Rear leg encased in exuvia

Predatorhousepet · Mar 24, 2018

My subadult shield mantis molted and had her entire exoskeleton dangling from one leg. She was waving it around trying to free herself and at first I let her attempt to do it herself but after it was clear she couldn't do it on her own I helped remove as much of it as I could. There was a good amount of it bunched up at the last joint which was preventing her from bending it normally but I was able to get enough off that she could move it into a normal position. The problem is that the last bit of her foot is still encased in a tube of exuvia and she is unable to use it to grasp. I am worried how she will accomplish her next molt without both back legs being functional, any ideas how to free it enough to be usable or will she be able to molt with just one foot able to grasp?

crabbypatty · Mar 24, 2018

If she can reach it, she'll remove it herself. She should be able to molt just fine if the leg isn't too crooked. I've had them molt fine with only two good legs to grip. If she is unable to reach it, just get a damp cotton swap and try wiping it off. Good luck ?.

Predatorhousepet · Apr 6, 2018

I ended up leaving it be. After a few days the part covering her tarsus came off on it's own and she regained full function of her foot. She still had a small "anklet" of exuvia encircling the last joint but that didn't seem to hinder her in any way, it finally fell off about a week later. I noticed it was a bit knobby on the joint where her entire exoskeleton had been dangling...this is probably the reason she couldn't get it to shed past that joint. Having a knobby leg joint doesn't seem to affect her ability to bend it and it only caused a minor issue with molting. However, I expect there may be a similar issue with that same joint on her next & probably final molt.

Predatorhousepet · Apr 20, 2018

She molted to adulthood yesterday with no issues, the knobby leg joint didn't cause any problems and it was fixed with her molt, she has a normal sized joint now and everything works perfectly. Leaving it alone was the right call.