Mismolt: Severe Disfigurement

[LLCoolJew]

Hi All.

I have a little Chinese nymph (L4) that had a mismolt, and is severely bent, disfigured, has missing body parts, and is partially disabled. That said, she's a trooper, and has managed to stay alive, keep a hearty appetite, is sweet, and has a seemingly good attitude. So, I haven't made any decisions yet, but obviously, I know about the freezer, and am not looking for that suggestion.

Just curious if you think there is anything I can do to potentially help her make it to her next molt, even though she is debilitated. Not sure that she can properly use her legs to hang from anywhere. But she's got a great spirit, is strong, is eating and eliminating, etc.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on how I can get her to her next molt, I'd love to know them. Please don't say "freezer time," since that's for me to decide. Otherwise, I am happy taking care of her as she is, in her little hospital bed I made of twigs and leaves, and I will look after her as long as she lets me.

Thanks!

Lauren

 

[frogparty]

Oooohhhhh I would say freezer time, but it's your call. It looks like it will have a difficult time molting next time.

 

[LLCoolJew]

Yeah, I'm hoping to skip the freezer suggestions, but thanks. I get that there might not be many options, bit just thought I'd ask.

 

[angelofdeathzz]

A new molt will only give her back 20-30 % of what's wrong, if she can hang on through another molt? Mist twice a day and keep feeding is all you can really do..

Hope you can nurse her back to health, but you know what to do if you can't.

 

[frogparty]

Could you perhaps secure it to the lid of the container with superglue and feed her via tongs until its ready to molt?

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Could you perhaps secure it to the lid of the container with superglue and feed her via tongs until its ready to molt?

What??? Please don't do that! That would be a cruel way to solve it, and the mantis would probably rather die than be stuck in one place, I think...

 

[frogparty]

Yeah. I already said freezer time.....and you know the way it is now it won't successfully hang for a good molt. Tough choices to make some times in the pet hobby

 

[jcal]

I just had a miss molt myself. Back legs got stuck together. Had to cut them apart. Mantis just molted and now has one healthy leg and about 3/4 of the other.

I would be a long shot for this one to recover.

Putting the mantis in a natural position doesn't sound like a bad idea. From the looks of it, it's now moving alot in its own anyway. Is it?

 

[LLCoolJew]

Thanks, jcal!!! Yes, she can move a bit on her own, but agree its a longshot. Good to know that yours managed, though. Thanks!

 

[ShieldMantid1997]

The only thing about glueing her to the top is it would be an ok idea IF she is unable to move and is currently laying in one spot. But if she can move now, then don't take her freedom away from her. Tough, good luck!

 

[LLCoolJew]

Regarding gluing her: I'd actually entertain the idea if enough people thought that it was worth considering. She IS laying on one spot. While she can kind of flail around a bit, she cannot walk, cannot stand or sit up, etc. I do flip her on her other side at times, for all practical purposes, she can not move on her own.

...Has anyone here tried this method personally???

Thanks!

Lauren

 

[lunarstorm]

If she's eating and "eliminating", I'd just keep doing what you're doing. There is a possibility she will successfully molt from the ground. It's not likely, but it has happened before. And if she can pull that off* I wouldn't be surprised if she had a remarkable recovery.

*pun is probably partially due to one too many glasses of Christmas ale

 

[agent A]

A floor molt could work, half of my pseudoharpax molted from the floor when they became subadults and ive seen creobroter do it on many occasions I've seen remarkable recoveries from mismolts that were kept hydrated, though the next molt took a very long time, I don't give up on mismolts that easily, afterall, it's not over till its over!! Good luck with her

 

[angelofdeathzz]

Maybe some pics would help to know how bad things are or not?

 

[jcal]

I've seen some ground molts but all of them were standing. Has someone had a successful molt where the mantis was not standing?

 

[lancaster1313]

Perhaps you could let her have her freedom until she is very close to molting, then glue her in a good position?

If you can be there when she begins her molt you might be able to help her? I have read a couple of posts(quite a while ago) where people held their mantids up by the tips of the abdomen during a molt, but that was when a mantis had fallen. Maybe it could work if you caught her in the act?

I have never tried either of those methods.

The only time I have interfered with molts has been when I acdentally disturbed a mantis in the beginning of the process, and almost messed her up. I manually hooked her feet back onto the screen lid. That worked, but the mantis had all of her feet.

 

[frogparty]

She posted a pic and it looks pretty awful

 

[lancaster1313]

I agree that it looks bad, but from the photo, I can't tell if she has 2 feet of the metanotal legs, and 1 foot on a mesonotal leg? If there are at least 3 hooks, it could be possible to help hook her up.

I have had at least a couple of disfigured mantids molt out fine when they only had 1 mesonotal, and 1 metanotal leg, but they were able to hang and molt on their own.

 

[agent A]

I had a subadult gongy get his mid and back legs on the same day he molted and he molted fine, though he never mated neither did 90% of my healthy males