ChicaGorgous
Active member
I am a pet person, I need strange creatures to keep as companions and take care of. Without a pet I feel disconnected from nature. Of course I can have pets in my apartment, for a small fee of 300 dollars a year on top of regular pet fees. So for a year now I have been looking at cats on animal shelters dreaming :sleeping: of one day being a cat owner. But I was thinking too small.
One day I was leaving my apartment and the weather had started taking a turn for the worse. Cold, windy and raining. I looked down to my feet and not an inch away from my foot was a praying mantis. It was lying still as if it was frozen :helpsmilie: . So I took it inside to warm it up.
For her home, I had recently finished off a huge container of red vines and so I cleaned it, lined it with paper towels and poked holes everywhere. Three days went buy, yet it lay in the container lethargic. So knowing nothing about mantids but having a strong desire to help, I found out that mantids molt. I also saw that they molted upside down. So I did the stupidest thing ever. I taped it’s four legs to a paper towel and hung it upside down. Well, it seemed to work it started moving a lot more. However, when five hours it looked the same as it had before I took it off. I was pretty sure it was a bad idea to tape it up like that.So then the mantis started pooping out black gooey stuff. I thought they might be eggs. So this time I made a hammock so she could lay on her back.
Well a day went buy like that and her upper body was turning a brownish black tinge and she kept moving slower and slower. I also happened across an article saying the black poop was a sign of a deadly infection. :angel: So I put her outside to let her die in mother nature were she had originated. And after reading the different methods of euthanasia. I think I made the right choice. I am still saddened about the horrible ordeal. I really wanted to revive it.
I love :wub: mantids and now know a lot more about them, I read everything I can find on them. After this I am going to create a post for some suggestions on where to get a 3 instar mantis. As my skills increase I hope to have every wonderful experience with these guys.
One day I was leaving my apartment and the weather had started taking a turn for the worse. Cold, windy and raining. I looked down to my feet and not an inch away from my foot was a praying mantis. It was lying still as if it was frozen :helpsmilie: . So I took it inside to warm it up.
For her home, I had recently finished off a huge container of red vines and so I cleaned it, lined it with paper towels and poked holes everywhere. Three days went buy, yet it lay in the container lethargic. So knowing nothing about mantids but having a strong desire to help, I found out that mantids molt. I also saw that they molted upside down. So I did the stupidest thing ever. I taped it’s four legs to a paper towel and hung it upside down. Well, it seemed to work it started moving a lot more. However, when five hours it looked the same as it had before I took it off. I was pretty sure it was a bad idea to tape it up like that.So then the mantis started pooping out black gooey stuff. I thought they might be eggs. So this time I made a hammock so she could lay on her back.
Well a day went buy like that and her upper body was turning a brownish black tinge and she kept moving slower and slower. I also happened across an article saying the black poop was a sign of a deadly infection. :angel: So I put her outside to let her die in mother nature were she had originated. And after reading the different methods of euthanasia. I think I made the right choice. I am still saddened about the horrible ordeal. I really wanted to revive it.
I love :wub: mantids and now know a lot more about them, I read everything I can find on them. After this I am going to create a post for some suggestions on where to get a 3 instar mantis. As my skills increase I hope to have every wonderful experience with these guys.
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