Backlegs not working :(

[prayingMantodea323]

My mantis, Pastel has just molted into her 4th instar yesterday. I watched it happen. She had one bent back leg already from her previous molt, but I thought it would correct itself in this molt. Boy, was I wrong... The molting went fine, but when she got out, the bent leg was even more bent, almost a "U" shape now, and she is refusing to use her other back leg for unknown reasons (it looks normal to me). She seems way more clumsy now, and occasionally falls from the top of her enclosure. She is also refusing to eat a fly (I'm not sure if that's because she just molted or she can't steady herself without the use of her raptorials. Also, she when she hangs down, her abdomen kinda falls down a little.

Sorry for the crappy pics... but thats what she looks like..

On an unrelated note, her cup is getting small for her. What new enclosure can I modify?

 

[Shadow]

For they leg she might fix it next molt because one of my mantids lost both 2 back kegs he molted

 

[JP77]

It might be able to correct the leg during the next molt. From what I've seen, after a couple days they get used to the crooked leg and they can sometimes still move and use it alright.

 

[prayingMantodea323]

But her leg was slightly bent last molt, and now, it's so bent that it's a U. I'm afraid that next molt, instead of correcting itself, it just bends more? Is there a way to prevent that?

Also, upon closer inspection, her other leg seems to be missing a part of her foot. That's probably why she isn't using her other leg too.

And the enclosure... I don't know what container I can modify... she is around 1.5 inches in body length now, so I need to move her out of her cup.

 

[PlayingMantis]

One of my shield's back legs looked like this:

Untitled

He fixed himself in one molt, but it is possible that yours may take an extra molt or two.

You could try finding a deli container or any plastic Tupperware that is normally used to store food. Make sure the container is at least 3 times the body length, so in your case, that would be 4.5 inches. I would go with 5-6 inches just to be safe. It won't hurt to have a slightly more space than needed, but, of course, if the container is way too large, it may take more time for your mantis to find food.