u/ryukim1230

my mantis named Pea was injured on the neck earlier this month and I put cornstarch to stop hemolymph leakage and I'm worried the artificial scab will interfere with molting.

https://youtube.com/shorts/DCkFOTytJPI?feature=shared

Based on the video is my mantis trying to molt? He has never hung down like this and he ate yesterday midnight.

my mantis was injured earlier this month and he has healed up but he is not completely fine yet, which he needs a molt to be healthy again. I patched up his neck injury with corn starch. His last molt was 5/18/26 and he is not in premolt yet, is there any way I can trigger a molt faster?

Also is slowly but gradually softening the corn starch while my mantis is in premolt necessary?
Due to the cornstarch scab being on his neck, his head is immobilized in one place and I'm scared the hardened scab will make him unable to molt or lead to a fatal mismolt.

FYI he has been improving neurologically and physically ever since the injury occurred

I was wondering how I could stretch out (soon to be) my D. Gorochovi's lifespan? She is about i3-i4 and female, I already know not to overfeed her to keep her metabolism at a steady rate.

(She is still currently in the breeder's hands as there will be a heat wave in my area and she will have to be shipped next week, if you guessed then yes the breeder is Yen Saw)

A few weeke ago, when I took him out of my enclosure he was very lethargic. He couldn't catch his own food, could lift his body off the ground with his legs, he would just crawl, and he could "groom" his own legs. From that point he started improving and is able to catch his own food, groom himself, and keep his body up, but one of his back legs seem to be stuck in one place and cannot be tucked in like his other legs. Im so curious how this even happened.

Also refuses food, can't wait for him to molt soon :)

My mantis was on my phone and I dropped my phone on accident. He can still move his secondary legs but fluid is leaking out of the neck area and raptorial legs and head cant move. I don't know if i should try the cornstarch method to try and stop fluid from leaking, euthanize him, or let him pass peacefully. Throw whatever insults or critiques you want at me I deserve it, I'm so sorry Pea.

im the first ever person in my bloodline to bring a pet ghost mantis outside into the city (i sprayed the enclosure everytime the water dried up and the ceiling had ventilation)

When I first got my pair of Chinese mantids, I fed them fruit flies from i2 - i5 (i shouldve started feeding bottle flies earlier). But a week into i4 for both my mantids I started feeding blue bottle flies as soon as they emerged from their pupae and the time intervals between my mantid's molts went from 4 weeks to 2 weeks. Between each molt I would document how much cm they grew and it was not as much as I expected. They are both currently i7 and males and they are both 4.6 cm and I do not believe they are subadult. Images shows the wing buds on one of them, my hand size, and hand to mantis comparison. I dont actually know if this is normal growth or if my mantids are smaller then avg because of my decisions

I just learned what gut loading was and now i know why my mantids arent satisfied (full) with one freshly hatched fly. How long should I let the flies feed on the special diet (the one im going to use is banana and powdered milk) before feeding them to my mantids?

Im suspecting the black dot on the eye is eye rub

T. Sinesis

How can I retrieve him without startling him?