Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,

I was wondering, is it bad to always hold a mantis? Can it make it weak if you do it all the time? One of my mantids seem weak from me holding it a lot. What should u do?
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I think it really depends on how long you would define "a long time", and how you were holding it.

Thanks,
Andrew

I rarely if ever get mine out. And if I do it is usually to clean the enclosures. I think it's ok if you let them out to walk around or to walk on your hand. You shouldn't really pick them up. I just prod them enough to get them to climb onto my hand.

Sometimes I like to take out my adult Centralis and just let her sit on my shirt for a while. I think that extended handling could stress the mantid out, but for short periods of time I dont think it would bother the mantis.

Thanks,
Andrew
www.freewebs.com/taumantis

I've hear that lactic acid, which is produced by our cells and is present in human skin, can block an insect's breathing apparatus. So in addition to stress, handling may be harming the insect in other ways.

I can tell you that the lactic acid is present inside your cells(mostly muscle) for one (a waste product of anaerobic respiration), and two, in order to affect an insect you would have to give it a bath in lactic acid.

Handling your mantids for a small amount of time everyday is not harmful, as long as it is not ready to molt or oviposit.

I have seen mantids die as a direct result of minimal handling but generally only of the more sensitive genera like Blapharopsis, Deroplatys and Gongylus.