Ghost molting help

[cloud jaguar]

My wife has 3 ghost nymphs from Mantisplace.com that she absolutely loves. They were a little over 1/2 inch big. Since they arrived 1 had not eaten and 1 ate 1 cricket and another ate 2. The one which did not eat we assumed was just finicky or something but actually it was about to molt.

I found it lying on its back this evening half crawled out of its old skin. I went to tell my wife in the shower about it and she came to help. When we returned it was out of its skin and had climbed onto the fake plant in its deli cup. It seems fine however her leaf crown seems a bit bent backwards.

*Is it normal for them to mold lying on their backs like that? or had she fallen down and just lucked out she was able to get out of her skin?

It is pretty dry here so we mist her every 2 days.

Thanks for your help and info about Ghost molting practices.

~arkanis

 

[Katnapper]

I guess it's possible for them to "mold" if laying on their backs (dead) for a while! :lol:

Seriously....... no, it's not normal for them to molt laying down on their backs. Your scenario of her falling and luckily getting up with only some minor crown deformity is a good outcome! It could have been much worse. I mist mine about every day... but I have a room/space heater with blower fan going 24/7 in the bug room, which makes it much drier than normal. Glad you had a good outcome from this molt!

 

[PhilinYuma]

Arkanis!

I, too, got four ghost nymphs from Rebecca, last October, though they were only L2-3 when I received them. I lost one, two have molted to adulthood uneventfully, and one is subadult. I had no mismolts. I do not have sufficient experience to lay down "rules of engagement" on this species, but can offer the following observations:

I know of no insect that would choose to molt lying on its back or side, and this was undoubtedly why it had trouble completing the molt. My specimens have always molted upside down, and it is possible that if it hadn't eaten since before being shipped, it was a little weak and lost its footing, possibly aided by a frisky cricket if it is able to climb to the lid.

The "proper" amount of humidity is always a matter of luck since most of us have no way of measuring it. I mist mine daily, but the mismolt seems to have been a result of the fall rather than the humidity.

Incidentally, I started mating one of my females with a "stud" male ("Superman!") from Katnapper, this evening. I set up the nuptial chamber with a branch so that they could mate upright or upside down. Sure enough, as I write this, they are going at it upside down! But that is for another thread...

 

[hibiscusmile]

Need more water~ a sprinkle a day ~ keeps dry skin at bay!

 

[robelgado]

I have to say, when I read that you found the mantis moliting on its back.

I thought he/she was a gonner.

Chances are when it fell down it was almost completely out of its skin.

Lucky break!

 

[ismart]

You deffinetly lucked out. Most dont make it out of there old skin if they have fallen during a moult. Hopefully the messed up crown will fix its self in the next moult.

 

[Rick]

You got very very lucky if the mantis is ok. Normally when they fall during molting they come out very deformed and you usually end up having to dispose of them. You must have found it right after it fell. They molt like all others, hanging upside down.