Preparing to molt for 3 weeks??

[agent A]

this is a little concerning

3 weeks ago, my L6 male popa spurca stopped eating, and i assumed it was because he was ready to molt, afterall, the female has been L7 for almost 3 weeks, and i got them both at L1 for free from yen in february when i bought some sybilla,

anyways, i offered him food recently and he still regected it

but he's starting to get skinnier and darker colored and i'm really worried about him

why would he spend 3 weeks preparing to molt if he's not molting to adulthood?

should i offer him some food? put him in a hotter environment? should i move him to a new cage?

please help

thanks,

alex

 

[angelofdeathzz]

I would maybe try and hand feed him something like a tore open cricket or large fly and see if you put it up to his mouth(touching) if that sparks some eating, 3 weeks is a LONG time with no food!

 

[Termite48]

You need to provide some heat. Do you know what temperature he is at now? It is imperative to have a minimum temperature for that species to metabolize food. If that threshhold is not achieved, the mantid will slowly starve itself. I would think that 80 degrees is a place to start.

 

[agent A]

ok, he's abut 75 degrees

i will warm him up and try food soon

thanks!

 

[agent A]

he is eating a green bottlefly as i type

i think he'll be fine!

 

[meaganelise9]

Maybe there's not enough moisture.

 

[agent A]

Well I threw in a butterfly but he just killed it, meanwhile the female packed in a honeybee and 2 butterflies, I'll give him sone water