Bad molt issues

[DrakeLineous]

Damn, she only had 1 shed left before being in the clear, soooo close. I found my Chinese today, currently an L7, with 3 bent legs. The front forelegs are fine and so is the right middle but the other 3 are bent near the joints. Besides that she seems fine. My question is, would there be any way to save her? I've been tong feeding her anyway since I got her so food and water won't be a problem. If I were to take the bad legs off right above where they bend, would she regrow new ones on her next molt, or if she would even be able to molt one last time?

 

[Mantis Man13]

Don't take the bad legs off or else she will most definitely have a bad last molt because of lack of legs to hold on with. The legs should be better next molt. If the mantis is having trouble with her legs she will bite them off herself in a way to prevent infection. make sure that she has surfaces that are easy to molt on for her.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Give me a pic so I can see how bad it is btw.

 

[DrakeLineous]

Just moved her into this new enclosure today, thought it'd be roomier.

 

[Aryia]

She's already adult now, she won't be molting again which means the deformity will stay. I personally would just put her out of her misery since she doesn't look like she can get around very easily at all. If you want to try and "save" her, you can offer her food 2-3 days after the molt. You will most likely have to cut the prey item and stick the guts in her mouth. Mantises will refuse food when they are severely mismolted, I take it as a sign to end their suffering since it takes them a long while to pass on their own (often times ground-bound mantises will develop infections from touching the substrate too long as well). But if she does take food you could most likely observe and see how she does before deciding how to proceed.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Your mantis is L8, and an adult, thankfully, so it will not have to worry about another molt. Even the mantis looks bad it's forelegs appear fine and she will adapt to survive with her other legs, as I have seen mantises have crooked legs that they bend into shape a little bit so they are more usable. Don't kill her, I have seen mantises worse than this survive. You mantis is in good condition besides the crooked legs. Your mantis had a lucky mismolt, my Brunner's stick was not so lucky on its final molt last year and was a u shape and died.The deformed wings don't matter, so that is good too. Make sure to clean your cage regularly and not make it to humid in the cage, as the mantis can not move as much and could get mold and die, like my friend's mantis did. Also, you can kill prey before you feed it to her with a tweezer. Follow all these steps and your mantis will have a long and happy adulthood! Think of it this way: would you kill someone in real life just because they had crooked legs? I wouldn't. Same for the mantis, except the mantis is more fortunate because it has six appendages, and not four. Its front legs are fine and two of her other legs seem to be functional. I REPEAT DO NOT EUTHANIZE HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :angry: :angry: :angry: SHE HAS A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE TO CONTINUE! THANK YOU!

 

[DrakeLineous]

L8? By my count she's only had 6 molts so far, with 1 to go. She'd also just started growing the wings so even though they are deformed, they're not the full flight ready set of adult wings.

 

[Mantis Man13]

Dude, go on chat. I will tell you about the chinese mantise's that I have kept 4 times, male and female. Trust me, she is an adult.

 

[Extrememantid]

Definitely an adult

 

[Darkrai283]

She'd also just started growing the wings so even though they are deformed, they're not the full flight ready set of adult wings.

Remember that:

All insects that have wings are already adults, full set or vestigial. (Apart in some insects like mayflies)

Ditto with Extrememantid that she is definitely an adult.

By looking at her mid and hind-legs, they're too deformed for her to be able to climb easily and hand upside down (therefore, no ooth laying either) If she's your only mantis and accepts handfeeding well, keep her. If she were mine, I would euthanise her like Aryia mentioned. She will only be able to drag herself along the bottom of the container and will not have a full, mobile adulthood. It's sort of like taking away the wheelchair off somebody who is disabled... :/

 

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I also wanted to say that my mantids that are iris oratoria, have became adult at L6, L7 and L8! I mean that I have some that skipped instars and a couple that molted one extra time. I have observed some patterns if you are interested let me know.

I have also had terribly disfigured mantids at the adult stage. As long as they eat, I don't have the heart to kill them. So if you have the time to take care of her every day, and she seems happy, then keep her.

I'm sorry for your bad molt!