Mantis lost clubs during molt
- Thread starter Wocka
- Start date
Thurge
New member
Molt nearly gone disasterously wrong, your mantis literally had to rip its arms off to finish its molt, or die. How long it takes to recover depends on the mantis and its age. As they get older they take longer between molts. The good news is, according to Dr. Roy, when a mantis looses both clubs it will put all its energy into molting and repairing. Figure at least 4 molts go really recover. You will need to feed your friend the best marine foods you can: Silversides, krill, scallops, sandeels, fresh snail (your mantis may not be able to crack a shell, but a gentle "tap" with a hammer will mitigate that problem), crab (again treated to a hammer massage). Soak it all in Selcon. You may even have some luck getting your mantis to eat canrivor pellets (Squirtle loved then when he was small), again soaked in Selcon or other vitiman soak.
i think he lost hits arm appendages because when he was burrowed up i gave him a big sand crab/flea thing from the beach (they look white and are used for fishing bait) and i think when he tried bashing it with his soft arm it didnt work.. so this is a bummer now i feel like he doesnt want to come out anymore, ill keep him well fed with krill. what is selcon? is that like a antibiotic solution to stop infections or simply to help him regrow? its kinda hard to see him regrowing his whole arm appendage with the muscles and everything being strong again
Thurge
New member
That could be, and is a reason its advised to leave mantis's alone when they hole up for molting. Still though it will recover completly, muscles and all. They can regrow many lost appendages. About the only things I know of that they don't regrow are eyes and large portions of the body (which would be a dead mantis).
Selcon is a vitamin and Ultra High Fat food supliment. Most LFS should carry it.
Selcon is a vitamin and Ultra High Fat food supliment. Most LFS should carry it.
+1 on soaking food with selcon or some other marine supplement. also, up the feedings to everyday. the goal is to get him to molt (leave it alone when he's molting).
some people will tell ya to dose iodine to help molting. dont. it doesnt help and may even be detrimental to the mantis' health.
dont worry about it too much. like thurge said, they can regrow these appendages. before the bad molt, were you feeding an occasional hard shelled live food like snail, crab or hermit? if a mantis doesnt use its raps enough, they become useless (basically out of shape) and fall off the next molt.
i wouldnt be surprised if the mantis was more reclusive than usual until it gets its raps back. like you said, it is defenseless now. on the bright side, you may be able to hand feed it now that it cant make you bleed.
some people will tell ya to dose iodine to help molting. dont. it doesnt help and may even be detrimental to the mantis' health.
dont worry about it too much. like thurge said, they can regrow these appendages. before the bad molt, were you feeding an occasional hard shelled live food like snail, crab or hermit? if a mantis doesnt use its raps enough, they become useless (basically out of shape) and fall off the next molt.
i wouldnt be surprised if the mantis was more reclusive than usual until it gets its raps back. like you said, it is defenseless now. on the bright side, you may be able to hand feed it now that it cant make you bleed.
