Dead forearm

[Sparky]

My male chinese just turned adult, yaya congrats for me, BUT... 4 days after its molt I saw him hanging by only 1 left claw, now he i unable to move his claw.

He is ok health-wise, but his left claw always gets in his way, like when he's walking he leaves it on the floor dragging it and sometimes the claw will get stuck on things. It also makes him tilt to the left when he walks and when he strikes at things it also makes him tilt to the left.

What do you guys think? Should I cut it off? I don't want to hurt the poor guy.

 

[Rick]

If it is clearly in the way and is a hindrance I would snip it off. Use something sharp and sterile. It will hurt him but it only seems to bother them a short time.

 

[asdsdf]

Yes, I would snip it off. I'm sure(kinda) he can continue to hunt with one arm. When you notice after cutting something off, they don't even seem to notice the pain, if it makes you feel any better. ^_^

Edit: That better? I meant the first( <_< ) because some people might argue that they do feel pain, and it's cruel or something, so I wasn't sure if I was correct or somehting. If I thought you asked a ridiculous question, I would have put this:

 

[Sparky]

Yes, I would snip it off. I'm sure(kinda) he can continue to hunt with one arm. When you notice after cutting something off, they don't even seem to notice the pain, if it makes you feel any better. <_<

Thanks, but the face wasn't necessary, makes me feel like I just asked a ridiculous question.

I'll try to snip it tomorrow then. Thanks to Rick also, kinda makes me feel better about snipping.

Anybody else have an opinion about this? It would make me feel much better.

 

[Mantis Keeper]

I'd snip the limb too. It would be beneficial to the mantis overall because it would get rid of the imbalance and make capturing prey easier, not to mention all the moving problems you mentioned due to the hanging limb.

 

[Sparky]

Well.... I stayed in school for 3 extra hours studying and getting work done. I was looking forward to nothing more, but to see my chinese mantis.

When I finally made it home I checked his cage to see how he was doing. It was lying on the ground, I thought it was just playing dead, but its eyes are pure black and its scary to look at.

*sigh* Yet another loss for Sparky...I have no more mantids

 

[Mantis_Whisper]

Well.... I stayed in school for 3 extra hours studying and getting work done. I was looking forward to nothing more, but to see my chinese mantis. When I finally made it home I checked his cage to see how he was doing. It was lying on the ground, I thought it was just playing dead, but its eyes are pure black and its scary to look at.

*sigh* Yet another loss for Sparky...I have no more mantids

Oh man that sucks, I'm sorry.

I'm raising chinese and if you wanted one of the nymphs I could send you one free of charge. Well when they hatch. :mellow:

PM me if your interested.