Incomplete molt help?

[rudebega]

One of my t. sinensis molted last night--sort of. She got MOSTLY free, but her two back legs seem to be stuck in the molt (after the first joint) and this afternoon she is dragging the old skin around with it through her enclosure. Unsurprisingly, this is stressing us both out--is there anything I can do to help free her? I sprayed a little extra water into the enclosure in the hopes that might free things up, but it's pretty warm and humid here already (I'm not using my AC yet so the temp in the house is ~85 and the humidity is 60%).

(My other remaining t. sinensis molted just fine yesterday, and half-molt started hers just an hour or two later, so I think she just picked a bad molting spot.)

 

[hibiscusmile]

There is nothing u can do now. if it does not come off in a day or so, try to cut it off but careful  u dont get her new legs, hopefully

she can molt again, but really unlikely if her back legs are not able to hang on. sorry

 

[rudebega]

Yeah, I'm worried. She does seem to be getting around okay so far, and her appetite is good (fed her a cricket with some tongs and her raptors are working fine) but I'll just have to wait and see if it resolves itself. Her legs seem to have hardened in a pretty useless position, sadly. 

 

[rudebega]

Some photos so y'all have a better idea of what I'm dealing with. This was her right when i noticed she had mismolted. I put her on a damp paper towel and fed her while i tried to fiddle with her legs. Got a lot of the excess skin off but couldn't quite manage all of it. 

Here she is after I managed to get all the old skin off (more wet paper towel time): 

It looks bad, but she's climbing great and she's eating like usual--nothing else but her back legs seem to be affected. I know those are vital but her new molt is less than 24 hours old. Is there a chance they could resolve themselves? Or am I prolonging the inevitable? 

 

[rudebega]

She's also able to move her back legs down to the toes, although they are splayed out weirdly. She's even been grooming off the skin i missed: 

 

[CosbyArt]

She doesn't look that bad and should hobble around fine within a few days. Definitely nothing life-threatening or anything to worry about, I've had some much worse off and they fixed the issues with another molt. As her raptorial forearms/front legs are unaffected she should be fine and be back to normal in her next molt.

 

[rudebega]

OUUF that is a relief. She's my favorite feisty one and I want her to liiiive. (I have no idea if it's a she, btw, feel free to tell me I'm totally wrong; I only have practice at sexing adult mantids.) 

 

[CosbyArt]

OUUF that is a relief. She's my favorite feisty one and I want her to liiiive. (I have no idea if it's a she, btw, feel free to tell me I'm totally wrong; I only have practice at sexing adult mantids.) 

You did good removing the old exuviae and she should handle the rest. Ah mantid sexing still isn't a strong suit for me. I don't bother trying until they are adults as then it matters for breeding (otherwise what does it really matter anyway and why I don't bother ).

 

[rudebega]

Update: She's still doing well! Even hunting on her own. I was feeding her with tongs but accidentally dropped a cricket into her enclosure and she was able to catch it herself before I could pick it back up! So I dropped another and BOOM she caught it, too. Her back legs still flail around a lot, but she can climb with them, so I have hope that she'll be able to molt successfully and that might straighten them out. 

 

[hibiscusmile]

She most likely will not be able to molt with the back legs like they are, I hope I am wrong.

 

[Digger]

Very competent surgery rude.  She'll be fine since her raptors are functional and her front legs seem undamaged.  I had two Tenodera sinensis who mismolted back legs and both remolted without incident.  But Rebecca's point is well-taken: you never know until the molt.  When she shows signs of the next molt, keep her in a fairly humid environment.

 

[Descartes]

You did a good job. This happens a lot with this species. As others have said, frequently they will be OK. I, too have seen worse recover. 

Good luck, and good job taking care of her! 

 

[rudebega]

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE! She (he?) molted to subadult today.

LOOK AT THOSE BEAUTIFUL, STRAIGHT BACK LEGS. LOOK AT THEM. 

Her skin was pale so I knew she would molt soon. I made sure her enclosure was extra moist, and I fairly covered the interior in mesh so she'd have lots of grip spots. It took her a little longer than normal, but lo, she's perfect again! Thank-you to everyone who encouraged me not to give up on her. :3

 

[Mantidaddicted]

I'm glad to see everything worked out with your little guy or girl lol

 

[ashleenicole]

Glad everything went well!

 

[CosbyArt]

Looks female, the best I can make out counting the abdomen sections underneath (see here). Glad she molted without issue and it looks like she did a full recover too, congrats.

 

[Descartes]

Awesome!

 

[Sticky]

Yay!

 

[LAME]

Looks female...

She's a pretty one  

Great job on the surgery btw!