Failed O. havanensis Molt, suggestions for future prevention?

[rwhhunt]

I came home today after getting fresh RO/DI water for tankwork...only to find my poor O.h. who I had just fed last night, dead. He had crawled all the way out to the front glass...
The only thing I did today was add some pH buffer+carbonate alkaline buffered DI top-off water, since was watertest this morning showed my pH around 7.8...
Could this have done in my little guy??
My nitrates were elevated for some reason, so I was about to do a water change tonight as well... I have never had any issues with molting in over 2.5 years of keeping mantid's, is there something I should be dosing with my DI water that I may be leaving out (iodine?)?

Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks
Ryan

 

[psychodave]

I dont believe its been proven that iodine helps them molt...I wouldnt worry about adding that. With what you added I dont know if that would cause a failed molt, hopefully the good Dr. will chime in...

 

[Pea-brain]

poor thing...

Iodine wouldn't help. All necessary iodine would be supplied by the diet. Iodine testing is also inaccurate, so its easy to nuke a tank that way. The low PH may have been a cause (a helpful hint to help the ph w/o chemicals is to open a window). If the mantis was molting you should avoid doing anything but topoff, and even that should be very slow. Especially with such a sensitive mantis. But another thing to keep in mind is that O. havenensis has a life span of 2-3 years (including life before capture), so it may not be your fault at all.

Dan

 

[rwhhunt]

I did notice his antennal scales were kinda miscolored, where they bleached out near the ends as in this picture. I noticed this for the first time just a couple of days ago.. I would not have messed with the top off or pH if I knew he was about to molt. He was active last night and had been wandering around the tank looking for food, business as usual... I have had him for almost exactly one year... But was a bit under 3"...

Does anyone out there use Ozone on their mantis tanks?
we just got a generator for ozonating liquids and oils for humans, but tried ozonating the tank water of a different tank to see if it would help with algae and such... (not on this mantis tank by the way). I have read that it will raise the ORP, but not sure what that translate to for inverts like stomatopods???

 

[Gonodactylus]

From what I can see, the animal was attempting to molt. The diseased cuticle probably did it in although a change in pH right around the time of a molt won't help. I have no data to show that iodine helps molting in stomatopods. Sorry, but that is about all I can offer.

Roy

 

[Feclar]

Sorry for the loss, very sad picture 8*(

Your substrate looks rocky, possibly harboring the nitrates?
Turkey basted?