Bad Final Molt

[JayzunBoget]

I caught a Wide Armed Mantis in the process of molting at the pet store i work at in Lansing, Michigan, Preuss Pets.

It had been kept in a 32 oz. insect cup and fit decently pre-molt.

At the point I saw her she was already nearly completely out of the exuvium and had grown nearly 300% !!!

Unfortunately, she had already begun to harden. After six hours, she had not progressed any further in the shed, so I helped her out of the remaining exuvium.

This went even better than I had hoped, and I was able to completely free her from the exuvium without doing any noticeable damage to her (hopefully).

Unfortunately, she has been left almost completely crippled. She has one good arm (do you call that a pedipalp, like spiders and scorpions?), the other she doesn't raise or orient properly. She does not seem to be able to stand on her legs, though she does move them, and her wings are mangled.

Is there any way to resoften her new exoskeleton and let it harden properly? Or she doomed?

Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanx,

JZ

 

[collinchang635]

Probably won't make it. Sorry.

 

[kamakiri]

If you are willing to take the time, she might make it...

This is 'Stumpy':

She was a sub-sub adult (religiosa) when I got her...she was stuck in the packing tape of the box that got a little crushed prior to delivery.

Anyway, she did make it to adulthood...though on the first molt her forelimbs were a little bent to one side. So when she spotted prey, she would strike a little too far to the left. She did make a few of her own kills, but I had to supplement with hand feeding refrigerated crickets. I do suspect she wouldn't have survived on her own.

She made the next molt okay, but her wings got messed up. Forelimbs were straight, but wings are all over the place. She still has a hard time dragging herself around, but at least she can strike her prey. So while I think she is healthy enough to mate now, I'm not sure a male could get over the tangle of wings... I will try after I mate the 'normal' female first since I only have one adult male at the moment.

Please don't give up just yet!

 

[JayzunBoget]

I'm glad to hear about your mantis, kamakiri. Unfortunately, things are a bit more grim for my wide arm mantis, I think.

This is the "adult" molt where she got her wings, and as far as I know, her last molt.

She can not hold herself upright. She just lays on her back and flops around when disturbed.

She has one good arm and her head and mouth parts work, but I'm not sure that I would be doing her a favor if I hand fed her to keep her alive.

I think that tonight I will give her the only thing that i really have left to give her.

I just thought that i would check here to see if there were, perhaps, any way to soften her exoskeleton and give her another chance to harden properly.

Oh, well, sorry little mantis...

 

[collinchang635]

I'm glad to hear about your mantis, kamakiri. Unfortunately, things are a bit more grim for my wide arm mantis, I think.This is the "adult" molt where she got her wings, and as far as I know, her last molt.

She can not hold herself upright. She just lays on her back and flops around when disturbed.

She has one good arm and her head and mouth parts work, but I'm not sure that I would be doing her a favor if I hand fed her to keep her alive.

I think that tonight I will give her the only thing that i really have left to give her.

I just thought that i would check here to see if there were, perhaps, any way to soften her exoskeleton and give her another chance to harden properly.

Oh, well, sorry little mantis...

I had to do the same thing to my male today. He somehow got his head stuck on a piece of tape and his whole head came off. When I came home from school I found him on the floor with no head. He was flopping around too. So he met the freezer.

 

[Rick]

Once they begin to harden they will be in that shape.

 

[kamakiri]

I see...last thing I'd ask is if she can even hang by any of the 4 back legs? Stumpy only has one foot and can at least right herself and stay that way...also climb up things. Sounds like the freezer it is. I don't think there is a way to soften the chitin again once it hardens.

Sorry to hear about the other male and the tape. While Stumpy did lose parts of three legs, she was lucky that I could unstick her head and a forelimb from the tape. It was like getting home from work and needing to play operation.

 

[kamakiri]

oops - double post