Bad molt??

[LindsayAlexx]

I've got an L6 orchid mantis and up until now she's been molting very successfully about once every week and a half since I got her as an L3, but her latest molt (last night) seems to have gone bad. She didn't molt upside down for whatever reason, despite having plenty of spots to do so. Her 'arm' is bent at a strange angle (photo attached) and she can't use it properly to 'lick' her feet which she likes to do, but it hasn't had an affect on her overall mobility and she doesn't seem to be overtly stressed (I handled her very shortly this morning to deal with her enclosure and she was fine). I've done some reading and most say she'll be fine after her next molt and to hand feed or pre-kill/maim her food. Any other suggestions on what I can do so she has the best chance at surviving until her next molt? Should I move her to a smaller enclosure? I've cleared out a majority of the decorations so there's only a few bits in there that she can use to climb to the netting and hang upside down (she has plenty of other spots to do so as well). Her enclosure is plenty big for her size and she loves to explore, but she will need an upgrade soon. I'm going to be monitoring her more closely but I'm still very worried about her. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

[basin79]

I've got an L6 orchid mantis and up until now she's been molting very successfully about once every week and a half since I got her as an L3, but her latest molt (last night) seems to have gone bad. She didn't molt upside down for whatever reason, despite having plenty of spots to do so. Her 'arm' is bent at a strange angle (photo attached) and she can't use it properly to 'lick' her feet which she likes to do, but it hasn't had an affect on her overall mobility and she doesn't seem to be overtly stressed (I handled her very shortly this morning to deal with her enclosure and she was fine). I've done some reading and most say she'll be fine after her next molt and to hand feed or pre-kill/maim her food. Any other suggestions on what I can do so she has the best chance at surviving until her next molt? Should I move her to a smaller enclosure? I've cleared out a majority of the decorations so there's only a few bits in there that she can use to climb to the netting and hang upside down (she has plenty of other spots to do so as well). Her enclosure is plenty big for her size and she loves to explore, but she will need an upgrade soon. I'm going to be monitoring her more closely but I'm still very worried about her. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Just tong feed to make things easier for her. She'll hopefully moult perfectly next time. I'm sure you're aware mantids need 3x their length in height to moult. Sometimes they choose to moult where they come into contact with a decoration or similar.

If you don't already know mantids LOVE natural honey. Love it. So feeding her a little off a cocktail stick or similar will be eagerly eaten.

 

[JoP]

Any updates? Has she molted? From your photo, it looks like only one of her two raptorial claws is malformed from the mismolt, which is a good thing. Generally speaking, as long as a mantid has at least one functioning raptorial claw, they'll still be able to catch prey and should be fine. As an anecdotal example, I have a juvenile mantid right now who self-amputated one raptorial (no idea why), but is still happily catching flies with the other functional claw, and should grow the amputated one back with his next molt. If you want to make it easier on her, you can hand/tong-feed pre-killed prey, or slightly "maim" prey before placing it directly in front of her so it's easier for her to catch on her own. And, as others have mentioned, they love honey, so placing a little dab of honey on a toothpick and then putting it up to her mouth should be a nice treat for her, if you're willing.