whoa whoa! stop there and back up a step. Why do you need iodine? Are you one of those people who believe mantids need iodine to molt? just to let you know, iodine dosing in a mantid (or another exoskeleton invert that molts) tank is NOT a good idea.
There is this false rumor going around that it helps a mantis molt. It actually forces premature molts from them. This is bad because there are things a mantis needs to do before a molt like reabsorb nutrients from the old shell and start growing a new one beneath it. Do that too often, it can kill a mantid. For the mantis' sake please don't dose it with iodine.
Ive only ever come accross one case where it seemed an iodine dose helped. But that was a special case where a peacock was ready to molt but was having trouble doing so.
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