S.M.S.

[hibiscusmile]

Talking with a entomo... well u know who I mean, we were discussing the mantis that smell really bad, he has had a violin that stinks so bad the other girls stay away from her. He has a vet take a swab of her mouth to try and find out what is going on with her. Hopefully he wil find something out we can all learn by. I told him I come across it every now and then, dear God, what a smell ! I just froze a basalis and a lineola this week that had it. Sometimes it happens, the sheild had its mouth starting to turn black and had not eaten in a week, so I put her out and the other one, well I don't member what happen t o her, sorry. but thats not the point anyways:lol:

 

[LauraMG]

That sounds so strange! Maybe some infection. I know that, for instance, dogs will smell bad around their head when they have an ear infection. Same with people and getting strep throat. I'm really just extrapolating something not based on insect life though, so take it for what it's worth.

 

[Rick]

I've had it with orchids. Never had a smell though.

 

[hibiscusmile]

humm, Rick this is for those that smell... the sheild smelled first and then after a week started to rot, she wouldn't eat, I tried to feed her, so I think the SMS was just part of her problem.

 

[ismart]

Thats sickness/disease. No mantis should smell that bad. Especially for an insect that is constanly grooming/cleaning itself. It could also be there housing? If there enclosure smells bad, so will they.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Never had a mantis that smelled but I have had the occasional adult near the end of their lifespan spit up after eating and that sure can stink up the cage.

 

[hibiscusmile]

nope , not containers, this zoo has visited me an takes care of their cleanliness in cages as I taught them to, so thats not it, obviously You guys are lucky not to have been indoctrinated to it.

 

[Entomo-logic]

Here is an update on the Violin Mantis with S.M.S... The Vets came over and did a saline swab on her mouth to see if there was any sort of fungus or other pathogen present. It is my guess that the saline swab may have helped to cure the ailment as the smell cleared up within a week and she is eating like she used to! If anyone has a stinky mantis I would suggest getting a very small Q-tip and dipping it in a sterile saline solution and getting the patient to bite down on it a few times. This may have been a fluke thing that the smell cleared up and her health got better after a saline swab but I know that I LOVE my little mantids and I would do almost anything to try to make them feel better when they are ill. We are still waiting on the lab results to come back to see if there was any sort of Bacteria infecting the mouth but initial examinations of the swabs tested negative for any Yeasts or other fungi. I will be sure to keep you all posted when the labs come back from the medical center.

I keep the Violin mantids in a 20 long with plenty of sticks to climb on and some soft velcro strips along the top where they can get a foothold so they have lots of room to hang around. I used to keep them on autoclaved Coco peat substrate that was changed out once a month. There is a heat gradient from 110 Degrees Fahrenheit to about 85 Degrees Fahrenheit in the tank. I now use paper towel as a substrate due to ease of cleaning. I feed wax moths, butterflies, Meal Worms, and Various flies to the Violins offering them prey at least once a day.

 

[Entomo-logic]

I just got the test results from the Violin Mantis with the S.M.S.

The lab found several strains of what they called Non Pathogenic "Normal fauna" which included Non-hemolytic Staphylococcus sp., Alpha and Gamma Strep, Diphtheroids, Bacillus sp., Micrococcus, Simonsiella, and Gram Negative Rods (not predominating.

HOWEVER, they did find one Pathogenic source which was a little bacteria called Ralstonia (Burkholderia) pickettii and then the report proceeds to give a list of medications that the above bacterium is sensitive or resistant to (Inquire for further details).

So with this S.M.S. could be caused by a mild bacterial infection that starts in the mouth and moves down the digestive tract. While this is not usually very virulent it can become an issue in immunodeficient individuals(in humans). So while the effects are usually upper respiratory infections in Humans this bacteria or one of the others isolated may be to blame for bad smells, mouth necrosis, and intersegmental abdominal necrosis in Mantodea species. Let me know what you think about that hypothesis.

 

[hibiscusmile]

I am wondering if the feeders are the problem? Could a feeder or two be extra dirty or not well itself or going to die soon from an injury or something, because the mantis do not all come down with this, only one or two, here and there. I have have an orchid with it, a sheild, a bud or two and not sure what else. It doesn't happen much, but about once every two months I find one like that.

Do the vets give any indication of where they get it from? Or if it is just normanly there and some are more prone to it than others?

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[Rick]

Saline would have nothing to do with clearing up any type of infectious agent.

 

[Entomo-logic]

the bacteria is found naturally on humans and on a lot of other organisms, so the feeders aren't out of the question as vectors for this infection. I would precaution don't feed any sickly looking prey (any cricket or waxworm with any sort of black markings on it) and WASH YOUR HANDS AND TOOLS BEFORE AND AFTER FEEDINGS! Sanitation would be the best prevention in the fight against this pathogen I would think. I wash my hands with surgical grade Nolvasan and sterilize the forceps I use to feed in a 3% Hydrogen Peroxide Solution before every feeding now. As for the saline swab it may have removed a large enough portion of the bacteria that the mantids immune system could cope with the numbers left behind.

 

[hibiscusmile]

Sounds like good advice to me!

 

[eur0pein]

that happend to me one time with my ghost mantis