I found my gravid limbata hanging by one leg this morning motionless. i picked her up because I thought she was dead but she started moving. It appears she was possibly trying to lay her ooth. I am holding her in my palm to try to warm her up. Her genitalia it open, pulsing and moving about. Is she trying to lay and can't? What should I do with her?
pregnant mantis dying
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lancaster1313
Likebugs (site changed my name😐)
How long has she been adult?
You could try to get her to drink some water if you haven't done that already.
I once had a few mantids that were sick, they became very weak and could barely hang or stand. They also had some very hard abdominal pulsations, but it would produce diarrhea and vomit that smelled foul. Most of them died, but a couple pulled through.
I just kept them with as much ventilation as possible and made sure that they were as clean as I could keep them. Every hour or so I would clean the container, also gently wiping the mess from their mouths and rears with a moist cotton swab. The surviving mantids and I may have been fortunate that I could be at home for that couple of days.
I hope she improves, but usually when a mantis is so weak that it can't hang, there is nothing that can be done about it and the cause remains a mystery.
Did she get too cold somehow?
Is she trying to defecate or vomiting?
You could try to get her to drink some water if you haven't done that already.
I once had a few mantids that were sick, they became very weak and could barely hang or stand. They also had some very hard abdominal pulsations, but it would produce diarrhea and vomit that smelled foul. Most of them died, but a couple pulled through.
I just kept them with as much ventilation as possible and made sure that they were as clean as I could keep them. Every hour or so I would clean the container, also gently wiping the mess from their mouths and rears with a moist cotton swab. The surviving mantids and I may have been fortunate that I could be at home for that couple of days.
I hope she improves, but usually when a mantis is so weak that it can't hang, there is nothing that can be done about it and the cause remains a mystery.
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GreenOasis
Well-known member
"Sudden Mantis Death Syndrome" is a common thing, unfortunately. I had this problem a lot with Zebratas. I did find that using my Sanitizing Spray (I sell it on the website, it is just colloidal silver), helped them to pull through, so my theory is that it is a bacterial infection. Colloidal silver creates an environment in which the bacteria cannot grow (or reproduce), so it apparently prevented the infection from getting any worse and the remaining bacteria died out.
I don't believe that mantids are prone to viruses, but even so, silver kills viruses too!
Not trying to "toot my own horn", just offering that up for helpful information.
Zebratas were the first species that I commonly encountered this problem with, so that is why I tested the spray on them. Out of 3 that were "sick", only one died after treatment (it may have been too far gone already.) I used the spray on them once a day or every other day.
I don't believe that mantids are prone to viruses, but even so, silver kills viruses too!
Not trying to "toot my own horn", just offering that up for helpful information.
Zebratas were the first species that I commonly encountered this problem with, so that is why I tested the spray on them. Out of 3 that were "sick", only one died after treatment (it may have been too far gone already.) I used the spray on them once a day or every other day.
She was wild caught as a nymph and molted to adult on August 19. She has laid one ooth already. There is no vomit or anything. Unfortunately I could only care for her up to the point that I had to leave for work this morning.
She was not kept in the cold but with the weather changing, it tends to get a bit cooler in the house than normal overnight. Her front legs were spasming a bit and she wasn't lifting her head mush. I did feed her some honey. I left her in a warm room on a soft surface. Her genitalia were still exposed and pulsing. I will have to wait til I get home to check on her.
If it was bacteria, maybe my boyfriend could move her into a different enclosure??? I can call him and have him do that.
She was not kept in the cold but with the weather changing, it tends to get a bit cooler in the house than normal overnight. Her front legs were spasming a bit and she wasn't lifting her head mush. I did feed her some honey. I left her in a warm room on a soft surface. Her genitalia were still exposed and pulsing. I will have to wait til I get home to check on her.
If it was bacteria, maybe my boyfriend could move her into a different enclosure??? I can call him and have him do that.
lancaster1313
Likebugs (site changed my name😐)
It sounds like you are doing all that can be done.
If it is possible and safe for her, you could leave her out of container when you are home, I don't know how much that can help, but I usually let my sick mantids out so they will get plenty of ventilation, away from their frass and any discarded prey parts, and feel free to move about if they can. I guess it just makes me feel a little better about what is happening with them. :mellow:
If it is possible and safe for her, you could leave her out of container when you are home, I don't know how much that can help, but I usually let my sick mantids out so they will get plenty of ventilation, away from their frass and any discarded prey parts, and feel free to move about if they can. I guess it just makes me feel a little better about what is happening with them. :mellow:
Well, she is still here. Her eyes and antennae seem alert although she does not move her head or legs. I have her propped up and feeding her water and honey/pollen mix with a q-tip. I have just started to see diarrhea for the first time as well and I am keeping her cleaned off. She is eating and drinking but still no movement.
lancaster1313
Likebugs (site changed my name😐)
Just keep her and her area as clean as possible and if she looks full and doesn't seem interested, don't push the water and food.
Be careful that she doesn't eat the fibers from the swab, I have fed with swabs, but I have no Idea if it does any harm if they eat the cotton. I have had fibers get stuck in a mantid's mouth parts(when a swab was bitten) and it was difficult trying to remove them cause I was afraid I would grab a palp by accident.
If she doesn't pull through, at least you did all that you could.
Is she taking the sustenance easily or does she seem uninterested in it?
Be careful that she doesn't eat the fibers from the swab, I have fed with swabs, but I have no Idea if it does any harm if they eat the cotton. I have had fibers get stuck in a mantid's mouth parts(when a swab was bitten) and it was difficult trying to remove them cause I was afraid I would grab a palp by accident.
If she doesn't pull through, at least you did all that you could.
Is she taking the sustenance easily or does she seem uninterested in it?
