A Mantis I've found

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Your mantid is still hardening up. Best to just leave it alone for now and not distract it. It'll be ok. As for the spraying, I do not think it's necessary. The spraying water could interfere with how the wings will dry up. The picture shows a normal unfolding of the wings and so that's good.

I can't say the same for other exotic species, but if you have fed this mantid well before the adult molt, you shouldn't have to provide moisture through spraying. One of my female mantids just molted to an adult this morning and everything turned out perfect. I do not recall misting it once in its subadult stage although I did feed it "juicy" food items. But then again, it could just be the species I keep.

 
Thanks for the responses. She is doing well. I'll shoot another picture when things look different. They look about the same as the last pic. I can tell she's going to be a nice sized mantis. The molting process really starts quickly. I was expecting to have more of a clue. Haven't been in my office (where she is stored) in about 12 hours to notice that this all just happened!

I've been feeding her nearly every day since I've had her as a subadult (a little over 2 weeks). It's usually been nice and juicy things like moths/butterflies, spiders, House flies, etc. Anything I could find, basically.

I usually mist the top of her cage every morning. She'll lick the water off herself first, and then usually stick her face through the grates and lick some more. I find that she still likes water and usually goes right to it, no matter what or when she eats.

I've been misting the inside, without getting it on her. This may help with the humidity.

Am I correct that adult mantis's don't need as much food? Instead of feeding her once everyday, it will be nice to feed her once every other day! The wings are looking good. Sounds like I'm about 2 days away from being able to interact with her. As soon as she drops the rest of her skin (I imagine she's done shedding at this point...it seems to all still be connected on her foot), is that when she will want food?

 
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The skin should already be off by now, but you shoud probably leave her alone for a day or 2. Being that it is only on 1 foot, she may be able to remove it herself by the time she completely hardens.

If her wings look the same for a couple of hours after the molt, they will probably stay that way. Spread or deformed wings are not usually a problem for a captive mantis unless the wings interfere with walking or feeding. Females don't do alot of flying after they start fattening up anyway. :)

 
I think it is a slender female, by looking at the pics at beginning of the topic, and in the first molting pic. :)

 
Looks like she's going to live the rest of her life deformed.

When I walked into the office today, she was on the ground. The piece of skin is still attached to her feet; looks like it's making it harder for her to move around and to climb to the top of her cage.

He wings are also slightly deformed as well. I'll probably release her later this evening.

Terrible this had to happen. I thought I was doing a good job :(

Do they sometimes fall from molting like mine did?

Is there anyone from the forum who sells mantids? I know you can get them on ebay. I'd like to get a nice big & fat one....that hasn't ruined itself from molting. :(

 
FendersRule said:
...Do they sometimes fall from molting like mine did?....
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Yours fell? I see. Based on your second set of pictures, it looked like the molting was going well but I guess not. Oh well, we all have had our share of experiencing what you went through. Your mantid will live and breed if you keep it. But if you want a 100% perfect specimen, then ok.

 
Me, mantisplace, and mantispets all sell mantis, i think the only big species i sell is popa spurca. But try the other 2 sites for other big ones(i like smaller species, there prettier =P).

 
FendersRule said:
Looks like she's going to live the rest of her life deformed.

When I walked into the office today, she was on the ground. The piece of skin is still attached to her feet; looks like it's making it harder for her to move around and to climb to the top of her cage.

He wings are also slightly deformed as well. I'll probably release her later this evening.

Terrible this had to happen. I thought I was doing a good job :(

Do they sometimes fall from molting like mine did?

Is there anyone from the forum who sells mantids? I know you can get them on ebay. I'd like to get a nice big & fat one....that hasn't ruined itself from molting. :(
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This is just my opinion so do what you want.

If your mantis is able to eat and walk at all, she could still make a good pet. You can try to remove the old skin by moistening it and pinning it down while she walks it off.

A deformed mantis won't do well in the wild, but can still be fine in captivity as long as it can catch prey. ;)

You can still get some good looking specimens and have her, if it is not too much trouble.

 
I'll wet it down and try to see if I can get her to remove it when I get home from work.

If not, then I'll just have to release her and start afresh. It's not going to be a fun pet (no one is going to want to touch it, especially me) when she's dragging along a dead exoskeleton; I'm sure people can understand this decision. The deformed wings are one thing, but that's just kinda...well...you know...gross. It's sad, too.

I wish I knew why she dropped, because I'd like to learn from my mistake, if I indeed made a mistake? It all started Sunday Morning, when I walked in my office to find her rolling around on the ground with some skin stuck with her feet. That was when it occurred to me that she was molting (it's been 12 hours since I last seen her--Friday evening--and she didn't appear to be molting). Her wings haven't unfolded yet completely at that time during Sunday morning, but they looked like they were starting to (I just saw a wad of material that I was guessing was her wings). I was able to get her up to the top of the cage, and then left her in a good position (see the pictures from page 2). All day Sunday she stayed in that position. I was hoping that she would take care of the exoskeleton and that her wings would straighten out.

This morning, I found her on the ground again. Skin still attached. Wings still looked non-symmetrical. She was just kinda laying...trying frantically to climb the cage. She purely was in better shape a sub adult. :( . I aided her over to a branch in her cage, and that's where she' currently hanging for the time being.

She's going to have to release the exoskeleton. There is no way that she will survive, either in my care, or in the wild dragging that along. I will see what I can do when I get home today from work when I wet it down, but no promises. There's little I can do besides add moisture, and use some very light pressure with some plastic bug tweezers.

I'm looking into a Popa Spruca or a Chinese Mantis if I can't get her back to good health. I'll post a picture later.

 
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Honestly, you should not let that mantis free, or dicard it! It is your fault this mantis is crippled in the first place. It will not stand a chance in the wild, in it's current condition. Removing the exoskeleton should not be a problem. Man up and take care of it, for the remander of it's short life. If your planning on buying any other mantids please do some more reading. I would hate to think you would continue to discard all the cripples, because they are not "perfect" due to your improper care. Please understand these mismolts do happen from time to time, even in the best of care. I do always blame myself when such things happen! Your mantis is really not in that bad of shape, not to live a full life in captivity. Please do the right thing. :)

 
ismart said:
Honestly, you should not let that mantis free, or dicard it! It is your fault this mantis is crippled in the first place. It will not stand a chance in the wild, in it's current condition. Removing the exoskeleton should not be a problem. Man up and take care of it, for the remander of it's short life. If your planning on buying any other mantids please do some more reading. I would hate to think you would continue to discard all the cripples, because they are not "perfect" due to your improper care. Please understand these mismolts do happen from time to time, even in the best of care. I do always blame myself when such things happen! Your mantis is really not in that bad of shape, not to live a full life in captivity. Please do the right thing. :)
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+1 to that.

She was a "cool mantis" until her unfortunate accident.

 
ismart said:
Honestly, you should not let that mantis free, or dicard it! It is your fault this mantis is crippled in the first place. It will not stand a chance in the wild, in it's current condition. Removing the exoskeleton should not be a problem. Man up and take care of it, for the remander of it's short life. If your planning on buying any other mantids please do some more reading. I would hate to think you would continue to discard all the cripples, because they are not "perfect" due to your improper care. Please understand these mismolts do happen from time to time, even in the best of care. I do always blame myself when such things happen! Your mantis is really not in that bad of shape, not to live a full life in captivity. Please do the right thing. :)
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This post is full of hate. Honestly, I don't know what more "reading" would have done in this situation. Like you said, mismolts happen, even in the "best of care," which is what I believe I provided. No one is saying anything about having a "perfect" mantid. Not sure how my care was "improper." You're making some horribly, pretentious statements. I wouldn't pressure, nor blame anyone for not keeping an insect for which it's exoskeleton can't be removed. As I've said, I can only do what I can do with some water and tweezers when I get home today.

 
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If you end up with an exotic species and it doesn't come out perfect, I hope you have an alternative means of disposal or euthanization, as it is not recomended to release them.

 
FendersRule said:
If not, then I'll just have to release her and start afresh. It's not going to be a fun pet (no one is going to want to touch it, especially me) when she's dragging along a dead exoskeleton; I'm sure people can understand this decision. The deformed wings are one thing, but that's just kinda...well...you know...gross. It's sad, too.
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This above paragraph is just plain horrible! :angry:

FendersRule said:
This post is full of hate. Honestly, I don't know what more "reading" would have done in this situation. Like you said, mismolts happen, even in the "best of care," which is what I believe I provided. No one is saying anything about having a "perfect" mantid. Not sure how my care was "improper." You're making some horribly, pretentious statements. I wouldn't pressure, nor blame anyone for not keeping an insect for which it's exoskeleton can't be removed. As I've said, I can only do what I can do with some water and tweezers when I get home today.
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Your ignorance is unreal! I'm finished here! :rolleyes: Best of luck to you! Little european mantis! :)

 
Dude, man up. She mismolted because you didn't give her the proper materials to hang from. The smooth plastic of that enclosure is not ideal for a molt. That's what some reading could have done for you and this situation. There are plenty of posts discussing mantis housing. She would have done better in a simple delli cup with cloth or wire lid. Here's how it works; the skin must get a good enough grip to hold tight after she pulls out of it. If not the whole thing drops. That's what happened in this case.

The skin should pull right off her leg. That's not a big deal. Spraying her with water will not dissolve the skin.

There are a lot of people here with plenty of experience. Take their advice and don't get defensive when they point out that you're being unrealistic or inhumane. We know what we're talking about. We've all experience a bad molt now and then. I've spent months hand-feeding crippled mantids. Why? Because any living thing under my care becomes my responsibility, and I accept responsibility for my mistakes. I suggest you do the same. She's crippled because you locked her in a box with nothing to grip, nothing she could hang from to molt.

As a breeder I would have a hard time selling to you after reading this post.

 
FendersRule said:
This morning, I found her on the ground again. Skin still attached. Wings still looked non-symmetrical. She was just kinda laying...trying frantically to climb the cage. She purely was in better shape a sub adult. :( . I aided her over to a branch in her cage, and that's where she' currently hanging for the time being.
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Exactly. Nothing to grip but smooth plastic.

The roof should be screen or twigs and there should be branches she can use to climb to get to them.

 
Consider this thread closed from my perspective. Sorry for contributing. It's not like you know, I'd have feelings too about this.

 
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