Another Molt!!!

[Joe Caruso]

I came home today to find she'd molted......again. It's only been 11 days since the last molt so I was a bit surprised. Could it have something to do with the warm, humid weather we've been experiencing in London the last week or so? (I also think it might be down to the fact that I feed her more than is strictly necessary).

Anyhow, all her bits and pieces are there. She's in her 5th or 6th instar now. It really is amazing how much bigger they are than the dead exo-skeleton they emerge from.

 

[The_Asa]

11 days is a reasonable time to expect a molt, though the molts will take longer as she grows older. The warm humid weather and feeding probably made the molt quicker. Congrats!

 

[chrisboy101]

cool.post a pic

 

[Thorska]

i've found molting to be pretty proportional to various effects... more food and hotter enviroments definately speeds up molting, unfortunatly it also has the effect of shortening a mantids already (in my opinion) too short life span

 

[collinchang635]

Thats pretty normal. My mantid used to molt once every 7 days but the periods of time between each molt grew longer as she grew bigger.

 

[Rick]

You will they tend to molt pretty regularly until adult.