Hi all. Just joined here. I've been keeping mantises for a couple of years now and I think my latest mystery box takes me up to 20 mantises in total.
Anyway, I was overjoyed to find I'd been sent a Hierodula "Papua" in the latest box. But it quickly turned into heartbreak. She (assuming it's a female) had a terrible first moult and her head ended up being attached to the moult. I assume the start of the moult went wrong rather than her falling during the process. It might have been due to low humidity.
Her arms were in a terrible state and were fused together. I managed to separate them with tweezers. She was terribly weak and I thought about euthanising her. But somehow she pulled through.
Her legs are perfect btw.
It's been about a week. Her arms are useless except for waving when she feels threatened. I have been feeding her with fishpaste and also beef mince. She can't hold anything, but if I force food into her face she will eat. She will also drink water. Then it's just a question of trying to position the food on a Lego brick so that she'll keep feeding for a while. Initially I tried giving her a fly but without success - she just can't use her arms.
I don't know if I can post photos yet but I'll post some when I can.
I'm so hoping she'll pull through as she could be an absolutely gigantic adult. She is already twice the size of the other recent arrivals.
My only other mismoult has been a Violin. She had a mangled leg but it repaired during subsequent moults... then fell off when she was an adult lol. Ironically she lived for 17 months and is my longevity record holder.
Anyway, I was overjoyed to find I'd been sent a Hierodula "Papua" in the latest box. But it quickly turned into heartbreak. She (assuming it's a female) had a terrible first moult and her head ended up being attached to the moult. I assume the start of the moult went wrong rather than her falling during the process. It might have been due to low humidity.
Her arms were in a terrible state and were fused together. I managed to separate them with tweezers. She was terribly weak and I thought about euthanising her. But somehow she pulled through.
Her legs are perfect btw.
It's been about a week. Her arms are useless except for waving when she feels threatened. I have been feeding her with fishpaste and also beef mince. She can't hold anything, but if I force food into her face she will eat. She will also drink water. Then it's just a question of trying to position the food on a Lego brick so that she'll keep feeding for a while. Initially I tried giving her a fly but without success - she just can't use her arms.
I don't know if I can post photos yet but I'll post some when I can.
I'm so hoping she'll pull through as she could be an absolutely gigantic adult. She is already twice the size of the other recent arrivals.
My only other mismoult has been a Violin. She had a mangled leg but it repaired during subsequent moults... then fell off when she was an adult lol. Ironically she lived for 17 months and is my longevity record holder.
