Hello There! I am new to the whole "Raising Praying Mantises", and I had my first ootheca hatch recently. I kept only two. The first one molted after about 3 weeks, but did not survive the process. The one I still have is just over 6 weeks old, and it has not yet molted. Everywhere on the internet I look, it says that it should happen in the first month. The little guy is only slightly bigger than my other 2 week olds, but he just doesn't want to molt. Is there anything I am doing wrong? Or is he just stubborn? Thanks for any help you can give!
Chinese Mantis Molt?!?
- Thread starter ausar318
- Start date
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Is it possible the little guy did molt and you didn't notice? The first few molts are sometimes difficult to notice. Is the humidity and temperature right? How much are you feeding the little guy?
You have a Chinese mantis right? Sometimes they grow slow but it should have molted at least once by 6 weeks.
You have a Chinese mantis right? Sometimes they grow slow but it should have molted at least once by 6 weeks.
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I have him in his own container, and I keep it nearly perfectly clean. The temperature is a constant 69-73 degrees Fahrenheit, and the humidity is around 60-70%. I feed him the equivalence of between 1 and 3 fruit flies a day, and I give him fresh water droplets every day. Yes, it is a Chinese mantis. I had my female lay the ootheca last fall. The surprising fact to me is that he is still relatively small. He's still smaller than the width of a dime (only a little bigger than my newest nymphs). My other nymph, who died during his shedding process, is well over the size of a dime.
crabbypatty
aka Mad Mantis
Some will be smaller than others and some will molt at other times too. As long as it looks healthy and is acting normal it should be fine. It'll molt when it's ready.
Mantis Man13
Well-known member
yah just let it have some time
