Ghost mantis not perching from top

[njnolan1]

My ghost mantis is spending most of its time hanging out on the bottom or on perched sideways on the small amount of paper towel that curves upward. I've only had her for about 28 hours. She ate two small fff's and one small handfed cricket. She's an L3. Is this behavior okay? I read mostly that they will spend most their time hanging from the top or perched from the ornaments. I only have a broken chopstick angled sideways in a betta cup with a cheese cloth top.

Thanks for any insight .

 

[agent A]

she could just be a bit stressed

I would give her a drink of water and manually place her on the lid of the tank, then place the lid back on the container

she will eventually stay

 

[ScienceGirl]

Haha! As the owner of a new mantis, it's common to be a bit worried.

Your mantis is probably fine. She'll go wherever she feels inclined to. By feeding and misting her, you're doing all that you can. Also, make sure that her enclosure offers her enough room (3x mantis in height, 2x mantis in length/width). These enclosure measurements allow for a stress-free molt and a healthy mantis.

 

[Jinx]

My Ghosts spend most of their time near the top of their enclosure, but every now and then they'll take a trip down to the bottom and hang off to the side. They usually do this when their nabbing some FFs off the bottom, but sometimes they seem to do it just to do it. I wouldn't be too worried, but I can understand the concern.

 

[Rick]

Hey Nate, I wouldn't worry. Those guys can hang out in odd places. Best not to hover and worry as it will just stress the animal even more.

 

[njnolan1]

Thanks everyone! She actually molted! She made her way up later that night. She molted around 5am this morning before I left for work. So awesome! I gave her some some water out of a spoon about 8 hours later but she doesn't seem too interested. Thanks again everyone!