Girl has injury, will it affet her growth?

[Quake]

I have 2 Giant Asians, and the female came with 3 legs. She is a pretty good runner, and it only affects her balance sometimes, so I think she will come through. But she is still small and hasn't molted as much as the male, even though she eats on the same schedule.

Is the injury affecting her growth, or is she just going to take a bit to grow up?

 

[mrblue]

mantids with missing bits take longer to grow than normal ones.

 

[Quake]

Okay, thanks. I was kind of worried she just wasn't going to make it to adult.

 

[kamakiri]

I think she'll be fine. Since she is not yet an adult, I'd just make sure she has a good surface to grip for her next molt.

 

[Quake]

I have 2 bamboo skewers, a thick stick, and a small plant in her cage. She likes to hang on the small plant, but I am afraid it is too low for her to molt on. Should I take that out and let her use the sticks?

 

[Rick]

I have 2 bamboo skewers, a thick stick, and a small plant in her cage. She likes to hang on the small plant, but I am afraid it is too low for her to molt on. Should I take that out and let her use the sticks?

I would take it all out. Those things can get in the way. Make sure the lid is something she can hang from. If not hot glue some screen to the lid. Oh and mantids missing a leg do not grow slower than others. Males grow faster and mature faster. The leg will grow back if she has enough molts left.

 

[Quake]

She is still very young, she has plenty of time to grow it back if she can. She also can't climb to the lid, which I have tried cloth and screen, but the sides are plastic and she prefers to hang on the sticks. Is there a way I can gravel up the sides so she can get there? I stuck a wad of thick string in the closed lid so she can easily climb up to the lid, but she still climbs the stick all the time and avoids everything else.

 

[The_Asa]

Even with her injury she should be able to climb plastic. Mine always could, even with both backlegs crippled. If you remove everything, I'm pretty sure she will climb to the top of the enclosure. Also, in my experience, injured mantids do grow a bit slower.

 

[collinchang635]

You should take everything out in case it gets in the way. A bad molt is the worst thing you could hope for. Even though she can't get to the lid, she can still molt on the wall. My ant mantid molted on the wall even though the lid was available. The ant mantid is doing great now.

 

[Rick]

I have never seen a mantis nymph that could not climb plastic or glass. Either yours is in bad shape or you are using some strange type of container. Most mantids hang from the lid 90% of the time.

 

[collinchang635]

I have never seen a mantis nymph that could not climb plastic or glass. Either yours is in bad shape or you are using some strange type of container. Most mantids hang from the lid 90% of the time.

Well, the same ant mantid nymph I mentioned before got stuck on a piece of tape. After I 'unstuck' her, she could not climb any smooth surfaces so I put paper towels all along the walls of her cage so that she could climb along her cage and catch mosquitoes. This was one of the two times she molted on the wall.

 

[MantidLord]

I have never seen a mantis nymph that could not climb plastic or glass. Either yours is in bad shape or you are using some strange type of container. Most mantids hang from the lid 90% of the time.

I disagree. My Iris oratoria nymphs (that just hatched last week) can't climb plastic nor the glass jars that they're in. The same for the summer time when I caught wild nymphs. Although I've had chinese nymphs cover the glass of my tank, these Iris oratoria nymphs don't climb the walls to well. That's why all of their molts have been on sticks. And I've raised 10 of them from L1 to adults. As long as there's nothing directly under the stick the mantis is on, they're fine. Which is why as they get older, I give them one large stick to dwell on, and a few smaller sticks to fill in the place. And I haven't had a single mis-molt.

 

[The_Asa]

I disagree. My Iris oratoria nymphs (that just hatched last week) can't climb plastic nor the glass jars that they're in. The same for the summer time when I caught wild nymphs. Although I've had chinese nymphs cover the glass of my tank, these Iris oratoria nymphs don't climb the walls to well. That's why all of their molts have been on sticks. And I've raised 10 of them from L1 to adults. As long as there's nothing directly under the stick the mantis is on, they're fine. Which is why as they get older, I give them one large stick to dwell on, and a few smaller sticks to fill in the place. And I haven't had a single mis-molt.

Are you using the standard 32 ounce containers? I know that some species don't always hang out on the lid, if I give my Wide arms sticks or leaves, they hang out on that more than the lid.

 

[collinchang635]

They spend their whole life on the ground and on sticks? Why can't they climb plastic? Do they keep slipping?

 

[Quake]

The male climbs the walls, but he only goes to the lid sometimes, the female tries to climb the wall, and just can't get a grip. She sometimes climbs to the top of her stick and anchors to the corner of the wall, but that's the most she can get.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Perhaps use a small mesh/net cage for her instead then? I use screen cages exclusively for my mantises since it is so easy for all species to cling to. Only downside is depending where you live you might need to be a little more mindful about keeping the correct humidity.

 

[MantidLord]

Are you using the standard 32 ounce containers? I know that some species don't always hang out on the lid, if I give my Wide arms sticks or leaves, they hang out on that more than the lid.

I have one 32 ounce plastic container, 15 mason glass jars, and 2 large "Redvine" (Licorice) plastic tubs. They can't climb any ot them. They'll try to, but either slip or never even get a grip. The only one that they have some success is the 32 ounce container, but even then they usually slip. But mine allways choose the sides and lid more than the sticks (That's usually where I find them on walls outside), but they can't get a grip. I thought it was normal before I read what Rick said. And they all have all their limbs and "feet".

 

[The_Asa]

That is strange. Perhaps it is just the species.

 

[MantidLord]

That is strange. Perhaps it is just the species.

Possibly, I would think that they would be great wall climbers due to the fact that they live on weeds and walls. They are clumsy on sticks as well. Who knows. As long as they grow without any molting problems, I'm happy. It's also pretty easier counting/seperating the nymphs (just take away the sticks and they're stuck on the ground).