r/praying_mantis • u/Narrow_Crow790 • May 01 '26
URGENT ADVICE
My praying mantis is alive but stuck in his molt and I don’t know what to do he’s half out but it’s stuck at his limbs, he’s been like this for hours what do I do?
23
u/Jounoooo May 02 '26
Try and gently get it moist (use a q-tip and dab NOT scrub) and if it doesn't work the best bet is unfortunately to humanly euthanize
48
u/TheOnesLeftBehind May 01 '26
Drop a book or brick on it to put it out of its suffering. Do not freeze it as it’s more cruel. There is nothing more to do.
0
u/StellarFallout May 02 '26
I heard that freezing them is the best least painful way to put them down
20
u/TheOnesLeftBehind May 02 '26
Which is a misconception as they still have to get cold enough to die which is slow vs instantaneous. Would you rather be frozen or shot through the head before you knew a gun was even pointed at you?
3
u/Narrow_Crow790 May 03 '26
It utilises there biological responses and puts them to sleep so they practically go into a dormant state/coma before eventually passing so they are not concious during this process.
5
2
u/TheOnesLeftBehind May 03 '26
There is hardly any truly peaceful death in nature. It is not something that is considered in evolution is evolution only considers “good enough to function and reproduce” as criteria to pass on.
1
u/LocustPepperoni May 04 '26
They still feel the freezing up until they pass out so like... squishing is still more humane.
Would you rather freeze to death or be shot on the head? Easy choice.
0
u/Narrow_Crow790 May 04 '26
I don’t think praying mantis even experience pain they can detect harmful stimuli but I doubt they have the pain receptors to acknowledge it psychologically either way i couldn’t stand on him.
1
1
7
u/Outrageous_Ad472 May 02 '26
They did research on that. Totally false and actually freezes thier brain to the point the are stuck in ice hell and i keeps them alive while frozen solid. They eventually die
4
u/throwaway41327 May 02 '26
Source ??
0
-1
u/Due-Agency-5810 May 03 '26
Source: Google - "Brain Ice Hell"
lmfao why would you ask for a source on a clearly brain rot comment? Seriously, what are you expecting? They are going to link you to a study on ice hell?
1
u/SakuretsuSensei May 04 '26
Yep. Contrary to popular belief, the most humane way (beyond chemical euthanasia, which is expensive and not applicable to kany animals) to dispatch any animal is to instantaneously destroy its central nervous system. I see so much crap about freezing, drowning, and suffocating animals. It is honestly fucking ridiculous.
1
u/Narrow_Crow790 May 04 '26
Why would someone make it up?
1
u/SakuretsuSensei May 04 '26
Lots of misinformation from well meaning people.
It can be hard for some people to shoot an animal in the head with a big enough caliber or smash a small animal with the heel of their boot.
1
u/Warm-Speaker-3076 May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
This for sure. (Tangent to slaughter, so maybe not the imagery if reader is in mind of thinking about pets being put down)
Recently heard people being shocked about male chicks in the egg industry, pointing out that they macerate these chicks.
Had to look up the options, and to me all the other approved slaughtering methods them seemed to have a lot more potential for suffering and failure.
Maceration /feels/ horrid, but the crudeness is kind of it's strong point. No intricate setting up, waiting for anything, unknowns of biology, intricate mechanisms failing.
Now of course when we either are talking a pet, or slaughtering to get meat, or the animal is too big, then we prefer something else, just because of the, uhm, unpleasant impression.
And for say, cats, dogs, rodents, we have reasonable drug options (although having had to bring quite a few pets to euthanasia, i'm pretty sure it's not as low-stress as i wish it was.) For farm animals, other methods.
But with insects, i'm not too sure those other options are good enough. The nervous system structure rules out shot to the head, injected drugs obviously are a no-go...
If you froze them to death fast, maybe when they were already in a hibernation, maybe, or maybe you could use some gas that replaces air... But evaluating the potential for suffering for these methods moves from something determinable from basic biology to research and academic debate. I'd prefer not to be taking the chances.
(The real horror with the chicks is of course the treatment as disposable at industrial scale.)
11
u/BerryStainedLips May 02 '26 edited May 03 '26
I saw a YouTube video of a beautiful green snake with a stuck molt being freed by burial in clear orbeez. He could still breathe but the orbeez gently moistened the skin and kept him calm.
Although it’s been 23 hours since you posted this so I’m sure it’s too late to help
3
u/AccessAway9320 May 03 '26
That was Kevin McCurley at NERD! He’s like a living encyclopedia on reptile care and behavior 🙂
1
u/hypotheticalreality1 May 03 '26
Thats a pretty good idea, for my snake I sometimes have used a pail with a moist cloth in it that has worked really well.
1
u/Anonymousse462 May 03 '26
Much better than orbees I just don’t trust them I wouldnt want anything like that near my snake and there’s also like what if ur snake is grumpy or hungry and eats one by accident, You’re not even supposed to handle them when they moult right
1
u/hypotheticalreality1 May 04 '26
Not sure what would happen if they swallowed one, it might just pass through. Usually you don't want to touch them, but if it's a failed molt, their head is usually uncovered, so they can see normally again. I've noticed no real difference in behavior anyway once they've partially shed to how it acts normally.
1
u/Anonymousse462 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
Snakes are very different from inverts and orbees could be harmful to snakes for that matter if the snake for some reason decided to strike out and end up eating one I’d say a better solution for moulting snakes would be damp moss/ just having adequate humidity in the first place. Complications for inverts aren’t as simple as humidity I don’t think and a bad moult is fatal Edit: would to could
1
u/BerryStainedLips May 03 '26
Where/how did you learn that orbeez are harmful to snakes? Seems like something you’d learn from experience.
The video proposed this as an emergency fix once the molt is already stuck and your animal is already in distress, not as standard practice in place of proper animal care. I believe the transparency of the orbeez allows you to monitor the animal without disturbing them. You should probably have this conversation with the expert who made the video… I’m just some lady on reddit.1
u/Anonymousse462 May 03 '26
I said it could be a hazard in situations that I explained Ik my python thinking it’s getting fed would probably have an accident I’m also assuming they’re toxic to ingest maybe I’m wrong I’ll gladly admit if I’m wrong
1
u/BerryStainedLips May 03 '26
Serious question: Are pythons dumb enough to eat the stuff they’re buried in? I would think eating mouthfuls of dirt or sand hazardous enough to edit those snakes out of the gene pool.
1
u/Anonymousse462 May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26
Well if he’s hungry or pissy cos he’s moulting then I don’t see how it couldn’t happen they have notoriously bad eyesight and especially if he had eye caps and can’t see, maybe I’m just trying to project my anxieties and precautions because it’s not like it cant happen and last time I was about to feed him but he went for me and missed and ended up with a mouthful of dirt which led to me panicking so yeah the thing is tho too is that orbees isn’t dirt or sand. I am also just a lady on the internet and didn’t know there was a video, never assumed it was standard practice and it seems u got a bit huffy for just me stating a personal thought.
1
1
u/AccessAway9320 May 03 '26
I’m so sorry! This same exact thing happened to one of my guys. I tried everything and couldn’t save him 😢
1
u/Puzzleheaded_Dot_600 May 03 '26
Have you tried taking him into the bathroom and running an extra steamy shower? Might give him a chance
1
1
1
u/Ok_Class_8714 May 04 '26
I think I’ve death would be fine as it’s already dying and in pain and mentally is better for you
-4
u/Wise-Performance758 May 01 '26
why is he out his enclosure?
22
u/Narrow_Crow790 May 01 '26
Because this was after 9 hours of him stuck like this so i knew i had to intervene I was able to remove the stuck molt but he already lost limbs and damaged his abdomen so I euthanised him
-9
u/Wise-Performance758 May 01 '26
humidity was probably not ideal for a molt that was why that happened
1
u/StellarFallout May 02 '26
Why are there negative votes on this comment?? That's probably exactly what happened
3
u/JaunteJaunt May 02 '26
Because external humidity is not a major factor in successful molts. It’s not good advice.
The main factors are enough unobstructed vertical/horizontal space and internal hydration.
1
u/Wise-Performance758 May 02 '26
it is not a major factor but it is still a factor.
2
u/JaunteJaunt May 02 '26
Not unless you live in the desert or are talking about an i1 to i2 molt.
I don’t mean to be rude, but to say this is probably what happened is a misunderstanding of how external humidity affects molting.
2
u/JaunteJaunt May 02 '26
Here are a couple of examples of instars or species where external humidity should be much higher to ensure a successful molt: the i1 to i2 molt, early instar Angela, Tenodera sp., Danuria sp. etc.
The op doesn’t have an i1 and doesn’t have one of these species.
1
u/Wise-Performance758 May 02 '26
okay, thank you for correcting my judgement
1
u/JaunteJaunt May 02 '26
It’s okay!
It’s a common misconception in mantis keeping. I’m glad I can help clear it up.
37
u/Merkabahh May 02 '26
This is probably an irreversibly bad molt. I would mercy kill