Curly Legs

[tikki]

So all of my mantises just stopped molting at L4, except for one. Weird, right? Well I've accepted that they'll just be small forever, but Murdoc has continued to molt and is now a beautiful subadult. It took me a while to notice his wing buds but they're definitely there and it is soooo cool.

Only problem is, his back legs dried funny. They're almost U-shaped they're so curled. I'm worried that when he molts to adult he won't be able to grip the top of his cage properly.

Is there anything I can do? I want so badly to have a nice adult mantis.

 

[Seattle79]

I don't know if there is much you can do. Just make sure he has a great surface to molt from - sometimes paper towels that line the lid can help. If he is successful molting into an adult then his legs should be good as normal.

I wish you the best,

-Kevin

 

[tikki]

I have a wide strip of paper towel on the side of the enclosure that he likes to climb up and down, but I don't think it would help at the top because his legs are so curled that his feet won't even touch whatever surface he's on.

I'll attach the best picture I could get showing his poor little legs. He really has to try hard to get his tarsae to stick to the paper towel and when I jarred the enclosure one came loose and he was holding it up like it hurt :C

 

[LauraMG]

Every time I've had one like that, they took a tumble during their molt. This is a small defect that will hopefully correct itself with the final molt, so long as it can use them to molt correctly! Usually mine have all become accustomed to having such defects and do just fine after a week or so. It's tough be a mantis sometimes....

As Seattle79 said though, make sure and have something on the top for him to hang onto.

 

[tikki]

Alright, thank you for your input! He had a wonky leg the last molt too and it seemed to sort of straighten out a bit after a while. He only molted yesterday afternoon after all so maybe it'll get better with time.

Just one more question: could this be from an enclosure that's too small? He's almost the same length as the width of his jar now and I will be moving him to a new, much bigger tank soon, but could the cramped space have caused him to get all bent?

 

[LauraMG]

Just one more question: could this be from an enclosure that's too small? He's almost the same length as the width of his jar now and I will be moving him to a new, much bigger tank soon, but could the cramped space have caused him to get all bent?

Yes! They need an enclosure 3 times their length in height for proper molting. You'll need to get him something much larger for his final molt. It's a pretty common mistake when you're new to mantids, so don't feel bad.

 

[lancaster1313]

I have had a Chinese mantid that molted just like in the photo, I helped her to hang upside down and the legs were much improved after a couple of days. She molted to subadult with normal legs, and is now a perfect adult. Try to encourage upside down hanging if you can. In my case I think that the mantid's weight helped straighten her legs significantly. Do try to put something grippable at the top of the enclosure.