Mantids Coming

[superfreak]

You'll know its gonna moult when it starts hanging a bit more limply from the top of the cage. It might do this on and off for a day or maybe two before it moults. closer to the moult it will also shake sometimes. also, if you notice a lot of flexing and straining of the abdomen and he hasnt eaten that day and isnt in the process of taking a dump then he may be getting ready to moult. Ive found the wing buds arent that good an indicator on the younger nymphs. only the last two-three instars can you really see swelling or real colour change on the wing buds. The greyish tinge i agree with. I think we had a thread on the moulting process not long ago where it was explained quite nicely Just dont freak out if you come across it while its moulting and dont try to help or move anything.

good luck and keep us posted!

 

[superfreak]

oh and as for the crix, i get mine on the plastic boxes from the pet store too. make sure you feed them good things!! dried cat or dog food and fresh veggies is always good. to get them out i just open the box a little bit, stick my finger in and press one of the crix lightly against the eggcarton. then i gently slide him towards the plastic wall until i can pick him up. or i use tweezers!

 

[idolomantis]

as for the 500 escapes.. my cat knocked the container off and the lid broke off ¬¬

anyway, pick them up at their legs,.. they WILL bite you.

i don't if you're good with tweezers, but i'm not.

btw.. check your PM box iamwhoiam

 

[Murp]

sorry but i went on a small holiday

thats y i havent been posting

 

[Murp]

errrrrr

whats really silly is that lefties eating so much :huh:

and it turns out that peppers my other male did the shedding :lol: the day after i left :angry:

he looks perfectly fine and his old skin is hanging around on the bottom of the jar

im still a bit afraid of handling them yet so i havent held any and that is y the skin is still in there

im gonna wait awhile so that they can get used to me before i handle any

and im not felling very confident about all the bites ive heard about

i really dont wanna get bitten and then sqush them outta fright

 

[Murp]

[SIZE=12pt]i tried the tweezers [/SIZE]

[SIZE=8pt]but i killed the criket [/SIZE]

and i dont like to hurt bugs but

i dont really mind other bugs hurting each other because thats natural

it always gives my heart a little jump to step on even a stupid millipede

i espesially hate seeing dead lizards [SIZE=8pt](ive always liked lizards)[/SIZE]

 

[superfreak]

you can usually pick them up with the tweezers without killing the if you go for the legs (but not the back ones because they fall off!). also you can get them by the abdomen without it killing them for a while. The further back along the body you pinch, the less damage it will do. another option is getting a pair of feather-touch tweezers.