One of my Carolinas (not the same one mentioned in my previous mismolt thread) has molted while I was at work, and when I came home, I see him lying on the floor looking lifeless. I give him a poke with the popsicle stick I have in his enclosure and he moves, but everything is terribly disfigured. All his walking legs curl outwards, away from the body. Mantises are known to be able to rotate their heads 180 degrees, but he is stuck staring down, zero neck rotation. I'm going to leave him in the enclosure for the night and see how he is when I wake up, but if nothing has changed, I'm going to place him in the fridge and put him out of his misery.
The mantis mentioned in my previous mismolt thread seems to be doing fine. I leave a couple fruit flies in his enclosure every other day, and on the days in between, I hand feed him before I go to work. Both of my mantises molted around the same time, so this one is due for a molt in a day or two probably.
Both of my mantis mismolts occurred in a 32oz deli cup. I think the reason both my mantises had mismolts is because they hang on the lid of the deli cup, then once they are out of their exoskeleton, they fall straight down to the bottom of the deli cup before their new skeleton has time to harden. They never use the popsicle stick to perch themselves.
This is the second mismolt in a row and it's starting to discourage me from owning any more. I'm still new to these interesting creatures and I don't want to give up so soon, but I don't want to own them if things continue to go wrong while they are in my care. I've already placed an order for more mantises a few days ago. I just hope they don't go through the same sufferings. I think I'm going to house my new mantises in a smaller, 8oz container. The ones you usually find mantises being shipped in.
The mantis mentioned in my previous mismolt thread seems to be doing fine. I leave a couple fruit flies in his enclosure every other day, and on the days in between, I hand feed him before I go to work. Both of my mantises molted around the same time, so this one is due for a molt in a day or two probably.
Both of my mantis mismolts occurred in a 32oz deli cup. I think the reason both my mantises had mismolts is because they hang on the lid of the deli cup, then once they are out of their exoskeleton, they fall straight down to the bottom of the deli cup before their new skeleton has time to harden. They never use the popsicle stick to perch themselves.
This is the second mismolt in a row and it's starting to discourage me from owning any more. I'm still new to these interesting creatures and I don't want to give up so soon, but I don't want to own them if things continue to go wrong while they are in my care. I've already placed an order for more mantises a few days ago. I just hope they don't go through the same sufferings. I think I'm going to house my new mantises in a smaller, 8oz container. The ones you usually find mantises being shipped in.
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