Paralyzed mantis?

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izbiggs

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 16, 2016
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Location
Paradise Valley, AZ
I got home to the sight of my adult male ghost, named Hannibal, curled on the floor of his enclosure. Figuring he was dead, I picked him up to investigate the body and when I started to pull the wings apart, he grabbed my finger with his raptors. And that's about all he can move besides one walking leg. I haven't determined if he can move his abdomen or his wings, but three of his legs are curled up and seemingly dried or stiffened in that position. What the heck? He drank a little and ate a little honey. I don't feed him crickets. I feed him flies, gutted and beheaded mealworms whose medium I remove dead mealworms from every day, and waxworms. He had eaten half of a wax worm and dropped the other half which was black and rotten on the floor. 

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@izbiggs Oh no, perhaps he's sick then. Mine was acting like that but he was very old. Aww, I'm so sorry, sounds like you were doing everything right in regards to the feeding. Sometimes you can do everything right and they still fall ill. Is he still acting strange? You should isolate him from any others just in case. 

 
So he ate a black wax worm from the bottom of the cage? If so that most definitely is the cause. Bacteria are silent killers. Im often concerned about the chance that they will be exposed to bacteria if they were to drink water droplets from spaying on a less than clean surface!

One week as an adult means he was in his prime!

Sorry @izbiggs

My ?'s are just now molting to adulthood so if all goes well and with luck babies should be here in August.

Do you have any more ghosts now?

 
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