Bad molt, bent legs, crumpled wings :( Help!

[geishagirrrl]

Our mantid has molted and when I woke up she was on her side in the bottom of the habitat and one side is more deformed than the other. Her wings on her left are crumpled and most of her legs have kinks in them making them useless. Will they straighten out? Is there anything I can do to help her? I keep propping her up to get her weight off that side but I have no clue what else I can or should do.

Please help, I don't want her to die.

P.S. Not sure but I think this was her final molt, her large wings emerged on this one.

 

[Ntsees]

Once your mantid has wings, it will no longer molt. There isn't much you can do if it molted badly. The body of the mantid is soft after it molts and so when it dries up and hardens, that's the way it's going to look. I don't know what your enclosure looks like, but in the future, I recommend you give them lots of room (and something to hang on) as well water/humidity.

 

[geishagirrrl]

Once your mantid has wings, it will no longer molt. There isn't much you can do if it molted badly. The body of the mantid is soft after it molts and so when it dries up and hardens, that's the way it's going to look. I don't know what your enclosure looks like, but in the future, I recommend you give them lots of room (and something to hang on) as well water/humidity.

would it help if i try to add humidity now? it just molted overnight.

 

[ismart]

I hate to say this, but there is nothing you can do. The damage is already done. You could either hand feed it and see how it plays out? Or you could put it out of it's misery, and put it in the freezer for like 10 minutes?

 

[geishagirrrl]

i can't believe how sad i am over this. to have raised her and watched her grow for over three months... she's trying to get around but just keeps falling on her bad side.

 

[ismart]

Are her raptorial arms still functional? If she can still grasp prey, then you can at laest still hand feed her. Just wait a few days before trying to feed her though. Also if her messed up wings are getting her way, you could always wait a week or so, and trim them down with a scissor.

 

[Ntsees]

Like what ismart said...there's nothing you can do about it now. The humidity helps the mantid to molt well (making sure it can slide out of it's old exoskeleton smoothly). An increase in humidity after a molt won't help it. And even if you did catch the errors in it's molt if it just freshly molted, it wouldn't be a good idea to help fix it. At that point, they are extremely vulnerable and more damage will be done than good. It best to just leave them alone after the molt (if they molted well, then great...if not, then oh well). Like I said in the previous post, the best thing you can do to help a mantid molt well is to make sure it's well hydrated and to give it room (needs to be able to hang upside down). Everything else would be up to the mantid.

 

[geishagirrrl]

Are her raptorial arms still functional? If she can still grasp prey, then you can at laest still hand feed her. Just wait a few days before trying to feed her though. Also if her messed up wings are getting her way, you could always wait a week or so, and trim them down with a scissor.

right side is functioning, right back leg is a little weak but not bent back like the right side legs. her left raptorial arm is getting in the way of her right but she's still pulling herself around. i have her in a steamy bathroom right now to see if that helps at all.

 

[geishagirrrl]

here's a photo of the damage

 

[geishagirrrl]

here's the pic

 

[ismart]

There is a good chance she will still live a pretty long life, if you help her out. I have seen much worse! Hopefully she will regain some strength in the next few days. Just try not to bother her to much.

 

[Rick]

There isn't anything you can do. I woudl personally put her in the freezer for fifteen or twenty mins and end it. We all have this happen from time to time. Learn and move on.