Catchy: Molting Issues

Today is a sad day for Catchy. She went int' her final molt before I had been able to move her from her original enclosure into a larger one. I had known that she was getting too large for the arboreal acrylic enclosure she was in - she was outgrowing the mesh square in the roof of the tank - and I had bought her a new glass one with a larger mesh roof. Unfortunately, I have been so busy with work and catching up on missed items that I hadn't gotten around to moving her yet. Additionally, I had gotten a little lax in misting her tank as the weather got warmer. I would come home from work, eat-shower-sleep, and then leave in the morning to do it all over again. The follies of commuting via public transport.

So why is this a problem? This has caused Catchy two main problems. The first can be seen in the photo above. Catchy did not have enough space on the mesh covering to stretch her freshly molted legs out while they were hardening. Her leg span was larger than the available space. As a result, her two back legs have hardened at an unnatural angle, twisted and facing backwards. She can no longer support her own weight when standing upright. This has caused an issue with mobility, which will impact on her hunting and her natural behaviours.
Secondly, the lack of humidity meant that she was unable to get out of the old skin without problems. What is not visible in the photo above is that she has lost one of her antennae, and she has tiny parts of the old carapace stuck to her in several areas - most notably over her eyes, but also her wings. The patch on her wings shouldn't caused too much of a problem, but the spots on her eyes mean that her vision is impaired. Mantises have excellent vision, which they use when hunting their prey, and so having these tiny areas of dried skin stuck to her eyes may interfere with her hunting. They are quite small, so I am hoping not. Mantises also use their antennae to hunt, picking up traces of their prey with chemoreceptors on the antennae themselves. Catchy still has one of her antennae, so I'm not sure whether this will affect her or not.

Fortunately, Catchy is not a wild mantis and so her life is pretty cushy in comparison, and the impacts ought to be fairly minimal. To help Catchy adjust to her new disabilities, I have created her a "disability friendly" enclosure. She has a soft moss substrate on the bottom of her enclosure in case she falls, as opposed to the bark chippings I usually use. This should hopefully avoid her injuring herself. To help her get around, I have covered the back wall in cork brak as this is much easier to grip onto, and also left a trail of synthetic leaves that she can use as a ladder. Also, I have put a large seed case in there that I got from The Spider Shop that she can use as an actual ladder. This hopefully allows her to move around her enclosure with minimal effort and stress.
Only time will tell how she gets on after this unfortunate molt. I am feeling incredibly guilty for not having moved her when I knew that she needed it, but also hopeful that she can adapt to the new situation. This enclosure is also a lot more natural than her previous one, so hopefully it also provides more in the way of natural enrichment.
Watch this space.