this is what happens when you don't mist...

[warpdrive]

Hi everyone,

so I'm basicly retired and only work 2 days a week. but I had to work all week and I might even be called in today too. :helpsmilie:

my back is killing me. my feet want to fall off. I can't even keep my eyes open as I've barely had any sleep with all this pain.

so sue me. I didn't mist any of my mantids last night. but I should have known better.

after all, just what happens when you forget to mist? well, almost every mantid you own desided to molt. :devil:

but what I found that molted is crazy.

my H majuscula female, that I got as a freashly molted sub adult is now a full adult!!!!

I'm not saying that Yen gave me bad info, but he did say that my pair was freashly molted and I didn't expect this.

sure, she stoped eating for a day. in fact the two BB flys are still in her cage. but this seems to be at least a few weeks early, if not a month too early for her to molt.

my male is still eatting like he landed in an all you can eat buffet, so he's clearly not ready.

so I know what you are going to say...Harry, stop being silly. she molted right on time. you got a slightly older female then Yen believed, and it's all good as she molted perfectly.

so here is my reply to you...Oh yeah, well if that doesn't seem strange, then how about me also finding an L5 Idolo after it only molted to L4 just a week ago? huh? riddle me that, I dare you?

what if I told you that I don't even have a heat lamp on the cage? my temps are what I call even a bit low to keep Idolos (76F-78F when heat is off, upto 84F when heat is blasting in my apartment).

yet I have a perfectly molted L5. it's clearly bigger then the L4s and I have the molted skin so I must not be going crazy. :blush:

but from L4 to L5 should be about 3 weeks. I'm not even sure I got my L3s that long ago, and they all just changed to L4 over the last week. so what in the world is going on?

here are some pics..

I tried to post a side by side photo to show you the size differance, but her legs were still not hard enough to hold her upright, so I just put her right back after I took the bellow images.

at least you can tell that her head is bigger then the males. the size differance in the shields are a better way to show the differance, but I had to put her back and could not take my time and get a good shot.

my girl...

well, I've always said that if you forget to mist them, they will molt on ya. thankfully, all turned out great.

I hope you enjoy. I'm going back to bed.

edit: more pics on page 2

Harry

 

[agent A]

That's a nice hierodula lol

 

[CoolMantid]

That means my H Majuscula MIGHT molt soon. Got to go mist my mantids now!!!!!!!

 

[warpdrive]

That means my H Majuscula MIGHT molt soon. Got to go mist my mantids now!!!!!!!

I would just wait till your pigs stop eating for a day. then mist like crazy.

I'm far from an expert, but my pigs don't stop eating for any other reason. really, just look how fat she is even after her molt.

oh, I did notice that her wing buds were puffy for two days prior but I thought that it was just my eyes playing tricks on me. so look for this too before you go crazy on the misting.

Harry

 

[warpdrive]

That's a nice hierodula lol

thanks.

both the male and the female love to come out and play with my friends. they are so friendly and I love them to death.

I almost didn't get them as I'm not into the big mantids. but I'm glad I did...you hear that Yen, you can't have them back. forget it! they are mine!!!!!!

Harry

 

[CoolMantid]

Ya. my female hasnt eaten in a while. put will flick away food. My male continues to eat.

 

[Mvalenz]

Nice pics.

I have all my mantids under heat lamp. Mist idolos twice a day unless they stop eating before a molt. I keep them at 95° during day and about 85° at night. H. Majuscula I mist once a day. One of them will usually eat right through a molt though. I Keep them at 85°/75°. So far so good. Sound right to you guys?

 

[warpdrive]

Nice pics.

I have all my mantids under heat lamp. Mist idolos twice a day unless they stop eating before a molt. I keep them at 95° during day and about 85° at night. H. Majuscula I mist once a day. One of them will usually eat right through a molt though. I Keep them at 85°/75°. So far so good. Sound right to you guys?

yes. sounds perfect.

that's why it's crazy that I have an L5 Idolo with my temps in just 10 days since it molted to L4.

Harry

 

[Mvalenz]

How are you gauging the temp? Are you just using the thermostat in your apartment? And what do you have around around your enclosures? Any FF cultures or anything that emits heat?

 

[Termite48]

Not wanting to be stupid, but what does having ff cultures around the mantids' enclosures have to do with anything? Do you mean if they are on a heating mat?

 

[warpdrive]

no, my Co-Op controles the heat based on the temps outside. I can't controle it at all, other then shutting off my radiators in each room...and keeping windows cracked open when it gets too warm. I even used my AC last week as it was just way too hot for my chameleons in my livingroom.

my bedroom is where I keep my bugs. I keep the door closed to keep the heat in and only keep it open when I'm inside to deal with them so they get some fresh air. I use a simple digital temp and humidity gages that you can get at any hardware store or a local walmart.

I was going to remove all my female Idolos to an exotera in my livingroom today, but I'm too tired and lazy. I'm suprised I'm not fast asleep as I'm dead today.

my Idolo cage is also the highest cage on my dresser. it is slightly above my head and the temps up high is higher then say the cages bellow them...as heat travels upward in my room.

but temps are what the meters say they are, and that is far bellow what most should keep them at.

Harry

 

[gripen]

Not to be a Debby Donner or anything but I'm not convinced the idolo is and L5. My L5 is SOOOOOO much bigger than my L4s. I'm not an expert but I think it could just be a large L4.

The majuscula is very pretty! Can you get more pics of her?

 

[Mvalenz]

Not wanting to be stupid, but what does having ff cultures around the mantids' enclosures have to do with anything? Do you mean if they are on a heating mat?

I read that they give off heat. Not sure how much though. Anyone have one of those pointer thermometers to check the heat of a culture? Just out of curiosity.

 

[agent A]

I read that they give off heat. Not sure how much though. Anyone have one of those pointer thermometers to check the heat of a culture? Just out of curiosity.

I'll stick one of my moms meat thermometers in it!!!

 

[patrickfraser]

I know that the GB and BB I raise give off a lot of heat when "brewing". They like to stay in a large group to keep the heat amongst themselves. If felt from below it can actually be hot at times, especially if it is cold out.

 

[agent A]

Well I tried culturing both bottlefly species in the same bucket inside and ended up stinking up the whole house for a week and we had the heat on so we couldn't open the window to air the place out (good thing I can't smell lol)

 

[agent A]

Well neither of my 2 ff cultures r giving off any heat

 

[CoolMantid]

Well I tried culturing both bottlefly species in the same bucket inside and ended up stinking up the whole house for a week and we had the heat on so we couldn't open the window to air the place out (good thing I can't smell lol)

I tried that. The smell was so strong! Why cant you smell? Do you have anosmia?

 

[agent A]

I tried that. The smell was so strong! Why cant you smell? Do you have anosmia?

Yes, yes I do

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