Hi all

One of my baby mantids moulted again last night 5th or 6th moult I think.



Apologies for bad quality photo !!!

This time seems to be really gangley and unsure on its feet, whereas never before !!!
Am wondering as they get larger do they need more time to harden up, and also would you start feeding yet or wait untill it seems a bit stronger, as it looks really thin !!!

Cheers

Chris

i think the reason he/she looks really thin is that when they 1st shed at any stage they obviously stretch which means after shedding the more they eat the more they fill out.
one of my ET's (maclay's spectra) shed earlier tonight and also looked very thin.

good luck with your little beauty.


mark.

are you sure that they dont always look like this so soon after a moult ?
have you always caught yours within minutes of a shed
they seem to be "gangly " for an hour or so after shedding .
can you imagine taking off your jacket & being 8 sizes bigger ?
its gonna take a bit to get used to

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Well he /she seems to be better now, admitedly still think its a bit of a retard as falls off things for no reason, probably due to all the tv it watches...

Quick question is it now a juve/sub adult/adult ????????







Cheers

Chris

Nice one - thanks for the update. Here is one of its brothers and they were all hatched out in my dining room!

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Great colours Rich !!!!

how big are the 'littluns' now LOL

Cheers

Chris

This is the only one that we now have - I kept this one because of the colour although he had a funny leg at first which has got better with every shed. We did keep another but there was an accident - all I can say that its tank was left within reach of a toddler . This one is probably about 3 - 4 centimetres now.

My brother in-law has two aswell.

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Rich

do you think I am doing summat wrong as my growth rate is higher, am I inadvertly stressing the nymph/mantid out as am feeding it all the time, it never refuses food !!!! ??????

Cheers

Chris

No don't think so - however go easy on the food when it is an adult (and has a full set of wings) as they do tend to gorge themselves. I think we lost a mantis in the past because of this - the abdomen got so stretched that a fluid starting leaking from between the segments. I think it is ok when they are still growing to feed them lots as they will simply keep shedding.

Cheers Rich

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I reckon it's a male mantis and will therefore grow quicker

The abdomen segment total also indicates male.

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