Ghost mantis pre-molt symptoms?

Ratmosphere

Arachnoking
Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Messages
2,294
Do ghost mantises lose color and look smaller during pre-molt? Mine looks significantly smaller, hasn't eaten, and is green but recently has a brownish tint.
 

pannaking22

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2011
Messages
4,226
I'm not sure about the size, but the lack of eating is typically a premolt sign.
 

arizonablue

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Messages
96
I haven't noticed mine getting smaller before molts - before my male molted the last time he actually looked a bit overfed, because his larger abdomen was all squished up inside the exoskeleton. It flattened out a lot immediately after his molt. Hard to say about the color, as green males will always turn brown and green females will too if they're kept in a dry environment.
 

Ratmosphere

Arachnoking
Joined
Aug 23, 2015
Messages
2,294
The change in size could be the parts of brown making it look thinner; I'm just not use to seeing brown on my usually green mantis. Thanks guys!
 

dragonfire1577

Arachnodemon
Joined
Oct 7, 2015
Messages
697
they get sluggish, fatter, hang upside down a lot, and don't eat. Good luck with your mantis!
 

1Lord Of Ants1

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 9, 2010
Messages
310
Fatter? I wonder why that is!
It stands to reason they'll only get fatter as there's a larger mantis forming underneath. Most of the "fatness" consists of fluids needed to pump through the soft exoskeleton to expand its size before it dries and hardens.
 
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