Is this molting normal?

[PlayingMantis]

My L4 ghost just molted. I was stupid and I didn't know she was molting so I took off the lid of the container (with her on it). Only after I did that, I realized she was in the middle of molting! I put her back, trying to disturb her as little as possible. Now she is completely out of her skin, and is now hanging upside down and not moving.

The weird thing is that I noticed none of her feet are attached to anything, they're just hanging in midair. She is basically hanging upside down from her butt ...well, her pointy rear end which seems to be "stuck" to the skin. This is the first molt I observed so I'm not sure if this is normal.

Ok she tried to move her legs...legs flailing around in air. Her butt is still stuck to the skin.

Edit: never mind, she is fine. She has now grasped her old exoskeleton and is chilling. Oh my goodness, she is big! I mean, her little bro is the same age and he's now TINY by comparison.

 

[sally]

Glad it went okay

 

[PlayingMantis]

Thanks I was so scared because I heard of really bad horror stories about molting. I just wasn't expecting her to molt because I thought a mantis won't eat a few days before molting, and she ate so much. Plus hanging upside down from her butt sounds pretty risky...

My other male L4 ghost is not eating today. He is the same age as the female that just molted. Do male ghosts molt on the same schedule as females? I hope he isn't sick or anything. He does seem active and passed 11 poops in the last day and half.

 

[wuwu]

Uh oh. There might be an issue. He should've had 15 poops by now.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Should I take him to the ER? The local vet? I think a vet of exotic pets might know something about mantids, or is my ghost too exotic?

 

[Rick]

Once the legs are free from the exoskeleton the mantis hangs by the end of the abdomen for awhile. That is normal.

 

[Ranitomeya]

Invertebrates have to shed the lining of their digestive system as well as the outer portion of the exoskeleton.

 

[agent A]

Invertebrates have to shed the lining of their digestive system as well as the outer portion of the exoskeleton.

this is evident in saturniid larvae as a whitish clump of matter right on the front of the fresh shedmost species then eat the shed so its typically overlooked

 

[PlayingMantis]

Wow that is crazy! Molting sounds like such a complicated and literally gut-wrenching process.

Btw, My male mantis molted last night, 4 days after the female. And he didn't eat at all for the past 5-6 days. I think he must be very hungry now, his abdomen is completely flat.

 

[agent A]

Wow that is crazy! Molting sounds like such a complicated and literally gut-wrenching process.

Btw, My male mantis molted last night, 4 days after the female. And he didn't eat at all for the past 5-6 days. I think he must be very hungry now, his abdomen is completely flat.

actually u would be surpised at how long ghost males can go without foodi had an L3 ghost male go 23 days without food before eating again and being fine

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Yep, that is perfectly normal. Hanging from the tip of their rear also gives the delicate portions of their feet some time to harden before they put pressure on the tips and try to cling from a surface.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I try not to watch, makes me wanna help.

 

[MandellaMandy123]

I try not to watch, makes me wanna help.

:lol: me too! It must be so hard to molt.