Starnge tail behavior

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smittys said:
I took a closer look at my mantis and noticed 1. he wasn't dead, at least not yet. I picked him up and he moved a tiny bit. He is def. on his way out though. 2. I noticed the tip of his abdomen had a hole in it, almost looks like something was eating away at itAnyone know what this could be? Can they get some type of mite or parasite that would attack there exoskeleton?
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Chuck him in the freezer for half hour before examining this hole. Put the poor bugger out of its misery. Do you have a camera mate? Seeing it would help with this discussion. It could very well be part of its anatomy & no cause for concern. If it was inflicted, did you feed it something that could bite back (e.g. crickets) &, if so, was it in the enclosure as the mantid was moulting? You could go as far as eviscerating it (when its well & truly dead) to see if it had parasites but I'd wait for other suggestions before going ahead with that extreme measure.

James.

 
If your mantid was a Chinese mantid, then it shouldn't curve it's abdomen. It is true that some mantids curve their abdomen as explained above but you have to know which mantids do that. For those that don't, for instance like your mantid, if they have the curved abdomen then something's wrong. This year, I've had a case just like how you explained. I had a mantid who's abdomen was bent and I knew something was wrong because it isn't typical for the mantid I keep to do that. It died a few days later.

 
Ntsees said:
If your mantid was a Chinese mantid, then it shouldn't curve it's abdomen. It is true that some mantids curve their abdomen as explained above but you have to know which mantids do that. For those that don't, for instance like your mantid, if they have the curved abdomen then something's wrong. This year, I've had a case just like how you explained. I had a mantid who's abdomen was bent and I knew something was wrong because it isn't typical for the mantid I keep to do that. It died a few days later.
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Ok that makes more sense to me now. I just wish I knew what happened to him. He was nice and plump, I misted him every other day and he was eating very well. Then the bent abdomen and lack of appetite. He would seem fine one day and then the next wouldn't move. I thought he was getting ready for another molt but I guess there was something more serious going on.

 
Ntsees said:
If your mantid was a Chinese mantid, then it shouldn't curve it's abdomen. It is true that some mantids curve their abdomen as explained above but you have to know which mantids do that. For those that don't, for instance like your mantid, if they have the curved abdomen then something's wrong. This year, I've had a case just like how you explained. I had a mantid who's abdomen was bent and I knew something was wrong because it isn't typical for the mantid I keep to do that. It died a few days later.
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The bent abdomen problem on chinese has been discussed here many times. I have had it myself but it rarely seems to result in death.

 
Rick said:
The bent abdomen problem on chinese has been discussed here many times. I have had it myself but it rarely seems to result in death.
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Yeah, that might be true, but what I was trying to say was that if the mantid acted/looked different from the norm of that species, then I count it as something's wrong whether it lives or not. Interesting, I'm going to have to go and read the discussions on the bent abdomen problems.

 
jameslongo said:
Chuck him in the freezer for half hour before examining this hole. Put the poor bugger out of its misery. Do you have a camera mate? Seeing it would help with this discussion. It could very well be part of its anatomy & no cause for concern. If it was inflicted, did you feed it something that could bite back (e.g. crickets) &, if so, was it in the enclosure as the mantid was moulting? You could go as far as eviscerating it (when its well & truly dead) to see if it had parasites but I'd wait for other suggestions before going ahead with that extreme measure.James.
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I did put him in the freezer. I wish it didn't have to end it the same way my other one did. The freezer is becoming more of a morgue than anything else.

I would like to post a pic but the past few times I've tried the site wouldn't allow it. Any suggestions on how to post pics on here?

 

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