Help ... late to molt?

[wrenae]

Concerned about "Alex." (tenodera sinensis) He (?) molted 18 days ago into (I think) L5. He did great after that molt... active... eating. He stopped eating and became less active several days ago (5 days ago)... so I figured... he must be going into a molt. The day before yesterday, he still hadn't molted, so I dropped a little cricket in. He was "interested," following the cricket with his eyes and doing the sway thing. He hadn't eaten it (or moved from the branch he was on) a few hours later, so I took the cricket out. When I tilted the enclosure to let the cricket out, Alex fell off the branch (an inch and a half maybe) He didn't stay on the bottom long... and looked physically fine. He crawled to the top of the container and has been hanging from the netting on the "roof" since then. I spray the container through the netting, and avoid spraying the mantid directly. NOW I am wondering if I should put more food in, although that would mean disturbing him, as he is hanging from the lid. I don't want to starve him... yet I don't want to disturb his position if he is prepping to molt. He usually climbs onto my hand (or tries to) when I open the lid... but the past few days he has stopped doing this... another reason I thought the molt was impending.

What should I do.... feed or leave alone?

Am I correct to continue misting?

Should I be misting him directly, or avoiding him?

Is this typical?

Is he overdue to molt? Is that a problem?

Thanks for any insight you might provide!

 

[agent A]

i ( :tt2: ) will be fine lol

just give your mantis as much food as it will eat and it will molt when it's good and ready

as they get older they take longer

 

[MantidLord]

As long as his abdomen isn't ridiculously thin, then there's no need to add food. He could just be digesting but still somewhat interested (the more content a mantis is, the more "sit and wait" they become). So just wait and see if he molts or if he thins a bit, then add a cricket and see if he takes it. Best of luck!

 

[wrenae]

Thanks.... I dropped 2 little crickets in... he ate one voraciously... and now he is hanging upside down, grooming himself, ignoring the other cricket. All is well so far!

Thanks for the fast responses!