GreenOasis
Well-known member
I meant to post this ages ago, but have been so busy, I haven't even been on here!
I would imagine that most newbies have, at one point or another, wondered what us "big breeders" do with mismolts?
Do we "pop em in the freezer"? Do we feed them off to something? Do we try to salvage them in the hopes of future breeding?
Well, the answer, at least for me, is a mixture of the above. I have done this long enough to be able to tell, at a glance, what to do with a mismolted mantis. I can't really advise (at least not easily) another on what do to with theirs, as it takes some experience & an "eye" for the problem. It also helps to see how the mismolted mantis is moving. Can they use their raptors? Can they walk, grip surfaces normally? Can they eat properly?
I generally don't put severe mismolts right into the freezer. I watch them for a day or two to see exactly how much they are capable of. If they are large & "unsalvageable", I usually feed them to a dragon. It sounds cruel, but it is the natural order of things, and death in the freezer for a large mantis is far slower than the quick chomp of a hungry dragon. I only put severe mismolts of small nymphs into the freezer, where they will quickly freeze (on an ice block) & be dead in less than a minute. (Large mantids, in the freezer, can take up to an hour to freeze.)
Let's say, though, that that is not an option for you, and you still want to try to save them (and yes, we do try with ones that may be salvageable!)
Below you see a female H. membranacea subadult (or possibly H. majuscula...it's been a long time since I took the pics!). The mismolt affected her limbs mostly, but she does have a bit of curve to her thorax as well. She cannot use her raptors, and at least one leg is not facing the right way. She is weak, and cannot stand on her own.
The first thing I do is to mist them, then offer a bit of honey on a toothpick. This is partly to get them hydrated & some calories in them, but also partly to see if the mismolt affects the mandibles. If the mandibles are affected, you can safely say that your mantis is "done for". It will not be able to eat, the food will not pass into the stomach & it will slowly starve to death, no matter what you do.
If the honey is well accepted, and the mandibles seem to be in working order, then try offering protein. What you see below on the "white foam" is a bit of ground turkey. I like turkey or chicken because it is leaner than red meat & more closely resembles the "meat" of an insect prey. Offer from a toothpick first, so that they can get a "taste" & then place it directly in front of them. They should go right down to start chewing on it. If this is accepted okay, then you know that, your mantis will probably be fine. If it is not accepted, try the honey again. They may just be too weak & need more energy before they can eat protein.
If all goes well with the food, then you are in for a long road until the next molt (assuming you have one!), you'll have to offer honey or food every few hours & mist at least twice a day. Since mismolts have less strength, they can't go for long periods without food because they can't eat enough in one sitting.
After a day or two of this type of care, this mantis pictured was able to stand on her own and even get around in her "modified" enclosure (an 80 deli cup with fabric screening glued all over,) but because she couldn't use her raptors, we had to continue to hand feed her. She was able to move on to cut pieces of mealworms & then superworms, with heads removed, and roaches, split open. Her strength & endurance improved as she progressively ate bigger meals & she molted out fine the next time around to adulthood. She wasn't a perfect adult (her raptors listed to the side), but she was able to catch & eat her own prey again and even mate to produce another generation. (I actually hadn't intended to breed her, because I had other females who were fine & I thought she may still be weak from her ordeal), but I didn't notice the slight offness of her raptors until AFTER I'd put a male near her & he jumped on & connected before I had a chance to stop them.
So, in answer to the question, what do we do with our mismolts?
"We try to save them, of course!"
I would imagine that most newbies have, at one point or another, wondered what us "big breeders" do with mismolts?
Do we "pop em in the freezer"? Do we feed them off to something? Do we try to salvage them in the hopes of future breeding?
Well, the answer, at least for me, is a mixture of the above. I have done this long enough to be able to tell, at a glance, what to do with a mismolted mantis. I can't really advise (at least not easily) another on what do to with theirs, as it takes some experience & an "eye" for the problem. It also helps to see how the mismolted mantis is moving. Can they use their raptors? Can they walk, grip surfaces normally? Can they eat properly?
I generally don't put severe mismolts right into the freezer. I watch them for a day or two to see exactly how much they are capable of. If they are large & "unsalvageable", I usually feed them to a dragon. It sounds cruel, but it is the natural order of things, and death in the freezer for a large mantis is far slower than the quick chomp of a hungry dragon. I only put severe mismolts of small nymphs into the freezer, where they will quickly freeze (on an ice block) & be dead in less than a minute. (Large mantids, in the freezer, can take up to an hour to freeze.)
Let's say, though, that that is not an option for you, and you still want to try to save them (and yes, we do try with ones that may be salvageable!)
Below you see a female H. membranacea subadult (or possibly H. majuscula...it's been a long time since I took the pics!). The mismolt affected her limbs mostly, but she does have a bit of curve to her thorax as well. She cannot use her raptors, and at least one leg is not facing the right way. She is weak, and cannot stand on her own.
The first thing I do is to mist them, then offer a bit of honey on a toothpick. This is partly to get them hydrated & some calories in them, but also partly to see if the mismolt affects the mandibles. If the mandibles are affected, you can safely say that your mantis is "done for". It will not be able to eat, the food will not pass into the stomach & it will slowly starve to death, no matter what you do.
If the honey is well accepted, and the mandibles seem to be in working order, then try offering protein. What you see below on the "white foam" is a bit of ground turkey. I like turkey or chicken because it is leaner than red meat & more closely resembles the "meat" of an insect prey. Offer from a toothpick first, so that they can get a "taste" & then place it directly in front of them. They should go right down to start chewing on it. If this is accepted okay, then you know that, your mantis will probably be fine. If it is not accepted, try the honey again. They may just be too weak & need more energy before they can eat protein.
If all goes well with the food, then you are in for a long road until the next molt (assuming you have one!), you'll have to offer honey or food every few hours & mist at least twice a day. Since mismolts have less strength, they can't go for long periods without food because they can't eat enough in one sitting.
After a day or two of this type of care, this mantis pictured was able to stand on her own and even get around in her "modified" enclosure (an 80 deli cup with fabric screening glued all over,) but because she couldn't use her raptors, we had to continue to hand feed her. She was able to move on to cut pieces of mealworms & then superworms, with heads removed, and roaches, split open. Her strength & endurance improved as she progressively ate bigger meals & she molted out fine the next time around to adulthood. She wasn't a perfect adult (her raptors listed to the side), but she was able to catch & eat her own prey again and even mate to produce another generation. (I actually hadn't intended to breed her, because I had other females who were fine & I thought she may still be weak from her ordeal), but I didn't notice the slight offness of her raptors until AFTER I'd put a male near her & he jumped on & connected before I had a chance to stop them.
So, in answer to the question, what do we do with our mismolts?
"We try to save them, of course!"
