u/ArghressivePirate

Is anyone able to approximate based on these pictures how many instars my little buddy (a spiny flower mantis, who can't fly yet, so isn't fully grown) is?

Some of these pics are really close up, so not necessarily a good judge of size. I can provide a more zoomed out one, though, or one with a standard sized object nearby for size comparison if needed (altho the hydrometer that's pictured might be serving the latter purpose already).

I want to know so I can make sure my little buddy's diet is appropriate for the life stage my lil' buddy is in. I've been feeding approximately 4 to 10 heidi flightless fruit flies a day (usually 8), with one day's worth of fruit flies substituted with an extra small mealworm once a week. Sometimes I'll skip a feeding day before or after I feed the mealworm, since I know mealworms are pretty fatty. Does this sound about right?

Buddy has had one molt while in my care (was purchased on or around March 7th and molted on March 31st), but the vendor wasn't able to give an exact answer as to how many instars my buddy was, as she had many babies for sale, so wasn't able to keep a close eye on which ones had molted and when and which hadn't molted yet, etc.

All pictures were taken after the molt my lil' buddy had in my care.

Edit: a true to size pic has been added below in the comments.

My first ever pin for love (M) beside my newest (?) for comparison, followed by some standalone pics of my first ever (M) back when she (M) was still new.

So, my gma asked me what I wanted for my bday and I picked out my first ever not-a-latufu (or so I thought) labubu (M — my initial) for my birthday last October. I got it second hand off of Mercari, but everything about it seemed legit. The Pin for Loves had only just come out, so there didn't appear to be a proliferation of fakes yet, the scratch off code scanned (and registered that it had been scanned for the first time), and it even came with the sticker.

However, my mini me accumulated some wear and tear between now and then, since she's been living first on my work lanyard and, then, on my purse every day. I've since (mostly) fixed (the fix isn't pictured. I can share pics later tho, if folks are curious) her fur mats with water, wig cleaner, and a second fur brushing (I fixed it the first time with just the brushing, but the fix didn't last and the fur got picked/pulled again, so I added the water and wig cleaner for a, hopefully, longer lasting fix), but given that her fur is more prone to pilling now than she used to be, I feel like she's more fragile and thought it might be time to retire her and have her chill out on display in my bedroom with my other bag charms, so I ordered a new pin for love.

However, there is a significant size difference between the two and M's eyes appear to be longer. Since they were purchased so far apart, I'm wondering if it's just a matter of inconsistent quality control, or if it's possible that M stretched out over time from hanging and being handled (which is why I've also shared pics of her from back when she was still new), but I wanted to get folks' opinions. Do you think I got scammed on my first go around?

I don't have a picture of M's tag for comparison because I cut it off (I can double check to see if maybe I saved it somewhere once I detached it, but I doubt I did). I'm a Team No-Tags-On-My-Stuffed-Animals kinda girlie!

Edit: the PFL that looks off to me is the one on the left.

I was initially SO disappointed when I pulled her. I wanted one of the "and friends" from the hello kitty and friends line and her og creepy pink eyes were low-key giving albino rat, imo, so I modded her to make them more cat like. One is a little bit crooked, but I still like her better now than before, tbh. Thoughts?