Free Ranging Accident

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Digger

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For those so inclined, please break out your rosaries for my T. sinensis, Tiffany.

After scarfing down a delicious wild grasshopper yesterday morning, I allowed her to decide whether or not to free range the living room. She did. Big mistake.

She's prego and has a heavy abdomen. This afternoon I found her on Mantis Cliff (they all love hanging out up there). But it was apparent she had fallen down to the marble floor.

Her abdomen has a bad breech as you can see in the photo.

Tried dressing it with diluted hydo peroxide then sealing with honey, but this is a massive rupture. I could kick myself for letting her free range!! Just got her mated 4 days ago and raised her from a newborn.

NO MORE Free ranging !!

injured-tiffany.JPG


 
Dont give up helping her rupture. Crazy glue might be an option but Im not sure because I cant see it up close. Other options anybody? Im sorry this happened, outside time only under supervision from now on maybe?

 
I don't have any advice for the rupture, but I taped some fake vine to a window and let my pregnant girl hang out on it, she stayed there for 2 days straight. I hope Tiffany pulls through :(

 
That's too bad. I've never had any survive with a rupture that bad. Sometimes they live for a while. I hope you have a different outcome. I still let some of mine loose but after a bad accident, I try to ensure that they have a softer place to land.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

 
This might sound silly but literally cut a square of paper towel and stick it onto the wound. I had the exact same thing happen to one of my females and she went on to live 3 more months this way.

 
You can never remove the paper towel afterwards but it works. It'll get a little wet from the hemolymph and then dry and crust like a scab, sealing the injury.

 
If she isn't actively dripping blood I wouldn't touch her. I had one old girl, over a year old, suffer from a rupture, not from a fall but her skin was that thin in between the segments. The cage was covered in blood but the wound had started to set by the time I noticed. I offered water every hour so she could rehydrate herself and she went on to live for over a month before passing from old age. Mantises are tough bugs. Just make sure to keep her in a clean not over humid/stagnant environment.

 
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How is she doing this morning? The paper towel idea sounds interesting. I will try it if this happens to any of my mantids.

 
I have used a liquid skin sparingly on Cayla and she did not have any detrimental side effects and it seemed to help. It is an antiseptic as well. As always clean, dry environment and I have taken the advice from everyone to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Little bit of honey and maybe small meals more frequently. I hope she does ok, I will send positive, healing thoughts her way

 
I have used dragons blood tree resin (I use it on all my own scrapes and cuts as well) with seemingly positive effect on a mantis that had some kind of necrosis going on above his abdomen (right where the wings meet the upper part of the body but on the lower side). It seemed to seal the hole and he did survive for a few more days and actually ate a cricket the day before he passed away.

This stuff also has antibacterial properties. Search 'sangre de grado'-- can be purchased online.

 

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