Is this normal??

[loislane]

Help please!  We got our first mantis, a European, on Friday.  She ate 2 crickets and a locust in the first 2 days then then since Sunday she's just been hanging upside down from the roof of her enclosure.  She does move around, but only on the roof.  I've tried offering her a bug in tweezers but she doesn't seem to like that but when you're only an inch long those tweezers must look pretty big!!  I've put crickets in her enclosure but she doesn't come down to hunt. I did think at first she might be getting ready to molt, but she's been there for nearly 4 days now, which seemed a bit long. Should I be worried?  

 

[Rick]

Yes normal. Most captive mantids hang from the lid. Mantids are generally sit-and-wait predators so they don't always move much. 

 

[loislane]

Thanks!  I'll try to be more patient and wait for her to either molt or be ready to hunt for something to eat.  The cricket I put in there a little earlier just climbed up the stick and got reasonably close to her, she moved to watch it but made no attempt to get it, so I'm thinking she's  definitely full, waiting to molt, or both.

 

[Synapze]

It would probably be a good idea to remove the cricket from the enclosure.

Crickets can kill your mantis under certain circumstances. 

 

[Mantis Lady]

Hanging on the lid is their favorite thing to do. they don't need to be fed every day. I feed my mantis 1x per 2 days, or if their abdomen is still big 3 days. (depends how big their last meal was.

If you know it is molting time, remove the cricket. They can harm your mantis because your mantis will be very vulnerable during molting. Good luck with your mantis.

 

[loislane]

Thanks!  I don't know for sure if she's molting but I'll get the cricket out soon, just in case.  

 

[MantisGirl13]

Mantids spend most of their time hanging from the roof of their cage, sticks, leaves, anything. What instar is your religiosa? Did you find it or buy it? Is it male or female?

- MantisGirl13

 

[loislane]

I bought her but I don't know what instar she is, I didn't think to ask

 

[MantisGirl13]

Ok. Can you post a picture of her? How big is she?

- MantisGirl13

 

[loislane]

She's just over an inch long 

 

[River Dane]

A wild guess, but maybe L5/6? That’s around the same size as mine was at that age, but he was male.

 

[loislane]

Thanks for everyone's input, in turns out I was just worrying too much! This morning she looked noticeably thinner and as soon as I put a locust in her home she started moving towards it. It got itself a bit wedged at the top of the cage where she couldn't get it so I picked it up with the tweezers to show her and see what she'd do, seeing as she shied away from them yesterday. This time she grabbed the locust's legs immediately and is now most of the way through eating it! So, hopefully I'll be better at recognising when she's just not hungry from now on.

 

[MantisGirl13]

I am glad she is eating  

- MantisGirl13

 

[ausar318]

Mantids can be fickle sometimes. I’ve had mantids go 4-5 days without food, and then they just randomly start eating like normal after that. It’s definitely a good thing that she started eating! 

 

[Mantis Lady]

Good that she is eating? my 2 L6 nymphs are not eating, just sitting there with their grasshoppers.