Oh yes thistles are especially bad about that. I had one female nymph that would watch everything going on outside her deli cup and she would strike the side of the cup at any shadow or perceived movement near her. I would hear her striking at the plastic every 5 minutes for hours on end until I fed her. (She'd do this all night while I was trying to sleep too.) And when I finally did feed her she would only be quiet & calm for about 3 to 4 hours before she was back at it again. It's like she thought I was starving her even though I had fed her generously just a few hours earlier.
And most thistles do have a whole body twitch when hunting or enjoying their food but what this female was doing was very different. She wasn't shaking her body, only her head, and she did it in a way that looked like she had a neurological disorder. This combined with her joints drying badly from what was likely a fall had me greatly concerned that she had given herself brain damage too but as soon as I fed her, she focused like a laser on the food and the head shake disappeared. It hasn't returned since. I don't know what to make of it but I'm so glad she's doing better.
She's learning how to move around better with her bad limbs. She was super clumsy about it at first staying on the branch near the the bottom of her enclosure but now she can drag herself up her branch and kinda half hang from the ceiling half on the branch. I'm thinking I should install some fiberglass window screen or tulle on the sides of her terrarium so she can use it to climb. I'm going to curve it inward towards the bottom like a safety net to catch her if she falls. I think I saw
@Synapze do something similar for one of his injured mantises.
