Assistance with Sick Mali

[bruno]

Thanks Will,
Amazing x-rays there, that gas pocket is huge, no wonder he was feeling off.
That was a very nasty fracture, pretty close to a complete break.
Pete has sure been through a lot, bless him and has made a remarkable recovery so far.
Every thing is fine here thanks, they are all behaving themselves including me
Sam the beardie has been off his food a little these last 2 days but I've put that down to the low pressure we have sat over the UK. Low pressure does affect reptiles a lot, in fact in the wild a low pressure indicated a major change in weather in some parts and can induce egg laying in some species.
Sam is still eating but not as much so guess he's ok.

Thinking of you both as always.

[BULGYEYES]

hi will im not sure where the gas pockets are, are they the dark blotches in his stomach? if they are they look massive and the fractures are pretty big i think, i dont know much about lizard bones especially since this is the first x-ray i have ever seen of a reptile. i fed mantis alot of banana today, i realized he had two different ways of eating it, one was just nibbling of small chunks off the sides and the other i think he was eating was when he puts his hands on the banana then he nibbled at his hands. bye will.

[WillK]

hi will im not sure where the gas pockets are, are they the dark blotches in his stomach? if they are they look massive and the fractures are pretty big i think, i dont know much about lizard bones especially since this is the first x-ray i have ever seen of a reptile. i fed mantis alot of banana today, i realized he had two different ways of eating it, one was just nibbling of small chunks off the sides and the other i think he was eating was when he puts his hands on the banana then he nibbled at his hands. bye will.

Hi Bulgyeyes! And yes, it's kind of hard to believe how big the gas pocket is (the darker, rounded area) and the fractures.

As for your new pet, keep in mind that they are carnivorous and need to be fed LIVE insects. Our little guy preferred to eat every day, but I've heard of them generally needing to eat every other day or two at the most. So, proper care for a mantid is not as easy as it might seem. Flies are great, but obviously they're not easy to catch. And if it's cold, you really won't find any. That's why we bred them ourselves. But you could also try feeding him some crickets, which should be available at your local pet store. But if you find some moths flying around your home or some flies, you could catch them and place them in his cage. I think it's good to provide a variety. This, of course, is the big thing about keeping mantids: Food! It can take a lot of work if you're trying to keep up with they're appetites and needs by catching food. And I should also emphasize that the insects need to be alive. You shouldn't kill the insect before you give it to your mantid. Watching your mantid hunt what you offer is very interesting and exciting!

Hope this helps!!

[WillK]

Hi Will,
First welcome to the forum.
I'm very sorry to hear about his present condition.
Everything you have done so far is excellent.
Although the tank is below the recommended size for a uro (4ft long) that is unimportant right now.
How old is the UVB tube, if it's more than 6 months it should be changed, recommend the ReptiSUN 10.0, these are better, and it should be lowered so he can get within 6-8" of it.
Can you give a run down on the actual temperatures.
They should be 120-130F directly under basking lamp, warm end ambient mid 90's, coolend low 80's and a night temp no lower than 70-75F.
Take him off the millet seed and use paper towel, non-adhsive shelf liner or similar, this is so he doesn't eat the millet in his present state, will be easier on his stomach.
From your description it does sound like MBD, all this stems from the days before you took him on. Dont blame yourself for any of this. All reptiles do take along time to show any problems/illnesses, uro's can take longer.
No more crickets, he will have a hard time digesting them.
It sounds like you have a good vet so go along with her recommendations, wait for the biopsy results, then make a decision.
Sadly, liver disease is never a good thing, I dont want to build you hopes up but with the continuing treatment and your loving care, he may recover.
Changes to the UV and substrate will help to an extent.
I would keep the handling to a minimum and allow him "timeout" to recover for the operation.
I wish I could offer more, all I can do is send my best wishes and thinking of you at this time.

Hi Bruno!

Now that Pete is doing better, I wanted to return to an old issue: Pete's cage. I visited http://www.glasscages.com and found a cage that is the same width as ours (18 inches) but it is 48 inches long - a foot longer than the one we currently have - and 13 inches tall, which is 3 or 4 inches shorter than his current cage. In short, Pete's current cage is 36 (long) x 18 (wide) x 16 (tall), and the one I'm looking at is 48 x 18 x 13. I can get the cage (including screen top) for
USD $177.00.

Is this a decent enough size?

Cheers,
Will

[bruno]

Hi Will,
I think that will do him nicely, the less height means less space to heat, so the 3" less is no problem.
You may find it better, as it's all glass, to cover the back and sides with some sort of decorative paper or background, will help him feel more secure.
Sounds like a good price if screen top is included.
A lot of people will claim that is HAS to be 48x24x24 for a uro, but I dont believe that to be the case IMO, that one will be fine.

[WillK]

Hi Will,
I think that will do him nicely, the less height means less space to heat, so the 3" less is no problem.
You may find it better, as it's all glass, to cover the back and sides with some sort of decorative paper or background, will help him feel more secure.
Sounds like a good price if screen top is included.
A lot of people will claim that is HAS to be 48x24x24 for a uro, but I dont believe that to be the case IMO, that one will be fine.

Okay, thanks. The site does have a 48x24x13 as well, but there is no price listed for shipping because special handling is required. My wife thinks we should get the bigger 48x24x13 because Pete will have more room to turn around, and I think she makes a pretty very case. So, between you mentioning that the 48x24 would be ideal and my wife making the case for a 48x24, we'll go with that. It's about 80 bucks more plus special shipping, but I don't think that's too much to pay. He'll obviously really like the extra space. I like the fact that the cage is only 13 inches high because we'll be able to get the UVB light closer to him. We'll also have better control over basking temps with the different bulbs we have (100w halogen and 150w) and with a little control box that I can use to adjust the output. We had a decorative paper background in his cage at school, and we'll add that to the new one as well.

Thanks again,
Will

[wearentfree420]

With the cage only being 13" though you will probably have to raise the MVB if you are using one as they are supposed to be 12" away from the light.

Can't remember if you are using mvb or a flourescent but if you are indeed using the MVB, just letting you know.

[Rick78]

Yes! Green is his natural cover. They blend in really well, and this protects them from attacks from birds and other creatures that prey on them. Imagine how hard it would be for a bird to spot your green mantis hanging upside down underneath a green leaf!

I guess I should stop saying "him" and "his." From the pics I can't tell if yours is a male or a female. Here's a good mantis page that tells you near the bottom of the page how to tell the difference:

How to raise a praying mantis

There is so much wrong with that caresheet for mantids I don't even know where to start. Better source of info is my site.

Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic. X rays were very interesting. Hope he feels better.

[WillK]

There is so much wrong with that caresheet for mantids I don't even know where to start. Better source of info is my site.

Sorry, didn't mean to get off topic. X rays were very interesting. Hope he feels better.

Fair enough. However, I wasn't suggesting that it should be used as a "care sheet" specifically - but as a means of determining the sex of a mantid.

Anyway, I'm glad you found the x-rays interesting. And yes, Pete appears to be feeling a bit better these days. I am hoping that the trend continues, but I believe we are looking at months of recovery with ongoing nutritional support, which is the essential element in treatment according to my vet as well as Divers and Cooper (2000).

[crusty]

hi Will! how things are going. i havent been able to do much lately, to busy. vey interesting x rays!. i had one of my Jackie lizard once and trust me, yours looks the size of a dinosaur compared to my sweet jackie lol. in 3 weeks (time that i am gonna be less busy), Bulgie eyes and i gonna start going to the bush to take pictues (he has become quite interested in photograpghy), and main objective, to catch some insects for the babies, they are kind of sick of eating the few options over and over, so, lets see what we find in the bush for them!. anyway, just passing by to say hello. another big kiss for mali!
cheers

[Rick78]

Fair enough. However, I wasn't suggesting that it should be used as a "care sheet" specifically - but as a means of determining the sex of a mantid.

Anyway, I'm glad you found the x-rays interesting. And yes, Pete appears to be feeling a bit better these days. I am hoping that the trend continues, but I believe we are looking at months of recovery with ongoing nutritional support, which is the essential element in treatment according to my vet as well as Divers and Cooper (2000).

As far as gender goes that page is ok for telling the sex of the species stagmomantis but nothing else.

Good to hear Pete is feeling better. He has been through a lot.

[Kt_has_her_first...]

WillK I just wanna say - this hole story is incredible. the amount of care and help you have done for Pete is outstanding! And refreshing to hear..BULGYEYES mentioned in one of his posts that he wondered why people don't care as much for the animals that aren't your regular cat or dog. And I completely agree - but I know alot of people that problably wouldn't take all the time and effort and CARE AND LOVE you give to Pete for your regular cat or dog. Reading your posts brought tears to my eyes!!

I was wondering if there is any update on how everything is going?

[Lydia]

Hey guys I really need some help. I have a Uri and he was wonderful till a few weeks ago and he is now sleeping all the time and refuses to eat. My heart is breaking I was to help him but do not know how. Any advice????