Dying flower mantis

[Morpheus uk]

My dads Flower mantis is in the early stages of dying, which is impossible seeing as she had only moulted to adult a couple of damn days ago, what the heck is going on?!

We`ve had it since may and it had only had a fly yesterday, its twitching in my dads hand now, its still barely alive yet it has various different points of discolouration.

But for gods sake why does this keep happening?!

This is the reason im getting sick of reading about success`s left right and center all the time :angry:

 

[d17oug18]

i feel u brother, it happens to me all the time. i just cant help you myself =/

 

[idolomantis]

THis also happens to me all the time, that's why i take a break from mantids apart from phodromantis and pseudovates now

 

[Katnapper]

It does just happen, even if you try your best. I suppose that's the challenge of the hobby. But you hear about the successes because no one really wants to brag about their failures, eh? I discovered I had an absolutely stunning pink-winged H. membranacea when it molted to adult a few weeks ago. It was perfectly formed and seemed in perfect health. I was so amazed at its beautiful coloring, and luckily I did take some pics. But about 2 days later, with no warning or indication that anything was wrong, I found it barely hanging on to life on the floor of the enclosure. Bummer!! Why? I don't know. I have thought about it and tried to find a reason... but it is hidden to me. I have no idea. But I can't dwell on the outcome. It happens to all of us... you just don't hear about it as much as the successes. Sorry...

PS.... I'm so behind in posting pictures, I have a backlog. I'm hoping to get some more posted, including this pink-winged one, soon.

 

[Rick]

There is really no way to know what is the cause. Bottom line is these things will happen to all of us eventually. I have had unexplained deaths like that too and I accept it as part of the hobby.

 

[Andredesz]

Hey there,

I totally understand your frustration. This kept happening to me until I switched from small crickets to flies. May I ask what you're feeding your flower mantises with?

-Carol

My dads Flower mantis is in the early stages of dying, which is impossible seeing as she had only moulted to adult a couple of damn days ago, what the heck is going on?!We`ve had it since may and it had only had a fly yesterday, its twitching in my dads hand now, its still barely alive yet it has various different points of discolouration.

But for gods sake why does this keep happening?!

This is the reason im getting sick of reading about success`s left right and center all the time :angry:

 

[Davedood]

How clean was your container? I had some cups (3 weeks) I use 2 inches of golden moss, so they go longer than most, I had some spiny flower's dieing within a few days, changed all containers more often, all are adults now with no problems. I actually have a bunch of Adult Females (4) with no males. So if you need another female, or have any extra males Let me know we can work something out. USA only.

 

[Andredesz]

My dads Flower mantis is in the early stages of dying, which is impossible seeing as she had only moulted to adult a couple of damn days ago, what the heck is going on?!We`ve had it since may and it had only had a fly yesterday, its twitching in my dads hand now, its still barely alive yet it has various different points of discolouration.

But for gods sake why does this keep happening?!

This is the reason im getting sick of reading about success`s left right and center all the time :angry:

Hey, I just realized you're my friend on Flickr. Awesome. I'm glad you came to this board. I remember almost quitting taking care of mantises because they kept dying. But then I switched from store bought crickets to wild flies or flies raised from pupae, and haven't had that problem since.



Carol

 

[Borya]

Morph, has that fly been gutloaded with honey before being fed to the mantis?

 

[chun]

There is really no way to know what is the cause. Bottom line is these things will happen to all of us eventually. I have had unexplained deaths like that too and I accept it as part of the hobby.

nicely put rick. Morph, i really think you should try breeding easier species or focus on one species at a time, my impression is, you're keeping or trying to breed more mantids than you can manage. We've all been through that stage, when i thought i 'knew' what to do, but yet, things still did not work out. My advice is, take a step back and really review and think about what could have went wrong or what you could have done better, because it's obvious that something you're doing is not quite right because you seem to have a bad time breeding mantid successfully. Luck has a part to play in breeding mantids successfully, but knowing how to improve your luck and chances of success is an art and it takes experience. Judging from your history of 'lack of luck' with mantids breeding, i honestly think you should take things one step at a time. Breeding mantids successfully is not as easy as some people think it is, like i've said before, i see it as an art.

 

[Katnapper]

nicely put rick. Morph, i really think you should try breeding easier species or focus on one species at a time, my impression is, you're keeping or trying to breed more mantids than you can manage. We've all been through that stage, when i thought i 'knew' what to do, but yet, things still did not work out. My advice is, take a step back and really review and think about what could have went wrong or what you could have done better, because it's obvious that something you're doing is not quite right because you seem to have a bad time breeding mantid successfully. Luck has a part to play in breeding mantids successfully, but knowing how to improve your luck and chances of success is an art and it takes experience. Judging from your history of 'lack of luck' with mantids breeding, i honestly think you should take things one step at a time. Breeding mantids successfully is not as easy as some people think it is, like i've said before, i see it as an art.

As is your reply, Chun.... very nice.

 

[kamakiri]

People might not like this reponse...but here it goes, my inexperienced opinion:

I've lived in the tropics and have visited the UK...and there are SO MANY differences in light, temperature, and humidity between the two that I think therein lies your problem. I suggest trying to mimic the tropical conditions closer.

For me, even taking a local species from outside to inside (S. limbata) has proven to be a challenge with just that change. And my biggest challenge was with keeping the adult females alive...

And while I understand the comment about mantis keeping being an 'art'...I respectfully disagree. Experience and knowledge of keeping a particular species is most important from what I've learned so far. With a lot of (arguably) hard work, I've had a relatively successful full generation of M. religiosa which is apparently not that easy from the collective experience here. Between diapause and humidity requirements, I'm surprised I could raise adults from hatchlings and breed F2 in 100% captivity.

So again, I'm thinking that there is something(s) you are overlooking or not doing that would change your results. I'm hoping someone with orchid experience can suggest specifically what those things might be. Good luck to you and your father!

 

[nasty bugger]

... run amok

Maybe the fly had insecticide on it, or maybe the mantis was punctured by something, maybe it ate the brown acid or maybe the splotches aren't really there and you ate the brown acid...

Could be a mold or something that has infected the mantis.

I have only bought ootts and raised several at a time, and I will try varying conditions next time, if I have several, and see what agrees with them and what doesn't, and hopefully learn how to treat the one's that get the disagreeable conditions.

I will probably end up with wild adults, and if lucky some ooths that I can be sure of the similararities, so I have a control group that is from the same bloodline/genetics, and can tell the differences then.

Hopefully if I get to Rio Rico for the tarantula convention I can find some ooths and wild native AZ mantis' to start with.