Chinese mantis abdomen hanging

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JennMantis

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My Chinese mantis just molted this morning - I think this is the 6th molt. He was well fed going into this molt and now he is hanging from the top of his enclosure somewhat "bent" looking at his abdomen... His belly moves up and down as he breathes, but I'm wondering if this is a problem? I will wait until tomorrow to give him food since he just molted, but I am wondering if this is normal?

THanks,

Jen

 
Darn...I didn't want to hear that. I guess I'll just keep an eye on him and see what happens...

 
Don't panic just yet! I have had this happen a few times with Narrow-wing mantids. These are in the same genus as the Chinese. Mine who got this "bent" abdomen all survived to adulthood. And yes, the bend was kept all the way through. So The adults still had the bend.

 
I've had this happen and they lived fine. It looks crazy though.

 
I've had this happen too, with Tenodera sinensis and superstitiosa, i presume its because they go into a molt too well fed and the extra weight of the longer abdomen pulls an unnatural bend into it whilst still soft, some times the bend forms right through a tergite/sternite, most died but a few did survive but never molted it out again :)

 
I'm hoping this is the situation where he was just well fed and couldn't sustain the new weight in the belly, but that he survives! I see wing buds, so I think he has 1 molt left. I'd hate for him to go now! He is my first mantis that I have raised from hatching and I just have a soft spot for him. He is only fed flies and crane flies (whatever I can catch outside). For the ones that did not survive, how long did it take before they were gone? He still seems ok this morning and I don't see the crane fly that I put in there earlier, so I'm assuming he ate it...Thanks for the replies.

 
That's hit all of my remaining chinese, and killed one of my subadults.

One of the guys that has it now has had it before, he survived just fine, but I always turned over thier cages so their abdomen stays where it should.

Does anyone know the fataltily rate of the bent butt syndrome?

 
Yeah, I've been rotating his enclosure when I notice his "bent butt", but he always ends up in the same position... He's eating well and doesn't seem bothered by it, but it bothers me to see it flopping like that! When he is upright (on the ground), it doesn't hang the other way, it's only when he's upside down (his favorite position).

 
I have only had it occur with one of my Chinese but it was a startling sight. He was still young and ended up shedding and pretty much loosing the give in the bend in his next shed. By the time he reached adulthood all that remained was a slight crease and he went on to lead a full healthy adulthood. One nice thing if your mantis makes it through the next shed is if the wings harden they should help to stabilize his abdomen.

My theory was always that he didn't wait long enough after shedding and tried to move while he was still too soft causing his abdomen to give way. Chinese do like to run their laps. :p

 
Surprisingly, I've never had the "bent butt syndrome" occour, and I've kept hundreds of chinese over the years. :p I'd love to see what it looks like, can somebody take a pic of one with the "bent butt syndrome"?

 
JennMantis said:
My Chinese mantis just molted this morning - I think this is the 6th molt. He was well fed going into this molt and now he is hanging from the top of his enclosure somewhat "bent" looking at his abdomen... His belly moves up and down as he breathes, but I'm wondering if this is a problem? I will wait until tomorrow to give him food since he just molted, but I am wondering if this is normal?THanks,

Jen
Click to expand...
This can happen if the mantid got a little trouble molting. Your mantid will be ok but just a little bent. :eek:

 
ABbuggin said:
Surprisingly, I've never had the "bent butt syndrome" occour, and I've kept hundreds of chinese over the years. :p I'd love to see what it looks like, can somebody take a pic of one with the "bent butt syndrome"?
Click to expand...
Here's a pic of one of my chinese with "bent butt syndrome", not the best quality

gallery_2008_48_128073.jpg


 
this happened to my chinese earlier today, he's now L4 after the molt so he should molt out of it i hope

darn chinese mantids don't know when to stop eating it seems, all other mantids stop eating a few days before molt, but i fed him yesturday and today he molts and bends his back, foolish mantid! :p

 
Well, the my mantis shed to adult today - hooray!! His wings are keeping his abdomen from bending and he looks good! I'm glad it wasn't fatal for him. Thanks for posting the pic to describe the bent butt issue!

 
It happened to one of my Chineses. If it happens again, what I did was I put the container on its side so the abdomen would naturally be pointing downward (The mantis is facing up). I left him there for the day and tested him out on the ceiling and it wasn't bent anymore.

-Max

 

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