Mantis molted but half head still attached

Mantid-tom · Apr 2, 2016

Hi all.

My giant rainforest mantid molted yesterday.

Everything went ok or so i thought but basically half of its old skin is still stuck on the side of his head and covering his eye.

Any suggestions of what i can do?

Many thanks guys.

CosbyArt · Apr 2, 2016

The only thing I know of would be to lightly mist the stuck skin with water, let it soften it a bit, and try to delicately remove it. Although for most problems like that the mantid itself is the only one who can do anything to remove it safely.

As long as it isn't a adult (has wings) it may fix the issue during the next molt. Best of luck.

Mantid-tom · Apr 9, 2016

Thanks for the info.

I took him out tonight after misting up the enclosure and made sure the old part of the skin was wet. I removed the part of exvia that was covering his eye and to be honest i think he didn't mind me helping at all only to discover the eye just looks damaged and i think there is a small amount still on his eye but to small to remove without the risk of doing serious damage.

He molted last friday and hasnt eaten since and he always hold one of his arms up trying to rub it off.

I feel a bit bad because its my first mantis and the first molt i have ever experienced and i keep thinking maybe i caused it. I kept the enclosure misted. I read molts can go seriously wrong and it didnt go to bad but is this the end of him.

THE ABOVE MESSAGE WAS MEANT TO BE SUBMITTED LAST TUESDAY.

Mantid-tom · Apr 9, 2016

This was todays post. I was emailing a person called mantis monarch on here thinking it was the forum i was replying in but a private message.

Just thought i would update this, i tried feeding him honey wich he liked but didnt take to live crickets i tried feeding him. Today i woke up to find him face down in the soil but still alive but looked just wivered because he hadnt eaten for almost a week. I decided to put him out of his misery and placed him in a small cup and in the freezer.

Maybe i should of done it sooner.

RIP mervin.

Thanks for advice.

Thanks monarch and cosbyart

CosbyArt · Apr 9, 2016

Sorry to hear you had to put Mervin down.

Although if he was refusing crickets and was found face down in the soil, it sounds likely there were other molting issues besides the eye as well - perhaps a problem with it's mouth or something internal (which can sometimes happen sadly).

Well you did your best, and tried to help him too. I hope you get another mantid and not let this experience ruin the hobby for you.

Sometimes problems occur with molting even if the humidity is right and everything else. I had a horrible experience where one of my mantids had it's face ripped inside its exuviae during the molt. Still have no idea how it occurred, but thankfully I haven't seen anything like that again. I list that merely to show that things are not always in our control or caused by the care they received.

Your welcome for the help.