Mantis in a box - 6 days without water and food. Help.

[Mantis Lady]

we learn from each other here and we hope you can keep your mantis alive, till next molt. and hope your mantis goes trough it well and will be healed.

 

[Atlanthyda]

Update

Situation seems to be pretty stable at the moment - nothing has changed for better but also nothing has changed for worse, which i guess is kind of success. She still eats a lot and tries her best to get up. Since the situation isn't changing we would like to already start preparing for the next molting - which according to our calculations should occur around the beggining of next week (in about 7 days). Aaaand here comes the right part of this post..

How to prepare for this? 

We both have never had a chance to witness a mantis molting before and even though we have watched plenty of videos and read tons of lectures about this lately, i don't think we will ever be truly ready - especially that our mantis is disabled. What we learned from other threads on this forum is that we should keep her in a moist surroundings and make sure she's drank a lot before molting. From other sources we also know that a few days before she will stop eating and shouldn't be forced to it, also that she will start making those characteristic "wavy movements" with her abdomen (if there are any other signs of molting comming please share them here). The question is - what to do when it finally happens?

At this point we are entirely sure she won't be able to climb up a branch on her own. In our conversations we came up with an idea to either tape her to a branch/lid of container once we notice the signs of molting or try hooking her legs to a netting. The only remaining option is to leave her on her own but i guess it wouldn't work out well. 

The actual problem here is when to start intervene? After she stops eating? After she does the movements with her abdomen? Or maybe after she will actually start sheding her skin? 

As many of you surely have some great experience in this matter, please share your tips with us ;-;

 

[MantisGirl13]

Make sure that she is hanging securely on a net screen. Keep her VERY humid to ensure a successful molt. Let her drink a lot, and make sure she is hanging in a few days, when you think she will molt. 

- MantisGirl13

 

[cwebster]

Glad to see she is doing better. Lovely little mantis! My friend already told me i will be on my own if i get an orchid so am sticking with chinese and ghost mantises. You are very dedicated and brave. Hope your brave little mantis has a successful next molt.

 

[Atlanthyda]

Update

Today she refused to eat for the first time. She's also noticeably less active even during feeding. We are planning to tape her in the right position for molting tomorrow - that is gonna be a tough one so keep your fingers crossed.

We keep humidity of 75-80% in temperature about 25°C. Ever since we got her she was regullary feeded 3 times a day. If there's anything else we could do for her or any of you want to give us some last advices please do it.

And wish us good luck.

 

[Chemz]

Good luck! 

 

[Synapze]

I wish I had something helpful to add. Good luck you two.

 

[Mantis Lady]

I hope this means close to molting time. Prepare the molting with taping her,  and then wait... and let do nature its work.

I wish you both Good Luck.

Keep us updated

 

[Sticky]

Who was the breeder?

 

[Predatorhousepet]

A week isn't long enough for her to be ready to molt. Healthy orchids that are eating well generally take at least 2 weeks between molts. Some mantids do take a whole week of fasting to prepare for a molt but I don't think that is what is going on here, she wouldn't have the strength to pull that off. I'm sorry to say this turn in her condition is likely not good. All you can do is keep offering food and see if she accepts it...if she makes it another week then you can start to prepare for signs she might be ready to molt.

 

[Atlanthyda]

A week isn't long enough for her to be ready to molt. Healthy orchids that are eating well generally take at least 2 weeks between molts. Some mantids do take a whole week of fasting to prepare for a molt but I don't think that is what is going on here, she wouldn't have the strength to pull that off. I'm sorry to say this turn in her condition is likely not good. All you can do is keep offering food and see if she accepts it...if she makes it another week then you can start to prepare for signs she might be ready to molt.

It was a bit more than a week - about 10 days assuming that she last molted around 17-18 June. If a mantis stops eating a few days before molting then it gives her about 4-5 days to full 2 weeks. 

Today she's still refusing to eat though. I think our only option is to hang her upside down now - how likely is that she will start eating again? 

 

[Predatorhousepet]

With the orchids I've raised, stopping eating that far in advance is highly unusual. Usually it's only a 24 hour thing at most but the majority of my orchids keep eating right up until their molt. I'm usually surprised when they molt because they don't display any outward signs. I suppose there is a slight chance that is what is going on, all you can do is try and hope for the best...but please realize that what you are attempting is extremely difficult even for a seasoned keeper, especially with a mantis that is that disabled, and the chances of it going well are slim. Your case is right on the border of where I'd suggest to euthanize. The only reason I encouraged trying to save her is because the mantis seemed to have a strong will to live, she could move on her own and was eating  well....but any of those things can change suddenly. 

Go ahead and hang her upside down in a few days (even if she stopped eating to prepare for the molt it won't happen right away) but when you use the tape, take away the majority of the stickiness first by applying it to the back of your hand a few times so you can unstick her without harming her feet if necessary. You should try to continue to feed her just in case she changes her mind but she probably won't either way whether she is dying or about to molt.

Seriously I wish you the best of luck, I am rooting for your mantis to live. I want you to succeed here because it would be amazing if your mantis was healed despite the odds not being in her favor. I've seen it happen before so I know it's possible to save a mantis everyone thought would die for sure...hopefully your mantis is one of the lucky ones.

 

[MantisGirl13]

I hope the molt goes well!

- MantisGirl13

 

[Atlanthyda]

I regret to inform you that our mantis wasn't one of the lucky ones - she didn't make it.

Thank you all for the support and advices you gave us. It was nice to be a part of such a positive community. 

 

[Mantis Lady]

Sorry for your loss, You have done everything you could to try to save the life of your mantis

 

[MantisGirl13]

I am so sorry. You did what you could, but mismiolts are horrible, and sometimes not easy to conquer.

- MantisGirl13

 

[Chemz]

I regret to inform you that our mantis wasn't one of the lucky ones - she didn't make it.

Thank you all for the support and advices you gave us. It was nice to be a part of such a positive community. 

I hope this doesn't discourage you from owning any in the future, mismolts are just one of those things that comes with the hobby that no one wants. Sorry to hear the bad news. 

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Oh no, I am sorry to hear that. You did your best to save her, a beginner keeping a severely mismolted orchid alive for even that long was amazing in itself. You should try again and not let this bad experience keep you from owning another mantis.