Molt Color Change

[J2FcM]

Well, Motoko (G. Smithii) looks to have finished her molt.

I ended up helping her by closing off the majority of her burrow holes, and then I snuck in 4 hermit crabs. Now, I have 2 empty hermit crab shells (looks like she just suckled them out).
I ALSO, have a Mantis that has turned from a dark green, with dark purple spots, to a Saturated Emerald Green with Violet spots. Very nice color change... is this permanent? And what causes it? Lighting? Random? Diet?


Thanks!

[justinl]

Lot of environmental cues, including the ones you listed affect carapace color change after a molt. Probably a mix. color morphs are generally not permanent and can change under different conditions depending on species, time of the month, and whether your breath smells of death or minty freshness. get pics!

in the future, let her do the work. never try to "help" out a mantis (or anything really) during the molting process as such a disturbance is likely to cause more harm than good. She knows what she's doing and she can figure it out; no need for the hand of God.

[cobaltplasma]

Yes, pics please ^_^ Heh, glad she came through okay. My mantis had me worried, she was holed up a couple of days longer than usual, but I think it's partially because of the recent drops in temperature.

I noticed that my mantis' color is still resolving itself, I'll post some images in another thread, but I think that their shells and pigment are still under influence of their environment. She went from a creamy yellow-green, to a Mountain Dew green-ish yellow, to an orange-ish green (more green than orange this time, prior to the molt it was vice aversa). I think when she's out she sees the orange in the rocks near her and naturally adapt to that since that's where her burrows are centered around.

How long has it been since she finished molting, btw? Was it yesterday or a couple days before? Her color might still shift slightly, something interesting to keep an eye out for :) Either way, again, glad she made it a-okay.

[J2FcM]

Well, like all last week she was going nutso moving stuff around, that is when I decided to toss chunks of rubble over some of her holes... partly for me, because she kept putting rubble that was too small and or making a huge mess kicking sand around.

On Thurs\Fri she disappeared totally, and when I came back Monday afternoon after work she was pokin her head out.
So, I'm assuming sometime over the weekend, or maybe even Monday, because I haven't heard a "clack clack" from her yet, and she still doesn't come out to feed.

(Typically if I drop some food in a corner she'll perk up in about 30 seconds and go searching for it)
so - she is just being very scaredy Mantis for now, and I'll assume that her carapace is still hardening.