split abdomen

[the_wheelman]

Im new to this whole mantid thing...I recently found an adult female in my house and after me and my daughter being wowed by the whole experience I decided to coax her outside..there she remained till the next morning so I asked my 5 yr old daughter if she wanted to keep her as a pet so we did..when i first seen the mantid I noticed a black "bulge" coming from her abdomen...thinking it was injured somehow I decided to keep an eye on it,it has been a week now and the split has increased and the mantid is very slow moving and not eating at all...is there anything I can do for her or is this a life threatening injury

 

[brancsikia339]

Im new to this whole mantid thing...I recently found an adult female in my house and after me and my daughter being wowed by the whole experience I decided to coax her outside..there she remained till the next morning so I asked my 5 yr old daughter if she wanted to keep her as a pet so we did..when i first seen the mantid I noticed a black "bulge" coming from her abdomen...thinking it was injured somehow I decided to keep an eye on it,it has been a week now and the split has increased and the mantid is very slow moving and not eating at all...is there anything I can do for her or is this a life threatening injury

Not sure. Could u post pics?

 

[MandellaMandy123]

Is it like this? http://mantidforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=27243 If so, she will die. Sorry...

 

[the_wheelman]

....it doesnt look like anything like guts..its contained,like it ate so much it split or egg sack couldnt come out back so it split the side

 

[Mvalenz]

That doesn't look too good. If it is a split or open wound and it's getting worse I don't think she has much longer. Sorry.

 

[the_wheelman]

it doesnt look normal or good...the mantis is still alive but not moving at all...should I put her out of her misery (do bugs even suffer??) or let it die on its own...I have another mantis that a friend gave me that is very lively and just laid an egg sack so Ill still have a "pet" for my daughter...want to do the right thing for this beautiful creature

 

[Mvalenz]

If it was eating I would think the split would get worse when the abdomen expands. From what you said it is not eating anyway. It could be an infection. See if it continues to get worse and if she doesn't eat. If so I would put her out of her misery. In the meantime try to give her a little honey. It might help if it is an infection. If it is not moving at all it is probably about to die on its own.

 

[the_wheelman]

thanks to all who posted replies...this is one very exciting creature to have and I look forward to having them in me and my daughters life

 

[Rick]

It looks like that one has been stepped on or maybe injured by a larger animal.

 

[brancsikia339]

She looks like her abdomen burst and she will sadly suffer the best thing to do is to put her out of her misery

 

[MandellaMandy123]

That's happened to a handful of my mantids over the years (I've been keeping them since age five) and the mantids never live through it. I'm glad you have another one for your daughter. Best thing to do is put her in the freezer, that slows their metabolism until they go to sleep and eventually die, thus it's not painful for the mantis. Sorry about this