hey guys... i've been a ghost of these forums for a little bit now. couple months ago went to a garden center and bought 2 chinese mantis ooths. 1 for gf and 1 for myself.
this was both of our first experiences in trying to raise a mantis, although she has other bugs, scorpions etc.
all of but one of my mantis died. and the one that survived molted improperly with his wings. they were sticking up in awkward positions. anyways i put a cricket in the cage with him, and the mantis grabbed the cricket and ended up getting the tip of his foreclaw bitten off. the next day i caught my mantis chewing through his own arm!! 2 days later he died.
my girlfriends mantis were still on the 2-3rd molts, i suppose i fed mine quite a bit more.
anyways she gave me one that had a bend in the top of its abdomen (sharp 90 degree bend when upside down) he ended up molting and fixing this on his own.
on the molt that he fixed his bend, i found him on the floor of my cage (which i should have padded, but didn't think to) which meant he fell. he was alive and was free of the exoskeleton minus his left 2 legs not the front. i ended up freeing his legs but i probably mangled them badly in doing so.
hes been alive and eating well, chasing whatever i give him crippled as he is... his front leg i'm sure will be fixed in his LAST molt which he will be having soon as his wing buds were the size of my previous mantis' before he was an adult. his back leg has several 90 degree bends in them and its completely nonfunctional, but he can still move it.
anyways, my gut says his back leg is too crooked to fix itself, but he might be fine minus that one leg. hes been at this stage molt for a few weeks now, and i can tell hes about to molt again. i completely padded the floor of his container with toilet paper, along with the sides and the top of the container. he couldn't grip to the sides of the container as they are smooth plastic.
i'm pretty sure he can't support himself with his praying arms folded like they are supposed to be while molting with only his back 2 legs. so is it possible for him to molt off the side of the cage? should i just make the ceiling of the cage inaccessible to him so he doesnt have the opportunity to fall?
I would really enjoy to see this mantis to adult-hood. hes quite pretty
having very light blue-green//turquoise eyes. very light pale brown body overall with thin red stripes going all over his legs and connectant to the abdomen. along with nice yellow patches on his breasts.
anyways... i diverge.. any thoughts on keeping him alive?? basically hes fully functional minus his left side legs
this was both of our first experiences in trying to raise a mantis, although she has other bugs, scorpions etc.
all of but one of my mantis died. and the one that survived molted improperly with his wings. they were sticking up in awkward positions. anyways i put a cricket in the cage with him, and the mantis grabbed the cricket and ended up getting the tip of his foreclaw bitten off. the next day i caught my mantis chewing through his own arm!! 2 days later he died.
my girlfriends mantis were still on the 2-3rd molts, i suppose i fed mine quite a bit more.
anyways she gave me one that had a bend in the top of its abdomen (sharp 90 degree bend when upside down) he ended up molting and fixing this on his own.
on the molt that he fixed his bend, i found him on the floor of my cage (which i should have padded, but didn't think to) which meant he fell. he was alive and was free of the exoskeleton minus his left 2 legs not the front. i ended up freeing his legs but i probably mangled them badly in doing so.
hes been alive and eating well, chasing whatever i give him crippled as he is... his front leg i'm sure will be fixed in his LAST molt which he will be having soon as his wing buds were the size of my previous mantis' before he was an adult. his back leg has several 90 degree bends in them and its completely nonfunctional, but he can still move it.
anyways, my gut says his back leg is too crooked to fix itself, but he might be fine minus that one leg. hes been at this stage molt for a few weeks now, and i can tell hes about to molt again. i completely padded the floor of his container with toilet paper, along with the sides and the top of the container. he couldn't grip to the sides of the container as they are smooth plastic.
i'm pretty sure he can't support himself with his praying arms folded like they are supposed to be while molting with only his back 2 legs. so is it possible for him to molt off the side of the cage? should i just make the ceiling of the cage inaccessible to him so he doesnt have the opportunity to fall?
I would really enjoy to see this mantis to adult-hood. hes quite pretty
having very light blue-green//turquoise eyes. very light pale brown body overall with thin red stripes going all over his legs and connectant to the abdomen. along with nice yellow patches on his breasts.
anyways... i diverge.. any thoughts on keeping him alive?? basically hes fully functional minus his left side legs
