back from bad molting situations.

C

ismart · Dec 29, 2011

I really hate to say this to you, but that mantis has no chance of puling through. From your pic it's head did not molt out properly. I would doubt it's even capable of eating. You should put it out of it's misery.