Head stuck in molt- Is it safe to use water to get it off?

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My mantid molted to an adult today. I do not know how long ago. when I came home, I saw that she is in one piece except her wings and head. I've removed skin from legs before, but is it safe to do that on a head? Will she suffocate? I want to help, but I'm afraid she is still too soft. How long should I wait? Or maybe, should I try to scrape it off?

Any suggestions?

Thank you!

 
Where on the head is the molt still attached? Also, is her thorax deformed? Usually when the molt gets stuck at the head, their thorax will bend. Mantises that have deformed thoraxes will not eat and cannot recover from it.

You can gently tug on the molt to see if it'll come off in one piece. Otherwise you'll have to use tweezers to remove it piece by piece. Water is situational, sometimes it can make the molt harder to remove because the molt partially disintegrates.

If her mouth is affected, make sure to check if she can still move her mandibles. If her mouth deformed due to the molt getting stuck, she won't be able to eat and therefore euthanasia may be the kindest thing to do.

Picture is always helpful. Your mantis won't suffocate, they breathe through little openings throughout their bodies. Also in my opinion, don't wait. I've had more luck helping a mantis that's still molting out of it's stuck shed than waiting for the shed to harden and its to the mantis. Of course, you have to be 100% sure your mantis is actually stuck, otherwise intervening will do more harm than good!

Good luck!

 
Her wings came out nicely. (She just wasn't finished molting). So then I waited about an hour to try to fix her. Nothing worked. Her mandibles move, (but may be deformed), her thorax is good. There is a piece stuck in the middle of her head and her antennas are stuck downward. There is also that bright green color that seems like molting blood on her head? She kept moving so I could not cut anything. I did tug and it is stuck on tight. I'm glad she can breathe through her body.

Now I'm worried that she moved around too much too soon after her molt. She looks weak now. Could I have messed her up worse?

(Can't get good small pics.) Sooo frustrating!

Thank you!

 
Its in the middle of her head under her eyes and on the top part of her mouth. It looks like on her nose, but I guess they don't have noses?

 
Deja vu.... my Chinese mantis died from this same catastrophe last year! If anyone knows what to do to fix it please tell me for future reference!

 
The stuck shed shouldn't be too much of a bother from what it sounds like. If needed you could always tug a little harder (I've never seen a fused molt/exoskeleton though I guess it very rarely could happen) or you could trim her antennae if it looks like they are really in the way. Either way the antennae will be set in a downwards position. I would be more worried about the bleeding though. I haven't been able to stop infections from settling into wounds so I'm sorry that I can't offer any suggestions on that part.

 
I lost her. She chewed her antennas off and would only eat honey. The exoskeleton was fused to her head. I believe I made things worse when she just molted and I had tugged on it and she was still soft. The area became black (probably infected) and she couldn't even eat honey anymore. Now I know that they breathe through little holes in their body. I was scared she couldn't breathe. Next time I will know to wait before messing with a new molt. So sad.

 
An insect's head is composed of many small, delicate parts that would be gummed up if they're unable to successfully molt. There was probably nothing you could do for her.

 

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