bleeding mantid?

[blackwidow89]

hey everyone! I'm new to the site, I'm chelsey..I got 3 mantids about a month and a half ago...they're growing like crazy and seem healthy except for the past 2 weeks or so, what looks like blood is on the walls and ceiling of their enclosures..they're all in separate cups and don't appear to have wounds on them....Im wondering if anyone knows if this "blood" is from the mantids or their prey? I read on here that if you smear a fruit fly, it'll be the color of their eyes...and my mantids eat a lot of fruit flies.....but idk why this red "blood" is suddenly appearing now unless it's because they're aggressive eaters or something when I'm not looking? idk, any ideas would be appreciated .....

 

[AxolotlsAreCoolToo]

It could be mantis puke or diarrhea. Are you using tap water?

 

[agent A]

Puke from overeating

 

[jrh3]

It could be mantis puke or diarrhea. Are you using tap water?

tap water is fine to use

 

[ScienceGirl]

Where is it coming from? Out from their mouth, their posterior, or another body part?

 

[Rick]

Welcome. It isn't blood but most likely vomit.

 

[blackwidow89]

thanks guys! sorry I didn't reply sooner (didn't get notifications about replies) I didn't even think they could puke... ps. I am using bottled water

 

[lancaster1313]

How is the ventilation in the containers?

It is not the water that is making them sick.

 

[blackwidow89]

they're like deli cups with holes in the top but there's a layer of paper towel? so they can't crawl out the holes.....so probably not a lot of ventilation.. I don't have a water dish, I just mist everyday....gonna look on here for a caresheet to make their homes more ideal and am very open to suggestions...

 

[blackwidow89]

I don't want them to be sick do you think they're actually coming down with something or just puking from overeating?

 

[lancaster1313]

They can vomit from overeating or from illness. Improving ventilation might help, but I can't say if and why they are vomiting. Usually vomit looks like they draw little curvy lines. It is from them wiping their mouths on the container to get the vomit off.

Try using screen or pantyhose for a lid instead. More ventilation = less fungal and bacterial buildup. You may have to mist them more. Don't use a water dish.

Don't feed them for a couple days and clean up all the mess when you see it. Resume feeding when there are no more marks in the containers for a day.

 

[ladygigi]

What color is it? Is it actually red like blood or is it black?

 

[blackwidow89]

looks like blood complete with coagulation..like some of the red seems to have dark red/black too.mostly red though. does look kinda wiped on in a curvy way

and thanks! I'll switch to pantyhose..do I have to be careful of dyes or anything? I'll clean their homes...

how often should I mist? (my house is at about 30% humidity)

and the president of my herp society just had em in these cups with like the bedding in fruit fly cultures....I wanna figure out how to maximize their happiness....any tips or links to enclosure info/climbing stuff/substrate would be cool

 

[blackwidow89]

if I knew how to share a pic, I would so you could see the vomit that really looks like someone bled into my mantid containers

 

[sally]

Could it be mold or mildew? Are the mantids still eating and pooping normally? I guess what I am getting at is if you don't see changes in the mantids behavior maybe it is a growth from humidity. I have had that before but it was on the top of the cloth lids .I washed the container with hot water mixed with a bit of vinegar. It looked like a stain of maroon color. Like Likebugs said work on the ventilation. I hope your mantids are going to be ok. Also in the housing and enclosures forum there are a lot of options for housing mantids.

 

[lancaster1313]

Wiped on in a curvy way is surely vomit. The vomit can come in colors of the food. The insides of drosophila can be red so it adds up.

Mantid hemolyph, (blood) has usually been bluish or green when I have seen it. It dries blackish. If I have suspected bleeding, I will wipe the black stains with a moistened swab. If the swab takes on a green tint, I know that it is blood.

 

[ladygigi]

Here is a link to the discussion area on enclosures and housing for mantids: mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showforum=1 Hopefully this will help you to make their housing more suitable for them. First you need to get it all cleaned up the best you can, then I agree with likebugs, don't feed them for a couple of days and see if it stops. Just mist them so that they don't dehydrate. Also, try his suggestion with a cotton swab and see what results you get. That will help you to determine if it is indeed blood or not.

None of us want our mantids to be sick, anymore than we want to see your mantises sick either.

 

[blackwidow89]

thank you for being patient with my noobness to forums and especially mantids

I've switched to feeding them only every other day and no more vomit (or whatever) has appeared since I made the post...

am thinking about moving them into the modified fish bowl setups and putting eco earth, stems, and maybe an upside down plant for each of them.. gonna look more at the discussions about housing/enclosures..

one is significantly bigger than the other 2 (even though one of the smaller ones is older) so I'm hoping it's a girl though I'm very scared of breeding them even though they're well-fed..

and I looked at their fruit flies and they are drosophila melanogaster

ps. mine are the Chinese ones...have gathered they seem to be most common

 

[twolfe]

Chelsea,

Welcome. I missed your introduction and the fact that you are from Minnesota! I think I've been the only member from MN since I joined in 2010. A few others joined before they bought any mantids but didn't stick with it.

Tammy