Bent abdomen after molt

[loislane]

Hi

Has anyone got any experience of this? It looks like our peacock mantis has got a bent abdomen after his molt to adult. Not sure if you can see in the photo but there's a kink in the abdomen towards the bottom. The humidity was low during the molt as it happened early in the morning. I went in to mist the cage and he was hanging there mid molt with just the end of his abdomen still in the old exoskeleton. He molted on Saturday and he ate a fly on Sunday night but I haven't seen him eat since. He may have had another fly or two, I'm not totally sure how many were in there with him! He's rejecting crickets.

I'm hopeful he will keep eating and at the worst just won't eat so much at a time, but I was wondering if anyone has seen this happen before?

 

[Synapze]

I've seen nymphs with this issue before and unfortunately there's not much you can do except follow the basic care guidelines for his species and hope for the best. Showing interest in eating is a good sign. The abdomen (especially the tip) is a bad place for any type of injury or deformation after a molt, but don't lose hope... I've seen them recover from worse. I would keep the humidity and temperature on the high side of the target zone for several days (he needs the proper temp to digest) and make sure he has access to the droplets when you mist. I would hold off on feeding for a few days as well. I would avoid putting crickets in with a mantis so soon after a molt, but then again I avoid crickets altogether. Also, don't handle him for a few days if possible. 

Good luck! Keep us posted. 

 

[loislane]

Thanks for the advice! As far as I know he's only had that one fly since molting and that was 2 days ago, so that's 1 fly in 10 days as he didn't eat for a week before the molt... that feels like not much food in a fairly long time, so I'm a bit worried about not trying to feed him for a few more days? There's some flies in his enclosure at the moment, I guess I'll just keep an eye on things...

 

[Synapze]

If the flies aren't "bugging" him, it's probably OK to leave them in. If he does eat them, I'd give him a few days before feeding again. Mantids can live a surprisingly long time without eating... so I wouldn't worry too much. 

 

[loislane]

If the flies aren't "bugging" him, it's probably OK to leave them in. If he does eat them, I'd give him a few days before feeding again. Mantids can live a surprisingly long time without eating... so I wouldn't worry too much. 

He has a big terrarium so they are mostly in the substrate while he's up high, I don't think they're bugging (lol) him too much. He went for one earlier when I was watching him but I don't know if he was trying to catch it and missed or if he meant to smack it away!

I'm such a worrier, but I'll try not to worry too much

 

[loislane]

So, an update...

He's eaten a bunch of flies this week!  Not totally sure how many but I've seen him eat 4 and I'm pretty sure he's had a few others too. I tried offering him a cricket again the other day, I held out their egg carton for him and he grabbed one, but he dropped it almost immediately before going on to eat 2 flies.  He used to have one big meal a week, either a decent size cricket or a load of flies, but it seems like since molting he's changed to snacking on flies every couple of days.  Whether that's down to his abdomen, or something else related to becoming an adult, I don't know.  His abdomen definitely looks a slightly different shape to how it used to, but then he's not having that big meal to really plump it out like he was.  Anyway, I'll keep on observing and see how we go 

 

[Mantis Lady]

Good that he eats. that is a good sign. Does he poop normally?

 

[loislane]

Good that he eats. that is a good sign. Does he poop normally?

Honestly, I have no idea!  I've never seen him poop and with a thick layer of coco brick substrate, I can't see any in the terrarium.  So I guess all I can do is see if he keeps eating regularly and if his abdomen flattens back out again once he's had time to digest.

 

[Mantis Lady]

Ok, that is good to read. I have kitchen paper as substrate I can see how they poop

 

[loislane]

Ok, that is good to read. I have kitchen paper as substrate I can see how they poop

That sounds like a good idea - and a LOT easier for cleaning - but I'd never get close to the right humidity if I used paper 

 

[MantisGirl13]

That sounds like a good idea - and a LOT easier for cleaning - but I'd never get close to the right humidity if I used paper 

Could you try clean, moist sponges under the paper towel? It would be easy to clean, and easy to keep the humidity up!

- MantisGirl13

 

[hysteresis]

That sounds like a good idea - and a LOT easier for cleaning - but I'd never get close to the right humidity if I used paper 

I use untreated cotton pads like you'd use to remove makeup or first aid. They're available in various shapes and sizes and theyre cheap.