jojolobro
Active member
Hello, my name is Jason and I just recently got into this wonderful and fascinating hobby on the recommendation of a friend. I've had family pets but I've never been the sole caretaker of one so this was a pretty nerve-rattling experience for me. I ordered a basic mantis starter kit from Moonlight Mantids, a breeder somewhat close to me, which was a plus. Out of the three "starter" mantids, I chose a Parasphendale Agrionina, who was in their 2nd instar. Unfortunately he must have messed up his first molt because when he arrived it appeared he had his back legs stuck in his old molt. In a panic I scoured the web looking for answers as to if he would survive. If I was an experienced mantis owner with many mantids I suppose this wouldn't be a big deal, but considering this was my very first mantis, and personal pet in general. I found some pretty bleak answers so I became even more worried. I decided to let nature take it's course and see if he could ride it out. He only had his front legs and raptorial legs working, so getting around was pretty difficult. He fell many times from the top of his enclosure. He however, was able to eat since fruit flies aren't exactly astute or agile, so I had hope he would survive. Pictured is when I first got him. You can clearly see his back legs dangling uselessly and having to use his front legs for support. He knew something was wrong with him, as he incessantly groomed his legs. About 2 days after I got him I noticed one was shorter, it appeared he chewed his molt off! The leg was still malformed, but it was still progress. I found the bit of leg sticking to the wall of the enclosure. Him taking the useless bit off got me thinking "What if I could help him by taking the excess bit off of his other leg?". I got him on my hand and simply put my finger on the end of the useless bit, prompting him to pull. It came off harmlessly, or so I thought. At this point I've had him for maybe six days, and he had stopped eating. A bit earlier on I din't know really how to get the fruit flies out of their culture, I know now though. The first time I tried I overpopulated his enclosure with maybe 20 or 25 fruit flies, another failure/bad decision. He had stopped eating, had bad legs, was about to molt, and was surrounded by fruit flies probably inducing stress. On the seventh day I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, once I got back in my bedroom I decided to check on him. I instantly noticed something was possibly wrong. He was much lighter in color and was gleaming while hanging off of the plastic bit pictured in the first images. I have heard that they are supposed to hang from their previous exoskeleton, so I was very confused since I couldn't see it. While looking around the enclosure I also looked at him, he appeared healthy with proper back legs. I unfortunately don't have a picture of the molt, but I found it on the bottom of the enclosure, under where he was. Relieved and excited that he had molted safe and sound, this unfortunately wound me up to where I couldn't sleep. Strangely only a couple of hours after molting he ate a fruit fly with grace, as opposed to stumbling towards them like before. The next morning I checked him once again, examining him more closely. Looking at his legs I noticed one was stubbier and was lacking tarsi. I then realized that this was the leg I tampered with. I have learned a somewhat valuable lesson, not to interfere with their business. If they can fix it themselves, they will. Now at his 3rd instar, he is eating regularly and I have gotten a technique on how to put a more reasonable amount of fruit flies into his enclosure. He uses all four legs (even the one I messed up, he adapted) and appears healthy. I am excited for his future. Wanting to learn as much about mantids as possible, I stumbled across this website. And here I am. I hope to become a regular member of this community and acquaint myself with this community. More pictures below show his current state, with his pretty dark colors and red eyes. I also made a webm of him capturing and consuming a fruit fly.
View attachment mantisbro2.webm
View attachment mantisbro2.webm
