Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone ever heard of a mantis losing their "grippers" (little things at the end of their legs)? Is this a sign of old age or something?

This has been an issue for me on several occasions. I have had it happen to a few mantids I was keeping. Seems that slowly over time the grippers lose their stickiness and the mantis will fall. It does seem to happen on older mantids though. I have thought about dehydration or old age as being the culprit. But it does seem like eventually the ends will just fall off. I have seen more evidence that age is a factor.

I have had this happen to my mantids before. it is not due to dry conditions, it is from a bacteria/fungus/disease (I dont know). The mantid will get this if the cage is very dirty. because the mantids limbs are so hard, they will easily break and fall off. The best thing to do is to put the mantid into a ICU and hope that it molts. the icu should be a plastic tub with a top, with a moist paper towel at the bottom, sticks that have been microwaved to get rid of any other harmfull stuff (mites, disease, etc) and a tropic aire humdifier pumping humidty into the ICU. the ICU should stay at between 80-90%.
i have tried this once with an african mantid and it worked successfully until it died from and open wound, that wound got infected with a whitish fungus.
good luck, and i hope your mantid survives!
Craig Condon
Exo Inverts

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save a cow, eat a vegetarian

Very true, they will hatch no matter how you place it, however, I would not recommend placing it anywhere on the ground or close to the ground. The mantids need to be hanging. If they hatch on the ground, many of them (this also depends on species, as some are supposed to hatch on, or under the ground) will get deformed or end up getting stuck to the bottom of the container. As my friend Sheldon would put it... "momma knows best". If the female laid it on the lid (or that species generally lays ooths higher off the ground), then stick that sucker on the lid, etc.

In other words, placement of the ooth does not matter when it comes to hatching. Its basically the safety of the nymphs you need to be concerned about. Just make sure they have enough room.

On another note, I had a B. mendica ootheca hatch in the mail once. I have NO idea how in the world they were able to pull that off in the tight space they had. There was no room at all, yet a few of them still made it, even munched on a couple siblings on the way. Crazy...
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Mantis Kingdom

Oops, sorry, wrong place.

Anyway, the grippers can be from old age. Nymphs molt every few weeks, replacing old limbs. Adults no longer shed and so over time, I would imagine they would lose their "grippers" as you put it, and not be able to regenerate them. It also happens in some species from having the humidity too high (perhaps causing the fugus or bacteria that Craig mentioned).
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Mantis Kingdom