Watery Feces and Keeping My Mantis Clean

[JP77]

Recently I decided to give my cricket cultures a bit of a break and have been feeding my mantids wild caught grasshoppers. My adult female Rhomodera, however, began having watery feces, but she is not vomiting. It may have been from the change of diet, or she ate an old or bad grasshopper. Her feces are a dark brown, strong smelling liquid and she has been drinking quite a bit. She has also been refusing food for a few days now, even honey.

My main concern is keeping her clean. I change and clean her container out every day at least. Since her feces aren't solid, she gets some on her wings since she likes to hang upside down and some remnants on her butt. What is the best way to keep her clean? Is it alright to use hand soap on her, or will that make her ill? My concern is that she might get an infection from unsanitary conditions.

 

[Ranitomeya]

There's always a risk involved when feeding wild caught food. She could have ingested any toxins the grasshopper either stored or came in contact with, any variety of harmful microbes, and there is always a risk of horsehair worm infection when feeding wild caught terrestrial insects.

You can use a squirt bottle to gently spray feces off her abdomen--do not use soap as soaps can damage the waxy layer insects have on their exoskeleton--it's responsible for keeping them from losing excess moisture through dehydration as well as providing another layer of protection against pathogens and certain types of damage.

If she has watery feces, it's probably too late to prevent her from getting an infection as it sounds like she may already have one, but keeping her clean will help prevent her from getting another.

 

[JP77]

Thanks for your help. I'll use a wet q-tip to try and remove what I can. She's still moving about pretty well so hopefully she'll pull through.