Dying idolo nymph, brown coloring and open mouth?

[Emckenzie24]

So my little idolo past away (cried my eyes out) and I'm wondering if any of her symptoms sound familiar to any of you. She was white, light beige, and purple before her bad molt (I assume that was the cause of her death). After finding her struggling in the corner of the mantis mansion, I noticed her color had become a bland, darker brown and beige and all the white and purple had faded away. I know they become tan later but her sibling nymph at the same age had maintained the white and purple. She looked sickly. She couldn't cling or stand up and she just flailed. She also seemed to have her mouth open at all times. It was a black dot where her mouth is (whereas the others are white until they open it to eat). Her little mouth feelers would move occasionally but she couldn't hold anything in her mouth or eat. The feelers seemed to taste it but she didn't ingest. Also she lost a foot.

Any ideas?

 

[hibiscusmile]

Could be any number of things, pay shipping and I will send you a new baby. poor thing.

 

[agent A]

my theory is her incapacitation made it easy for an infection to overcome her...

 

[brancsikia339]

Sometimes they're just weak. It came out of nowhere with my male too. This species isn't the easiest to keep, either. She could've just gotten sick. I once had the same exact thing happened to one of my L3 or L2 idolos earlier this year

 

[hibiscusmile]

Are you guys using the screen or the tulle fabric for the idolos? they really need stuff to climb and hang onto with. they are like southern belle's very delicate babies.

 

[agent A]

birch sticks and carpet liner r good perches

 

[aNisip]

depending on the instar, they get darker the following molt, and u r sure she is a she? the most likely cause is just a simple, yet terrible, mismolt. When a mantis falls during a mismolt it is crucial that they are put back in their original position asap or the hemolymph will not spread/settle correctly into her new exoskeleton...sorry for your loss, I've been there and dealt with that...

 

[brancsikia339]

I use a net cage and glue sticks to the top.

 

[Emckenzie24]

Wow thank you everybody and thank you hibiscusmile!!! <3

I've been using a mantis mansion with cloth lid that it comes with. Aspen excelsior and bamboo sticks (which I've now removed because of quick mold build up).

Thank you for all the tips, I'm going to reform my methods and pay very close attention.

You guys are amazing.

<3

 

[brancsikia339]

For caging, i use net cages from here: http://www.livemonarch.com/store_enclosures.php

You can also go to any laundry store and get any net kinda thing, only you'd have to seal up the open top

 

[Emckenzie24]

Cool thanks

 

[Emckenzie24]

Where do you get birch sticks?

 

[brancsikia339]

Where do you get birch sticks?

I would think Birch trees

 

[agent A]

Where do you get birch sticks?

i have a sweet birch i can send u some twigs from...

 

[angelofdeathzz]

They're only purple at L2 and L3, there will be no tan, at L4 they turn tan/carmel color with no purple left ever. The black mouth means it was sick and probably not from a mismolt, it was either bad food, infection, bad ventalation or some other cause that did it in, from all the many people that PM about their Idolos I've come to the conclustion that to high on the humidity in early instars is why many people lose them, they only need the much higher RH from L6-L7 and on, they also need to dry out once in a while or a fungus infection that you can't see will make them sick and can lead to the "mystery death" so many have happen, proper ventalation is overlooked alot with people trying to keep the RH so high is what I see time after time.

But hey thats just my 2 cents, what do I know? ^_^

 

[Emckenzie24]

i have a sweet birch i can send u some twigs from...

That'd be great, thanks! We don't get too many birch trees around here. Pm'ing you

 

[agent A]

That'd be great, thanks! We don't get too many birch trees around here. Pm'ing you

lol ok and i can probably just put it in an envelope or flat box

 

[Emckenzie24]

Cool thanks

Wow thanks angelofdeathzz, that's good to know.

Thanks so much for all the info. I'm going to let the others dry a bit now and hope they don't succomb. Also getting new food and ventilating it more. Thanks!

 

[Emckenzie24]

Angelofdeathzz,

In the situation of seeing one with a black mouth, what do you do?

I'm kind of traumatized and haunted by this image and I would very much hope to not see it again. But if I do I'd like to know what to do, so as not to have to put my poor baby to sleep