Tenodora sinensis mismolt

[cwebster]

Thomas, we got a Homedics cool mist ultrasonic humidifier today. Is it ok to use reverse osmosis water? I dont want to hurt Minty Mantis. I will put a hygrometer in the bathroom to try to increase the humidity to about 60 %. Will consider whether it would be better to put a small hose into his mesh cage. This is supposed to serve a medium size room and runs for 44 hrs with a full tank. Any suggestions? He seems to be eating but one foreleg is kind of weaker. Have given him a little honey a few times per day. 

 

[CosbyArt]

As you responded to two topics about your humidifier I simply pasted your quotes here to respond to them all at once.

Thomas, we got a Homedics cool mist ultrasonic humidifier today. Is it ok to use reverse osmosis water? I dont want to hurt Minty Mantis. I will put a hygrometer in the bathroom to try to increase the humidity to about 60 %. Will consider whether it would be better to put a small hose into his mesh cage. This is supposed to serve a medium size room and runs for 44 hrs with a full tank. Any suggestions? He seems to be eating but one foreleg is kind of weaker. Have given him a little honey a few times per day. 

Reverse Osmosis water for humidifiers is preferred due to the lack of minerals and other impurities that are filtered out, which will make your humidifier last longer and help prevent the white chalky build-up of minerals/etc from the humid air drying on nearby objects.

Is Minty's foreleg still weak? What problems are associated with it?

Suggestion wise it sounds like you have everything covered in your quotes below, besides what I will mention there. If you have anything else specific though just ask.

Ok, we bought a Homedics humidifier at Costco. Minty is now enjoying higher humidity plus a stable temp. Am trying to keep the humidity at about 60 and temp at about 70. He seems happier. He is grooming more and seems more cheery. 

Great to hear you got one. With it running 44hours per tank fill-up is a great plus for you (less refills) - but likely is the run-time with the control set to the minimum.

Nice to hear he seems to be enjoying it and more active.

The humidifier may ge too strong. Is 70% harmful? Thanks.

Humidity higher than rated in their care sheets can be harmful, and in some species will lead to their death (I've read a few species are very sensitive to it). Your species however shouldn't be that affected, but I would recommend adjusting the humidifier's control to decrease the humidity level/on time to get 50-55% (that way bumps of higher/lower humidity will be in range).

 

[cwebster]

Tohomas, thanks for your help. Mintys foreleg looks ok but he doesnt seem to be grabbing bugs as much as id like to see. He looks kind of thin. He gets around fine and nibbles at offered honey and grooms more than he used to. I so hope he will literally hang around a lot longer. The humidifier is too powerful even on the lowest setting so i turn it on and off but i wont be able to do that when i go back to work this week. Am using reverse osmosis water. 

 

[CosbyArt]

Tohomas, thanks for your help. Mintys foreleg looks ok but he doesnt seem to be grabbing bugs as much as id like to see. He looks kind of thin. He gets around fine and nibbles at offered honey and grooms more than he used to. I so hope he will literally hang around a lot longer. The humidifier is too powerful even on the lowest setting so i turn it on and off but i wont be able to do that when i go back to work this week. Am using reverse osmosis water. 

It could be he is just being the typical male mantid and not eating much. You may have some luck though offering him smaller prey (easier to tackle and eat, and preferred by some) or other feeders than usually offered.

For the humidifier, if you are using tubes to "pipe" the humidity to your mantis then simply move the tube further away. Or if it is simply treating the air in the room, then open the doors or such to help lessen the humidity level.

The best option though is to get a humidity controller, here is such a unit. You plug your humidifier power cord into the controller outlet, place the humidity sensor in/near the mantis habitat, and set the humidity controller level wanted. It will then turn your humidifier on and off as needed, and most are accurate within 1%. Personally though I use a more DIY version, it works great but everything has to be screwed into the controller strips (and a fuse unit and such have to be added manually for safety) or wall outlet plugs have to be added to the unit - not a simple plug and use type.

 

[cwebster]

Thomas, thanks again for the humidifier suggestions, i apologize for misspellings in my last post. I hate autocorrect and dont always catch any changes. Will check out the links. Have been considering a humidifier i found: http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/powerpure-2000-cool-mist-ultrasonic-humidifier.html. Am worried Minty will drop dead the minute i get something. Am going to take the current humidifier back because i have to basically turn it on and off every hour or it gets way too humid and i have to go back to work. Cant leave the room door open or the cats will get inside and dump the six cricket containers and if i leave the window cracked it is hard to keep Minty at the right temp when ut is about 35 to 40 F outside. So think it is time for a new humidifier with a controller or to add one as you suggested.  Minty looked thin and a little shaky so handed him a two week plus cricket. He dropped the first one but ate the second one offered. He seems to have a little trouble with one raptorial leg but seemed happier after eating the offered bug. Will order something tomorrow to work better than the current humidifier. Hope all your critters are doing well.

 

[CosbyArt]

Thomas, thanks again for the humidifier suggestions, i apologize for misspellings in my last post. I hate autocorrect and dont always catch any changes. Will check out the links. Have been considering a humidifier i found: http://www.allergybuyersclub.com/powerpure-2000-cool-mist-ultrasonic-humidifier.html. Am worried Minty will drop dead the minute i get something. Am going to take the current humidifier back because i have to basically turn it on and off every hour or it gets way too humid and i have to go back to work. Cant leave the room door open or the cats will get inside and dump the six cricket containers and if i leave the window cracked it is hard to keep Minty at the right temp when ut is about 35 to 40 F outside. So think it is time for a new humidifier with a controller or to add one as you suggested.  Minty looked thin and a little shaky so handed him a two week plus cricket. He dropped the first one but ate the second one offered. He seems to have a little trouble with one raptorial leg but seemed happier after eating the offered bug. Will order something tomorrow to work better than the current humidifier. Hope all your critters are doing well.

No problem, and is rather common.

Well for the money for the unit you linked to, you could instead by the #1 selling humidifier from Amazon (with a 4.4 out of 5 stars from 4000+ reviews) and have enough money left to buy a automatic humidity controller as well (would be free shipping if purchased together too). That would give Minty the perfect humidity, and with the smaller room the humidifier would likely need to be filled only once a day.

Sounds as if Minty does have another molted leg issue then with with frontal leg/raptioral forearm. If that is the case I would suggest using smaller crickets, and/or using tweezers to remove the crickets big hind legs (which will even the playing field for Minty allowing him to eat easier, and a trick I do for most of my mantids).

 

[cwebster]

Thomas, our Inkbird controller from Amazon arrived today and is working great. It controls both the temperature and humidity nearly perfectly. We found it because it was listed near the link you sent. Thanks!

 

[CosbyArt]

Thomas, our Inkbird controller from Amazon arrived today and is working great. It controls both the temperature and humidity nearly perfectly. We found it because it was listed near the link you sent. Thanks!

That is great to hear it solved your problem and is working so well. Your welcome, and glad I could help.

 

[cwebster]

The only trick is to make sure when i bathe in the room to put the sensor in a plastic bag or towel. Otherwise the alarm goes off that the humidity is out of range. Minty seems happy and doing fine. He ate a cricket out of my hand two days ago and continues to nibble at his treat honey despite his bad back rear leg. 

 

[CosbyArt]

The only trick is to make sure when i bathe in the room to put the sensor in a plastic bag or towel. Otherwise the alarm goes off that the humidity is out of range. Minty seems happy and doing fine. He ate a cricket out of my hand two days ago and continues to nibble at his treat honey despite his bad back rear leg. 

I bet a shower does send the controller into a fit; however, sounds like you found a way by it. If nothing else you could also switch it off before, and back on after bathing too.

Great to hear about Minty, and he should get better with his leg as he ages and learns to use it.