Thistle Mantis Not Eating

[Serle]

I have had 4 Blepharopsis just stop eating at the 6/7L instar .

Three have died and I have one left that has been hand fed and coxed along . She can grab feeders but seems scared off when she finds them alive. I know that she's starving just seem a shame to almost achieve adulthood ( 7months ) and fade out.   Any one have an idea ?.........  S

 

[Connor]

My presubs eat fine. But once one of my presubs turned sub she stopped eating. She catches flies, takes a bite, then freaks out and throws it. Her mouth has turned black and claws have started too. Always thin but seems to eat enough to survive. She’s been like this as a sub for 3-4 months...

my new presubs eat completely fine I’m just hoping once they molt they don’t do the same. 

Im hoping someone that had kept a generation of these can comment on this!

 

[Connor]

So I have gotten some info on this from a pretty reliable source... apparently the Egyptian species of thistles need to be diapaused as nymphs(weird af I know) when the are around presub until they molt to sub. Like keeping them room temp or a little lower until they molt to sub. Still feed them but make sure not to gut load them. 

This is what I was told so that you can successfully raise them to adulthood. Hope this helps

 

[Tonypace2009]

So I have gotten some info on this from a pretty reliable source... apparently the Egyptian species of thistles need to be diapaused as nymphs(weird af I know) when the are around presub until they molt to sub. Like keeping them room temp or a little lower until they molt to sub. Still feed them but make sure not to gut load them. 

This is what I was told so that you can successfully raise them to adulthood. Hope this helps

Thanks for sharing. Do you have a picture of there enclosures as nymphs L2 through L5  Mine seemed to suffer from mismolts  (fell before molting) I have tried tulle fabric and paper towell , bamboo skewers at the top of cup and only got one two L3 before it two was face down on the bottom of the cup. tried to get them hanging again to no avail.

 

[Connor]

@Tonypace2009 I have kept them with success in 32 oz deli cups... I use mesh lids with this sp.. I did have one of them fall as soon as he started molting. Fortunately I was there and able to help him. Since then no problems. You could try a net cage if you are really struggling. Just remember that these guys need hot temps and low humidity.

 

[Tonypace2009]

@Tonypace2009 I have kept them with success in 32 oz deli cups... I use mesh lids with this sp.. I did have one of them fall as soon as he started molting. Fortunately I was there and able to help him. Since then no problems. You could try a net cage if you are really struggling. Just remember that these guys need hot temps and low humidity.

Next time around Thats what I am going to try the net cages . I was keeping them right next to my violins the daytime high was about 86 to 88 and about 79 to 80 night time  is this good or do they need higher temps

 

[agent A]

there are a few things that could be going on

1- your temp may be too low. i reared this species at about 95F by day and 70F by night. it may be more important for older nymphs to have high heat to ensure they metabolize efficiently

2- they may be getting infections. i am reading about necrosis and it could be something infecting your nymphs. i'd bleach the equiptment

3- they may be suffering from the effects of inbreeding depression. i am not sure how many generations out this line is but sometimes a lethal recessive sweeps through an inbred line and causes a sudden failure to thrive. inbreeding can mess with everything from metabolism to reproduction and while this is probably not the issue, it's something to keep in mind

in regard to the diapause statement- if they enter a diapause it may be independent of their conditions-they just need their winter climate to come out of diapause

 

[agent A]

Thanks for sharing. Do you have a picture of there enclosures as nymphs L2 through L5  Mine seemed to suffer from mismolts  (fell before molting) I have tried tulle fabric and paper towell , bamboo skewers at the top of cup and only got one two L3 before it two was face down on the bottom of the cup. tried to get them hanging again to no avail.

i used thin sweet birch twigs for mine and had no issues with molting. you should get a bundle of thin twigs and make a fan or net structure out of them

 

[agent A]

Thanks for sharing. Do you have a picture of there enclosures as nymphs L2 through L5  Mine seemed to suffer from mismolts  (fell before molting) I have tried tulle fabric and paper towell , bamboo skewers at the top of cup and only got one two L3 before it two was face down on the bottom of the cup. tried to get them hanging again to no avail.

i used thin sweet birch twigs for mine and had no issues with molting. you should get a bundle of thin twigs and make a fan or net structure out of them

 

[Tonypace2009]

there are a few things that could be going on

1- your temp may be too low. i reared this species at about 95F by day and 70F by night. it may be more important for older nymphs to have high heat to ensure they metabolize efficiently

2- they may be getting infections. i am reading about necrosis and it could be something infecting your nymphs. i'd bleach the equiptment

3- they may be suffering from the effects of inbreeding depression. i am not sure how many generations out this line is but sometimes a lethal recessive sweeps through an inbred line and causes a sudden failure to thrive. inbreeding can mess with everything from metabolism to reproduction and while this is probably not the issue, it's something to keep in mind

in regard to the diapause statement- if they enter a diapause it may be independent of their conditions-they just need their winter climate to come out of diapause

95 by day and 70 night will change set up next time and run a dedicated heat source for these (they were sharing the heat source I use for my violins) 

I guess the  over 20 degree drop in temperature is just as important as the high temperature ? 

i used thin sweet birch twigs for mine and had no issues with molting. you should get a bundle of thin twigs and make a fan or net structure out of them

so small twigs with a bark texture for grip  thanks

 

[agent A]

95 by day and 70 night will change set up next time and run a dedicated heat source for these (they were sharing the heat source I use for my violins) 

I guess the  over 20 degree drop in temperature is just as important as the high temperature ? 

so small twigs with a bark texture for grip  thanks

yes since in a desert, temps drop drasically at night

it may help metabolic processes