Nail Polish for injured legs?

[GayJerk]

Hey guys. I feel really bad but I think last night when I misted my mantids when I went to close the lid I guess my mantis moved and I didn't notice so the very end of his back foot got smushed. I think it should be fine but higher up it appears he tried to chew it off a little bit decided not to? I'm really guilty but I think he's presub so it should grow back in fine since the whole leg is there. Should I use some clear nail polish over the leg so that it's stiffer? I read somewhere you could do that to help with the next molt and I was wondering what you guys thought. Would it help? 

 

[River Dane]

It’s odd how this started circulating around. I’m not sure if it’s a reliable method or not, but if your mantis is chewing at his leg, he might ingest the nail polish. Other members also suggested it might prevent your mantis from molting in a similar post below.

I think it’s safest to leave your mantis alone. As you said, once he molts to adulthood, it won’t be an issue anymore.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I would never apply any sort of substance like that to a wound unless it was a last resort sort of scenario where the mantis is otherwise going to bleed out and die. There is always a risk of the stuff seeping through and messing up the exoskeleton developing beneath. Sounds like the mantis has already taken care of the injury so I would leave him be.

 

[GayJerk]

 There is always a risk of the stuff seeping through and messing up the exoskeleton developing beneath. 

I think it’s safest to leave your mantis alone. As you said, once he molts to adulthood, it won’t be an issue anymore.

I agree with both of you. I was just wondering if it had any benefits. I started thinking about how it could be ingested and I figured it wasn't a good idea. Thanks for clearing that up for me! 

 

[GayJerk]

Also I just read that forum quote.... Kinda disturbing 

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I was just wondering if it had any benefits.

Unless the mantis is bleeding out and about to die then no there really isn't any benefit of putting nail polish on an injury...even if there were, all the risks far outweigh any possible benefit. The person in the other post claims he accidentally crushed his mantis and used nail polish to stop massive bleeding but doing that only prolonged the issue...now the mantis cannot molt and will die anyway.

Most of the time a mantis can live with a non-fatal injury just fine and doesn't need anything put on it by us. They will usually heal missing parts/other damage in their next molt so most of the time it's better just to leave it alone....interfering can often cause unintentional damage. 

It’s odd how this started circulating around

The person in the other post said they read on a forum that someone used nail hardener to stop bleeding but mistakenly thought nail polish is the same thing, which it is not...not that you should use nail hardener either.  I tried doing a Google search to see if I could determine where this bad info came from, all I could find were lots of references to using nail polish to stop bleeding on dogs nails or cuts on humans. I don't know if this is where the idea started but mammals and insects have very little in common in how their bodies work so even if something helps a dog or a human doesn't mean it's a good idea for an insect. Insects don't heal like mammals do. Once an exoskeleton is injured it cannot heal except by being replaced by new exoskeleton when molting.  Applying anything to an injury isn't going to fix it and can harm the new exoskeleton growing underneath...nail polish and nail hardener both contain harsh chemicals so there's a good chance they will cause damage. There's also the issue of armorizing the old exoskeleton so that it cannot be shed, it needs to be able to move when molting so using anything that will stiffen the existing exoskeleton is a very bad idea.

 

[GayJerk]

This is the website I found it on.

http://animals.mom.me/tips-on-caring-for-an-injured-praying-mantis-12551976.html

I'm very skeptical about any info on mantids outside this forum or bugguide. The more I thought about it the more I realized it was a bad idea so I just left him alone. I thought it was a good idea to start a post on this because I've heard of it more than once and I wanted to clear up any doubts I had about it. 

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Yeah, that is probably where the other poster got the idea too...notice it says nail hardener but many people seem to think nail polish is the same thing which it is not. Nail hardeners contain solvents and plasticizers like ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, nitrocellulose and tosylamide formaldehyde resin. This will harden the exoskeleton and can cause it to become more brittle and not able to bend (very similarly to how it works on fingernails...I don't use nail hardeners on my nails because of how brittle it makes them) or it can stiffen the area (possibly damaging the new exoskeleton underneath) making their next molt difficult or impossible.

Thanks for posting about it, maybe this will help others in the future when they go looking for info about using nail hardeners/nail polish on mantises and realize it's a bad idea too.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I have never heard of nail polish/nail hardener being used until now. I have however seen super glue and liquid band aid (which is medical grade super glue) being used mostly by those who keep tarantulas and have an abdomen rupture that doesn't look like it is going to stop bleeding on its own. Mantis nymphs are so light bodied that realistically the only time they would bleed out likely there is so much internal damage stopping the bleeding won't help. Some people on the forum like to add honey under the assumption its antibacterial properties will also be beneficial to praying mantis wounds. Personally I am a less is more kind of person though so I would only fuss with a wound if I thought it was so dire the mantis would die on the spot otherwise.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

This is the website I found it on.

http://animals.mom.me/tips-on-caring-for-an-injured-praying-mantis-12551976.html

At the bottom of the article I noticed something, it asks if you found the article helpful or not. I clicked No just to see what would happen and it asks what you think can be done to improve the article. I wrote asking them to remove the nail hardener suggestion and referenced the two posts here. I explained why it was a bad idea and how some were confusing nail polish with nail hardener and how one person already fatally damaged their mantis because of it. Hopefully they will take my advice, but it might help if others ask to take down the suggestion too. 

 

[Sticky]

I used crazy glue on Sticky's hind leg. It worked perfectly.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

I have however seen super glue and liquid band aid (which is medical grade super glue) being used mostly by those who keep tarantulas and have an abdomen rupture that doesn't look like it is going to stop bleeding on its own.

Liquid Bandaid has some of the same ingredients as nail hardeners (Amyl acetate, camphor, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, n-butyl acetate, nitrocellulose) so maybe that is why the idea of nail hardener came about, idk.  Liquid Bandaid is not at all similar to Super Glue which is made from cyanoacrylates such as methyl 2-cyanoacrylate, ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate, n-butyl cyanoacrylate and 2-octyl cyanoacrylate. Liquid Bandaid is a polymer coating that has antiseptic in it. I can see why some might think to use Liquid Bandaid on something like a tarantula as the polymer coating itself is flexible and wouldn't interfere with molting HOWEVER it does still contain volatile chemicals that can dry out/damage the developing exoskeleton...but as a last resort where they are otherwise dying this is probably the best choice out of all of them. As you said, if a mantis is bleeding out that badly, there is likely so much internal damage that anything you do isn't going to save them...however it's hard to stand by and do nothing if you think you can help. Most of the time hands-off is the best approach, if they are able to recover they will and any injuries will be resolved next molt.

As for the honey, not sure that would really do a whole lot for a mantis injury unless you are feeding it to them (its a great pick-me-up for sick/exhausted mantises.) While there is a little bit of evidence honey may help wounds heal faster in humans, as I said before, what may work on animal wounds isn't going to have the same effect on an insect because they do not heal in the same way, exoskeletons do not repair themselves they are only replaced with a new one. The antibacterial properties are mainly because the high sugar content causes an environment that is not osmotically favorable to bacteria so that *might* do something for an infected wound but usually you do not have to put anything on a mantis wound that has already stopped bleeding. 

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Liquid Bandaid has some of the same ingredients as nail hardeners (Amyl acetate, camphor, ethyl acetate, ethyl alcohol, n-butyl acetate, nitrocellulose) so maybe that is why the idea of nail hardener came about, idk.  Liquid Bandaid is not at all similar to Super Glue which is made from cyanoacrylates such as methyl 2-cyanoacrylate, ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate, n-butyl cyanoacrylate and 2-octyl cyanoacrylate. Liquid Bandaid is a polymer coating that has antiseptic in it. I can see why some might think to use Liquid Bandaid on something like a tarantula as the polymer coating itself is flexible and wouldn't interfere with molting HOWEVER it does still contain volatile chemicals that can dry out/damage the developing exoskeleton...but as a last resort where they are otherwise dying this is probably the best choice out of all of them.

I didn't notice the liquid bandaids were so far removed as there used to be medical grade super glue that had cyanoacrylate in it. The big benefit is it dries almost instantly although you need to be careful with it for the same reason. Even when I had an old adult female mantis that had a major rupture from internal pressure, her abdomen still stopped leaking on its own though. At the time she bled out so much I thought she was a goner for sure but offering a steady supply of water allowed her to rebound and she lived out the rest of her life before finally subcoming to old age.

 

[Predatorhousepet]

Yes

I didn't notice the liquid bandaids were so far removed as there used to be medical grade super glue that had cyanoacrylate in it.

Yes, super glue has cyanoacrylate in it, liquid bandaid does not. Sorry if the way I worded it made that unclear.