idolomantis fell during moult, advice!

[whatislove]

my male idolo just moulted to L6, I caught it around the end and noticed that his antennae were still stuck to the old body so his head was held forward and in the way of his rapiers getting out. he eventually pulled his head back and broke one of his antennae at the tip, got the rest of his body out and then fell.

I panicked and immediately tried to pick him up by his back, he is still like jelly and i currently have a soft grip around the end of his back while hanging him upside down to dry.

Is this the right thing to do? should i try something else?

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Try to get him to hang on his own from a stick with a towel under it.

 

[whatislove]

he is hanging but in a weird position, he will only hang upright using his rapiers, he is only using 1 of his back legs despite the unused 1 looking unharmed

 

[whatislove]

and he just keeps falling now, he wont stop moving, like he keeps trying to stand up right and walk but he isnt anywhere near hardened yet, he refuses to hang

 

[whatislove]

How long does it usually take for them to dry enough to stand? It'd been almost 2 hours since he finished moulting, I hung him for atleast 30 minutes before trying to get him to hang himself which he failed at, i tried letting him grab onto my hand, a stick, a group of twigs, paper towel, mesh and a thick wool sock but he couldnt get a grip by himself.

One of his back legs is broken (strangely it was the one he was using) and one of the leg extensions on 1 of his rapiers is missing/broken off.

He is hanging in there but I dont have high expectations. Is there something I should/could try?

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Sorry to say there's not really much more you can do, other than keep trying to get him to hang on his own as sooner or later that will decide his fate, this is one of the reasons why people pull their hair out with this species, they're so ornamental with all the bulk and contour it makes molting much harder.

I wish you the best of luck(;

 

[whatislove]

Yeah, It's a little disheartening after having him moult perfectly up to this point and my female only moulting the other day perfectly.

It's a shame something as little as his antennae getting stuck on the way out would ultimately cause all of this, Makes me wish it was atleast like a whole leg got stuck in or something lol.

Ill keep trying to get him to hang and ill update when he hangs by himelf or dies

 

[maybon]

Try hanging him diagonally instead of upside down. I did this with a mantis that fell and it came out almost fine (lost the feet on raptorials) which means I must hand feed it and it struggles to climb anything now. But it is doing fine other than that. Best of luck mate.

 

[Precarious]

Once they fall they will continually try to climb so they can hang upside down.

NEVER hold a mantis by pinching any part of the body, no matter how gently you try to do it. When they are soft this is even more dangerous. When a mantis falls during molt scoop it up and hold it directly under something it will be able to grip. If it has any chance of recovery it will grab on and you can pull your hand away.

If you leave them to scramble they often break legs. This is especially true of Idolo.

I'm sorry this happened. I don't think he will make it. Idolo are not good at recovering from traumatic events.

 

[whatislove]

Yeah, I tried to let him grab onto something first but he couldnt grip anything, he literally only just finished moulting when he fell, like his back legs came out and he fell, his legs were like jelly couldn't grip sticks or the top of the enclosure, that's when I made a "lassoo" of sorts to hang him like he would from the old exoskeleton, then I continually tried to get him to grab onto something by himself. He is somewhat hardened now and can use both his raptorials, his head and body look fine but all 4 of his legs seem unusable, 1 is broken but the other 3 appear ok yet they just collapse under any sort of weight and he is unable to hang from them

He is obviously not going to recover, I guess now I just have to decide how to kill him quickly and painlessly because I'd rather not just let him waste away in this state :/

 

[maybon]

My female who fell had all of her legs "weak" for about 2-3 days. After a bit of hardening and food she can now hold herself up. If they look unbroken he may still recover, but I obviously can't see the situation so it's your call.