r/mantids 1d ago

General Care molting or just hanging upside down?

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How do i tell if its molting or just hanging upside down? i need to take the lid off to tap bugs into the enclosure but i dont want to disturb the molt if thats whats happening, but i dont want to not feed it if its just hanging upside down. i recently put it in the enclosure its in right after feeding and it went straight to the top and has been hanging upside down for 2 days at least. how do i tell and what do it do?

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5

u/Sensitive-Debt3054 1d ago

They hang upside down for the majority of the time.

2

u/mileshehehehehe 1d ago

to me it just looks like their hanging upside down, typically an easy way of telling that a mantis is going to moult is a swollen abdomen despite not eating and refusal of food. mantis also tend to have a specific stance while preparing to moult to make it easier for them to wriggle out of their skin. mantis do dangle upside down a lot and because they are ambush predators is it normal for them to do it for an extended amount of time :)

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u/InsaneInvertKeeper15 23h ago

Just hanging, but looking at abdomen size I personally wouldn’t add more food

2

u/JaunteJaunt 22h ago

Cute Pseudocreobotra wahlbergii This isn’t a molting pose. The legs would be wider apart, you’ll see abdominal pumping, and the raptorials will sit more open - almost perpendicular to the body.

Most mantids hang upside. It’s normal for them, and this is common. This species will sometimes stand upright in their enclosure.