Eating own raptorial legs

[Ria]

Hi there,

I'm witnessing my mantis chewing her arms off and it is really disturbing.

She is my very first and only so far, a beautiful flower mantis that has grown to full size.

I'm desperately trying to figure out what caused this and have a lot of questions. I don't think it was hunger, as there is a small locust in there. Any idea what causes such behaviour? I've seen some comments about their environment being dry? Or that it could be parasites? How do I prevent parasites if that is the case? I've also seen some comments about locusts being risky food for them? Why is that? Could it be that she injured both her arms (I find that unlikely personally)? Any suggestions on how to put her out of her misery without suffering?

This is the saddest day. I never expected such a horrible self-mutilation and I feel like I cannot keep more mantis if I don't know why that happened and how to prevent it, as I'm feeling like I might have done something wrong. I've attached a picture of her from a few days ago. She looked perfectly healthy and is so beautiful. I will miss her so much.



Any advice is hugely appreciated. Thank you.

 

[MantisGirl13]

So sorry that this is happening! There's not much of an explanation for this, but I've heard of it happening before and I've had it happen before. 

How much has she eaten? The pic isn't very clear.

- MantisGirl13 

 

[Ria]

So sorry that this is happening! There's not much of an explanation for this, but I've heard of it happening before and I've had it happen before. 

How much has she eaten? The pic isn't very clear.

- MantisGirl13 

Thank you and I'm sorry this has happened to your mantis too. How did your mantis fare after the incident?

This pic was from a couple of days ago when she was healthy. These are from today:



The black shoulder is where she has chewed up to on this arm and the other one she has chewed up to the "eblow" and has now stopped. I also discovered she is missing a foot. I am worried that I did something wrong and she caught some kind of infection. I'm also worried about the black flesh.

On the plus side, she is more responsive and moves about, but very little. She can climb up but slowly. Yesterday she was kinda zombie-like, stopping for hours between the chewing and just staring into the abyss and on occasion twitching in a way I haven't seen her do before. I did try the honey trick to get her to stop obsessing with her arms to no avail.

I will attempt to hand feed her and assess her quality of life over the next few days. She hasn't drank any water either, but I've sprayed some mist over her from a distance to hydrate her a little. Any advice is hugely appreciated, especially on how to feed a disabled mantis. Do I present her live locusts held by tweezers? 

It is so frustrating that there is so little info on this. I've reached out to the Amateur Entomologists' Society and if I have any more info I will update, as I feel there needs to be more info shared on this. It is so traumatising to watch.

Thank you for replying, I'm still new to the mantis world and it feels good to have someone reach out.

Ria x

 

[MantisGirl13]

I think it's probably an infection of some sort. There's not much you can do if it is. For now, just give her honey water and hand feed her. Adjust her cage so she can move around properly and keep us updated.

- MantisGirl13 

 

[Ria]

Thank you for all your advice!

Unfortunately, she only lasted a day. Was not interested in food, water or honey even. At least she didn't suffer further. Bless her little soul  and again thank you for your advice.

Btw I had a reply from the Amateur Entomologists' Society, in case anyone finds their advice helpful:

Thank you for the email. Although I've heard of this happening it's not
happened to any mantids I've kept and I suspect the reasons may be quite
varied, so it's not possible to say what caused it in this case. I know
people have been able to hand feed mantids although without her
raptorial legs this will be difficult. I have an oldish book on keeping
mantids and in it it says:
 
"If no live food is available , the mantis can be induced to eat by
placing raw flesh on its mouth parts. This is a ticklish job with young
mantids but can be achieved with patience by dipping the end of a
cocktail stick into the extruded flesh of a mealworm or other insect and
placing it against the mouth"

 

[MantisGirl13]

I'm sorry for your loss. 

Yes, hand feeding does work very well and I've used it a lot.

- MantisGirl13 

 

[FabioFabiatic]

What humidity do you did she have? Higher humidity and standing water on the side of the enclosure for a prolonged amount of time can increase the chance of infection. 

Also, you talked about a foot missing, do you possibly use metal mesh, because the metal mesh can cut up mantis feet. And that can cause an infection. 

Lastly how often do you clean the enclosure, no offense but the enclosure doesn't look very sanitary, once again increasing the chance of infection. 

 

[Ria]

Hi all,

I had another reply from another entomologist. Hopefully this helps someone at some point

"This is often a sign of stress and that flower mantises in general suffer from a sort of anxiety and that they generally don't handle captivity well. Chewing off her own arms is a manifestation of stress. There's nothing really you can do about it. It's not that the quality of the enclosure isn't good, it's just that this species is difficult to maintain in captivity and sometimes this happens. (Octopuses will chew off their own tentacles when stressed or bored too)."