Feeding and/or handling if possibly molting soon?

[Dana]

I'm full of questions. My Carolina girl was possibly uninterested in food yesterday. Today she's moved around some and though her abdomen appears to have some white on it, I have no clue if she's getting ready to molt or not. 

- she's upside down on the lid. Should I attempt to feed her, which would mean I'd disturb her in order to open the lid some?

- should I hold her or avoid it?

- she hasn't moved much since this morning and I thought she was being more still than usual, though she did turn her head and look at me a bit ago

- mainly I just don't know how careful to be. I know when she's molting that I need to not bump or move her, but what about when she's not actually physically obviously molting?  Like maybe she's close to starting but not until tonight (for example), if I move her around today will she be okay?

 

[CosbyArt]

@Dana Another excuse to install a feeding hole/plug. But seriously if she is not physically molting yet, you can carefully pry open a corner to insert food.

As long as the mantid has not started separating from the old exoskeleton in a molt, it can regrab the lid if needed. Some keepers have even moved mantids right as they start molting if the mantid is in a bad location, and the mantid molted successfully in the better location (and likely saved it's life). The main issue is the shaking from moving the lid and mantid around dislodging it's footing grip, as it must remain vertical, and once it is pulling out of the old exoskeleton the attached tarsi/feet are really prone to movement as they are hollow and stuck in the position they were left in.

If she is not eating though, and it is not due to a larger feeder or one she doesn't like, then she may be preparing to molt. Being on the lid however isn't much of a indicator as nearly all of my mantids spend 90% of their lives on the lid when they are in their habitats at least.

I would avoid holding her for now incase she is preparing to molt, if you suspect she is it must be getting close to the time. The white spot however could be dust, water appearing to change the color, her new soft exoskeleton below getting ready for a molt, or even something in her digestive tract (they typically are semi-transparent and has lead to many worried keepers). If you can post or link to a photo it may help to figure it out.