Saved an iris oratoria with aloe

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I have never ever seen a mantis survive any injury to the abdomen. This is a miraculous save. 

Long story short: My mantis was hanging out on the top of the enclosure. My new cat clawed the mantis in the abdominal region. A brownish substance was oozing from her and she could not walk anymore.  She was dying.    She was still able to move her mandible, so I gave her the gel of the aloe plant from my yard. I also used the aloe juice to clean her wound from the outside. She lost size, but the next day she was walking again! I gave her water and more aloe.  By day 3 she actually ate some fruit flies. She was a fighter.  She actually survived a whole month after a cat claw injury to the abdomen.

Just thought i would share that experience.  If you try to use aloe make sure it is the gel and not the latex. Aloe gel is the clear, jelly-like substance found in the inner part of the aloe plant leaf. Aloe latex comes from just under the plant's skin and is yellow in color.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

Mantids can be surprisingly resilient. I had one old lady mantis suffer a major rupture to her abdomen. When I found her, she had nearly bled out. She was shaky and barely able to move. I quickly offered water to replenish the fluids she had lost. Simply drinking vastly improved her functions, which I imagine is why the aloe likely helped also as it has a lot of fluids.  I offered some honey later to give to give my girl a boost of glucose. The wound scabbed over on its own with dried blood and she went on to live a couple more months before dying of old age.