Molt issues

[tlasorsa]

Hi everyone, I am so glad I found this forum! I decided to try and raise several Chinese mantid this year from egg sack to adult. After hatching, I kept around 25 and released the rest. I was feeding them plenty of fruit flies, and everything was great. Then, they started to molt and I lost several. Since then, every time they molt I lose several. I have lost 1 to cannibalism and after 4 molts (maybe 5) I had 7 left. They are in their separate containers now. After this last molt, the one that I gave my father had messed up back legs. Of the 6 I kept, 3 have molted. One is dead, one has back legs that point up, and one is fine. Is humidity the only thing that helps with molting? I have soil in the bottom of their containers that I keep damp so I think it is pretty humid. The one that died was in a mesh cage with way too much ventilation I think. We have our AC on constantly. The one that died was really sad, because after being stuck sort of curled up for a day, I gently took it out and freed it from its shell, but it simply couldn't figure out how to walk or get itself straightened out. Is this normal? Can they be helped if they don't molt correctly or are they goners? At this pace, I will have none that make it to adulthood! Any help would be much appreciated. Side note, I have tried to help several others that failed in molting, and even though they are alive and freed from their shell, they don't ever "normalize". Is it impossible to help them if they don't make it mostly out on their own? Thanks! sorry for the long post!

 

[LauraMG]

My experience with my Chinese is that humidity and sunlight help her molt. They need to be able to hang upside down when they molt too. From everything I've heard, the Chinese mantis is just hard to raise and most tend to die no matter what you do. I have one left out of all the ones that hatched from my ooth. I hope the ones you have make it, and I'm sure there will be more posts from those who have much more experience than I do. Good luck!

 

[hibiscusmile]

No , sorry, not much u can do, sometimes if u catc h them quick enough, u can hold them while they finish by back legs, or hang them up, but most times that don't happen.

 

[Rick]

Your experience with raising this species sounds about typical, especially for a newbie.

Welcome, please introduce yourself to the group in the introductions forum.

 

[geishagirrrl]

oh now i am so sad. we love our mantis but she's definitely all messed up after this molt. i was hoping she'd recover. when i hold her she tries to get around but her legs all start to get tangled up.

 

[suzy_qu3]

In the beginning, I had trouble getting my nymphs to eat. Of the 3 I kept, 2 starved themselves to death. The one 1 have been raising all along has had no trouble molting at all. He was kept in a small deli type container with a few sticks nothing else, until L4. Now he's in a mesh butterfly container with several larger branches and nothing else. I mist him infrequently. I offer him water by hand with a wet paper towel ball. He either bends down and drinks or doesn't. I dangle moths in front of him each evening.

He just molted last night actually. I noticed he wasn't eating so I made sure he drank and I misted him well. He hangs on the cage most of the time, but prefers to molt from a branch, as evidenced by the old skin still attached.

Anway, do they have a high branch available to molt from with enough clearance below, and do they drink enough?