i don't know what happened...

[MANTi]

she laid a weird looking ooth, or, that's how chinese ooths are supposed to look..

she even has some of it on the tip of her abdomen (where she handles business & lays the ooth)..

here's the ooth...

here's the tip of her abdomen... ( sorry, camera died after taking pictures of the ooth )

will she be alright? should i try & get that stuff off for her?? if so, HOW???

thanks, in advance..

 

[patrickfraser]

The ooth looks on the smaller side. Was she disturbed while laying? Give a couple of good misting and she should be able to work the rest off. If not, you might try to help. If it is stuck there, it may hinder pooping and cause impaction.

 

[MandellaMandy123]

My female had it in the exact same place and she actually grabbed her abdomen and cleaned it off herself. But try to remove it

 

[Sticky]

I use a Q tip dipped in warm water and gently rub the stuff off. It might take some time and effrt but keep trying. Or she will have eaten the stuff off by the time you read this. Good luck.

 

[Rick]

The ooth material on the abdomen is common. That's how I know when wild mantids have laid an ooth. You can pull it off or leave it to fall off on its own. The ooth is small is all. Is she old? If that's not it maybe her diet wasn't sufficient.

 

[angelofdeathzz]

I would guess she just didn't eat enough prior to laying, she looks just a little bit thin even for just laying a ooth, it should still have plenty of babies in it, just not 100-150+ is all.

 

[MANTi]

thanks for the responses!

she's good, she's eating & "pooping" alright. i misted her & it's slowly coming off.

she was distracted laying the ooth, my sister told me she opened the container as she was finishing up the ooth.

she knows nothing of mantids & she told me she caught a moth to feed her. lol.

anyway, thanks for the help guys!

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I'm glad everything turned out good. It is a touch on the small side but still perfectly normal for a Chinese mantis. My rule of thumb with ootheca left on the rear is to leave it be and let nature take its course unless I see that she is not able to past waste over the next couple of days.