sad day

[novaz]

Looked in on my Mantids before leaving for work this morning only to find my Beautifull Large male Chinese had mismolted into full adult and was lying on the bottom of tank in a mass of wings and twisted legs he was still alive but not moving unsure what to do i managed to prop him up on a stick and he grabbed it with his front legs .

I know its life and that the strong surviving is nature but to see that tiny little pin head nymph grow up almost to its full potential is kinda sad hopefully he may regain some strength to be able to pull out if the wreckage

Royz

 

[ismart]

Sounds pretty bad! I would probably put it out of it's misery.

 

[Rick]

There is nothing you can do in that situation. You can probably keep him alive by hand feeding. I personally wouldn't bother just to see it live like that.

 

[Jesskb]

I'm sorry Novaz.

 

[Seattle79]

I'm so sorry Royz. He's a great looking Mantis. Hopefully he will pull through somewhat but I don't know

-Kevin

 

[LauraMG]

That sucks! I had the same thing happen to my first Chinese. She wasn't so bad at that point that I put her down, but it did lead to her eventual demise because of prey injuring her. I hatched her out and cared for her for the duration of her life and I CRIED like a baby when I had to put her down.

 

[massaman]

it happens but just have to learn it has a short lifespan regardless but these things do happen to shorten their lives but just its just best not to get too attached when this happens!

 

[MrPitseleh]

I think if I was pretty sure he wasn't gonna make it I'd hand feed him a last meal and when he was almost finished and distracted I'd put him out of his misery.

 

[novaz]

well just got home and found that he was still alive but not even able to lift a leg when i touched it

so placed him on Cryogenic sleep matress

 

[mantisboy]

Sorry to hear it Novaz

 

[novaz]

Sad day #2

Thursday I found my female chinese in the same conditon after a molt

on the bottom of container and really tangled in her molt

I spent 3 hours with tweezers and magnifier helping her out

hand fed her a small cricket and misted her lightly

friday morning i looked in and she had moved a little from where i left her

but last night she was gone

so my question is what if anything am i doing wrong both times the containers have been more than big enough

ie at least 3 times body length and just a pair od diagonal twigs in the corners

seems i can bring them on from nymphs ok and the female was an L4 i purchased

are the last two molts just really difficult because of the size strangly my MIOMANTIS have all made it ok to adults and are just starting to mate

I feed and mist regularly so dont think thats the problem and temp and humidity is always good

Thanks for any ideas

Royz

 

[LauraMG]

Dude, that sucks. My guess is that your enclosure isn't tall enough and maybe humidity isn't high enough

So sorry for your losses

 

[novaz]

Dude, that sucks. My guess is that your enclosure isn't tall enough and maybe humidity isn't high enough

So sorry for your losses

Hi Laura

Thanks for the reply

my containers are 12" tall and humidity is such that most days glass is fogged over

a friend at work has his chinese in a container only 8" tall in an airconditioned office and has successfully got his to full adult

 

[Seattle79]

Sorry to hear that Royz . One suggestion would be is to line the top of your containers with paper towels. I think one of your containers is glass at the top - so not a great surface to molt from. All my young nymphs molted fine and with no problems when molting from the paper towels that lined the top of my containers. Because you have sticks in your containers doesn't mean they will molt from them. They always go to the highest place to molt - that means the top. I'm guessing your Mantids died because they couldn't get a firm foothold on the glass.

I hope all goes well,

-Kevin

 

[LauraMG]

Hi Laura

Thanks for the reply

my containers are 12" tall and humidity is such that most days glass is fogged over

a friend at work has his chinese in a container only 8" tall in an airconditioned office and has successfully got his to full adult

Ok, next thought is gripping surface as Seattle79 said . Do they have a screen top or a branch or something to grip while they molt? If it's too smooth of a surface they can fall also. I wouldn't suggest going any shorter than that with a Chinese though because they're so big.