Shes the Wanderer

[massaman]

ok I just got a chinese female a few days ago and she ate ok first day i got her 2 and half crickets and the next day she ate a few crickets and then she walks all around in the net cube I have her in and I know she is going to molt soon because her wing buds are getting bigger but wondering if the buds would kind of get her worked up to walk around the cube inside and stop in one spot for a period and then move to another spot and stop and not move and she repeats this process and well now she sees a bug and looks like she is going to grab it but she swats it and wonder if swatting can also look like shes trying to grab at it as well! So is this the typical behavior for a molting mantis as the previous female who I had died from mismolting she did not act nothing like this though she was not in a net cube!

 

[vera_renczi]

I'm sure she's just scaring the food away because she's about to molt. my sister's budwing walked around the entire time it was molting once. really strange, but he lived though it and didn't even come out with a deformity.

 

[ABbuggin]

When mantids are about to shed, they do a lot of wondering trying to find a good spot to shed. A due to shed mantid will "flick" prey away because it doesn't want to be bothered. It would be a good idea to take out the prey until shed sheds, just make sure to mist her once a day.

 

[Ntsees]

ok I just got a chinese female a few days ago and she ate ok first day i got her 2 and half crickets and the next day she ate a few crickets and then she walks all around in the net cube I have her in and I know she is going to molt soon because her wing buds are getting bigger but wondering if the buds would kind of get her worked up to walk around the cube inside and stop in one spot for a period and then move to another spot and stop and not move and she repeats this process and well now she sees a bug and looks like she is going to grab it but she swats it and wonder if swatting can also look like shes trying to grab at it as well! So is this the typical behavior for a molting mantis as the previous female who I had died from mismolting she did not act nothing like this though she was not in a net cube!

Other people may have different opinions, but for me, a mantid that moves around a lot means that it is not used to it's new surroundings yet. This happens to me often whenever I capture wild mantids as they are not used to the confinement. After some time, they will settle down.

 

[superfreak]

my ones tend to walk around a lot before molting too. I think its partly because they see me walking around my room and are trying to find a more secluded spot (they settle down and start molting when i turn the lights off and leave the room - what is it they say about a watched kettle? lol)

 

[ismart]

When mantids are about to shed, they do a lot of wondering trying to find a good spot to shed. A due to shed mantid will "flick" prey away because it doesn't want to be bothered. It would be a good idea to take out the prey until shed sheds, just make sure to mist her once a day.

+1!