Back Legs Stuck In Molt

[DopplerMel2000]

This is the first bad molt I think I might finally be able to salvage. This little guy has his 2 back legs still stuck. My question is, should I try to remove the old skin? Should I leave it alone? Does it look likely he could be back to normal after next molt?

I swear, all other bad molts I've ever had have never made it for me. Either their heads were stuck, their mouths got messed up or the raptors got stuck. All injuries that prevented from eating on their own which ended up to be their demise. This fella I may have a chance with!

 

[MichiganMantisGuy14]

Humidity may have been to low or to much air circulations that cause misMolts.

i normally make judgement call to cut & remove as much old molt as possible, allowing for mantis to have as much as mobility as passable. Nymph seems small enough if ya have to cut some of the leg sections, that they will grow back in the next 2~3 molts.

Getn the mantis Cold with an ice pack for just a moment 1 minute to 30 seconds, will act as anesthetics allowing you to work on freeing the legs, or even cuting them. normally that small they won't bleed out, but ya can dry dab'Qtip with peroxide cut points to clot.

Heat up mantis as soon as possible after surgery, putting close to light/heat source. May take 5~10 minutes to recover from Coldspell.

i have success many times in saving the mantis doing surgeries. Mainly on adult females after final molt with crumpled wings and go on to breed fine and live their live out...

good luck

 

[MichiganMantisGuy14]

You will probably need to hand feed this mantis until next molt or one after that until can feed on its own...

 

[DopplerMel2000]

Awesome advice! Thank you so much!

 

[MichiganMantisGuy14]

Mantis can grow back damaged appendages through consecutive molts, as they grow bigger,

So clipping a leg or an arm as little as possible will help it grow back quicker in the next several molts. Just cutting off what you absolutely have to. Generaly a section of a leg or arm will usually take two or three molts to fully grow back.

But if the Mantis is say,in its L5 stage it may not have that many molts left before it final molt to adulthood.

A good thing to watch is the Mantis will not want to eat at all even if you force it in its face, 2-3 days before it's going to molt. When normally they usually always want to eat . So knowing this you will prepare for proper distance for it to hang & molt out of its skin/exoskeletal which is usually double or triple its current size and to ensure you have proper amount of humidity so it's easier for the Mantis to get out of its old skin.

This is one of the first key things to be able to observe in your Mantis of when it's going to molt.

Many hobbyists new and experienced have mis-molts when they miss the mantisds premolt behaviors.