Is my mantis injured?

[HulaDad]

I picked my mantis up from the LFS last Saturday. This young kid was going to bag him up, but I could tell he was scared of the mantis, so I told him that I would get him. He said I couldn't because of store policy. He started to chase the mantis with the net and I told him to just hold the net still. Curiosity got the best of the mantis and he walked right in the net. When he pulled the net out of the tank, I had the bag right by the lid of the tank he went to turn the net over into the bag and missed. My mantis fell about 5' and hit the floor. I scooped him up and promptly put it in the bag. It immediately balled up. When I got the mantis back to my tank I acclimated him in a bucket for 2 1/2 hours and added him to the tank. It has not acted right since. It lays on it side, and twitches sometimes. I'm not sure if the drop had caused enough stress to make the mantis start to molt? I have been keeping the tank covered, since it hasn't made a den yet. When I take the cover off to check on it, it freaks out. It's been a week and I haven't seen any improvement. Did the 5' drop injure my mantis? I'm just going to keep the tank covered and keep checking on it and hope for the best. It's a 4" peacock if that helps.

Thank you.

[Gonodactylus]

A five foot drop to concrete for a medium sized O. scyllarus is pretty serious. I've lost a few that jumped out of their tank or escaped when I was handling them. Of course there is no way to say for sure that the fall injured the stomatopod, but my guess is that it did.

Roy

[HulaDad]

That's not what I wanted to hear, but thanks for the info Dr. Roy. It was dropped onto a wooden floor, the floor was built up to hide the plumbing. All I can do is just watch and hope right?

Thanks again.

[StephLionfish]

Youch.. I hope it pulls through!

[HulaDad]

Thank you StephLionfish.

[Gonodactylus]

This is one of the problems with having an external skeleton. As the animal gets larger and the cuticle more rigid, a sudden stop (landing on the floor) causes the internal organs to pull free from the exoskeleton. With small stomatopods, this isn't a problem, but once they get to 4 or 5 inches, it can cause ruptures. Nothing to do but wait and hope.

Roy

[usatennisfan]

That sucks hardcore. Hope everything pulls through. I'd be talking with the store to get some sort of credit if it doesn't pull through...

[mndfreeze]

:( Time for me to add a foam bouncy house style floor around my tank. ;/

[Bluemon]

Or a hood. that could be easier.

[mndfreeze]

What if my mantis decides to pop open the hood and googly his little eyes outside? :( Mines far to smart to be fooled by such things as lids.

.. and maybe he just needs a bouncy castle birthday like the normal kids..

[Grace tank]

I would go back to LFS and tell them what exactly happened and that it should be replaced. If the help was afraid of it he should have left it alone and not took the chance of hurting the animal. Sorry bout the bad luck!

[HulaDad]

Thanks guys for your kind words. I told the owner of the LFS who is also a real good personal friend of mine right after it happened. He told me to just let him know and he will make it right. It was just a tough lesson learned for all of us. I just feel horrible for my mantis. I can't tell if it is suffering or not. :( This experience hasn't made me doubt my LFS though. They are great people and will not sell you a critter or coral unless its compatible with your system or you have the right lights so forth. He more about educating his customers than about the $$$. So I will still be going back there.

Thanks again everyone and I will keep you informed if my mantis pulls through. My fingers are crossed.

[StephLionfish]

What if my mantis decides to pop open the hood and googly his little eyes outside? :( Mines far to smart to be fooled by such things as lids.


Seriously?? Glass is pretty heavy!


OP,
It's nice that he's going to do something about it. None of the lfs's around here would even care. We need more in the world like yours.

[FLMantis]

That really sucks man !!! Hope your mantis makes it...

Does it eat at all? I guess try to feed it as much as possible and try to rush a molt.. Selcon helps the molting process ...

[VacavilleFC3S]

i worked at a pet store for nearly 2 years,

a 5' drop is a death sentence for pretty much anything aquatic.

what happend to you is very common and theres really nothing that can be done, even with the best handling things love to jump out of the damn net.

when it happens i would usually tell the customer i'm extremely sorry but i advise against getting that one and would try to find another suitable whatever it was.

lost lots of gobies because they would jump out and behind the tanks when you tried to catch them

[HulaDad]

My mantis passed this morning. :( Wish I could have know what was going on sooner. I hate that it suffered. I'm the type that doesn't replace critters with other critters of the same. I have always wanted a mantis, just because of their "too cool" personalities. I think I might wait a while and see if I can bring myself to get another. I wish I had done something different at the time of sale. (Kicking my wrasse).

Thank you for all your kind words and help. That means a lot from such a large community. Thanks again...

[StephLionfish]

Aw, I'm so sorry. I don't think it should stop you from getting another, though. This wasn't your fault at all.