She just threw up! :(

[PlayingMantis]

My T. sinensis stopped eating last Friday, laid an ooth on Sunday, and voraciously ate two crickets Sunday night. Ever since then, she refused to eat crickets. I used tweezers to hold the cricket in front of her face, and she would use her raptorials to push it away. So I've been feeding her honey and water, which she eats happily. Today morning, she was really thirsty and kept gulping down water from the eye dropper. Then suddenly, she went "bleghh" and threw up all the liquid. The vomit is very watery and transparent, with a light tan-colored tinge.

She seems a little less active than before, and a couple of times she lost the footing at the edge of the table and she fell (and I caught her, because I try to supervise her free-roaming sessions). Also, normally her poop is light gray and dry, but today it is completely black and slightly wet.

I found her in mid October and she was really pregnant, and she laid a huge ooth a few days later. The ooth she laid on Sunday is her second ooth. I've been feeding her crickets from the pet store, which I keep for a few days before feeding them to her, and she's been fine until now.

Any ideas what I could do?

 

[MandellaMandy123]

Sound like she could have eaten a bad cricket. She's also probably getting pretty old, but old age alone shouldn't cause throwing up. How long do you keep the crickets before feeding them to her, and what do you feed them while you have them?

 

[agent A]

well she seemed to have binged on crickets then puked them back up, so...

jk she probably is sick

give her water and warm her up so she can pass the crud through quicker

 

[PlayingMantis]

Thank you both for the replies. I read that you should keep crickets for at least 48 hrs before feeding them to your mantis, but I kept mine for at least 3-4 days just to be safe. The crickets she had on Sunday were purchased the Wednesday before. I fed my crickets potatoes, tomatoes, and kiwi. The crickets have been eating and pooping a lot, though a couple of them did suddenly become lethargic so I removed them and threw them away. The other crickets are quite active.

I think she is getting old but I love her so much, I hope she can stay with me for a bit longer! The last T. sinensis I had, she lived until almost Christmas.

I've been giving her some more water and honey. And I wonder if she's too cold? It is 64F in my home. Actually, she just climbed on top of my laptop and is resting there...I wonder if it's because she likes the warmth?

 

[PlayingMantis]

Oh no, she walked a little bit and then threw up again. I put her on some towels on a heating mat, which I've been using to keep my plants warm (sorry plants, you all have to move out of the way for Zoe - that's what I named my mantis). The heating pad is set up with T5 lights which may provide some extra warmth.

She is now grooming herself. Edit: She is now holding her body close to the towel. Her abdomen is pulsing slowly...don't know what that means.




I just hope she will stop throwing up.

 

[mantiseater]

Today i saw a Chinese mantis that was still alive at school. I can't believe that it survived it was snowing at my school today and its 18 degrees right now.

 

[sally]

I think 64 is too cold, so it is good to keep her on the warming mat. Is the throwup black? All you can do is keep her warm and give lots of water. I hope she gets better for you.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Thanks Sally. And about an hour again, I thought she was back to normal, walking around, looking up at me, and trying to crawl up my sweater. So I let her...she walked up my arm, across my back, and "blegh"...she threw up on my sweater! This is the 3rd time she threw up today! Nope, the vomit is not black. It's more like a light brown/tan color. However, this 3rd time she threw up, the vomit was darker in color (medium brown), smelled bad (I didn't notice a smell the first 2 times), and had small particles (partially digested cricket maybe? eww :helpsmilie: ).

I now turned up the heat and put her back in her enclosure, in a warmer room for the night, where it's 71F. She's been drinking water and eating a little honey. She is now hanging upside down and grooming her leg. I just hope she pulls through this.

Mantiseater -- I had no idea these mantids can still survive in subfreezing temperatures! I suppose they're tougher than I gave them credit for! :blush:

 

[PlayingMantis]

Also, this is a weird question, but does the color of the vomit lend any insight into how serious the illness is? Also, she is drinking water like there's no tomorrow. I don't know if the thirst is due to the heat/low humidity or dehydration from vomiting. Is it OK to keep giving her water? I mean, I don't want her to "overdose" on water.

Thanks again! I am new to keeping mantids and this is the first time dealing with such an issue.

 

[sally]

If you look up black or dark vomit on the forums you will see a ton of info. I never saw any other color than brown or very dark vomit. I hope everything is ok. It usually is an infection though. You are doing all you can right now.

 

[MandellaMandy123]

The pulsing abdomen is just her breathing. Don't worry about that. If she continues to vomit, I would try another food source. The crickets were probably the source of the problem. She looks pretty old in the picture, though, so she's probably nearing the end of her life too. 64 degrees seems a little cold like the others said, so it's good that you're keeping her warm.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Thanks all. Well, she had some honey/water last night and this morning. This evening, I gave her some more water - she didn't want honey. And she threw up again. This time it was all watery, light tan colored, no particles. I wonder if she's so sick she can't keep anything down, or if she's deliberately drinking water to clean out her stomach.

WolfPuppy, yeah she is pretty old. Lately she's been trying to climb, and she kept falling from trying to climb things, so that's why her wing tips are broken off. I think she still has the fighting spirit - still walking around!

 

[Sticky]

Shes not an old lady yet, she still has all her fingers and toes. Meaning her feet have not hardened and broken off. They turn brown then break right off with no pain.

Keep giving her water. Thats the best. Flies are a good food, like blue bottles. Some of our members like Rebecca sell them. They are easy to eat and oh so fun to catch and hold. Roaches like dubias are also good.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Ahh she puked again. This time it had particles again. I plugged up my nose because I just had dinner and I don't feel like smelling it.

I also took a photo of the puke, if it helps any. Is it OK to have a link to flickr? I don't want to put the picture here because it might gross you out...someone of you might have just had dinner, etc. So only click the link below if you want to see the nasty puke.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/75490721@N02/10847972835/

Sticky - yep, glad she still has her appendages all intact! Though climbing seems more of a chore for her, she was just able to climb to the top of the table.

And I think I will now avoid Petco/Petsmart crickets. I think I will get something from Rebecca's shop.

 

[sally]

That is a lot of vomit poor little thing.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Yeah I feel so bad for her. I didn't know a mantis could have so much to vomit! I mean, this is the 5th time since yesterday.

Also her abdomen started contracting strongly, not just regular pulsing, and she passed one small poop. She opened her mouth and nothing came out. But then later I saw her mouth moving and chewing something and I heard some cracking sounds. This whole experience is so weird and nerve-wracking.

 

[Sticky]

The cracking noise might very well mean shes hungry. That sounds good. Shes a very lucky lady to survive this well. Very!

You might try a superworm, I buy those at a petstore. They might not be the most nutrisious but it will give her something to eat and put food back in her system. Give the sperworms peices of apple, organic if you can get it. Never carrot! That will kill Zoe.

Good luck with her.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Zoe did not throw up today! Yay! She seemed more alert than yesterday and kept turning her head and staring at me. She's been drinking water, and I tried giving her honey, but she kept wiping her mouth against the wall and spitting out the honey. I mixed the honey with some water and she drank it. I have not gotten a chance to get worms today. She passed a few pieces of waste that are dark colored, small, and mostly dry. I think I will give her one more day to clear out her system and then feed her worm goo.

Edit: she ate the honey and swallowed it!

And she climbed up the blinds and stood at the very top, staring me down. :stuart:

 

[PlayingMantis]

I want to update you guys to say that Zoe is back to normal! She's hungrier than before...she tried attacking my finger and even a piece of my hair, lol. Thank you all for the help and support. I was so scared that I would lose her! I've never been so happy to have my finger pinched by a mantis.