Mantis shrimp make good pets

[Brenden]

I have a mantis in my refugium for around 3 months now. He is crimson red which I thought was different. I feed him a piece of shrimp etc with a dial rod. He use to be "mean" and come out and attack the dial rod. I would have dents in it were he would smash it. Well over time he has figured out the dial rod is his friend. Any time I mess in the refugium he comes out to see what is going on. He comes out and now and grabs the rod and walks up and down the stick looking for his snack. I am thinking of putting him in a small tank by himself so I can see him better. For a shrimp he has a neat personality. Anyone have experience like this with a mantis?

 

[seaham358]

Mine hides all the time and I don't enev know if it is still alive.

 

[Brodie]

I had a six-inch Peacock Mantis for about 6 months. Be sure to give it some rubble or a coffee mug to hide in, also keep up with water changes. Besides that, keep an eye out when working on the tank. They don't call them thumbsplitters for nothing...

 

[flamingonhot]

I think they are pretty cool, peacock mantises, but too bad they get pretty big and can even break your tank if its not thick enough..... this guy at a pet store picked up a piece of lr and a mantis crawled out and he was like omg and was like how about a different piece huh? lol

 

[Brenden]

Are red ones common? All the others I have seen are greyish green.

 

[Brodie]

I see red Mantis every once in a while, I don't think they're that particularly rare.

 

[mfrei64]

mantis

I used to do research on mantis shrimp in college. Great animals, but don't expect much to live with them. Had a two incher that would bang away day and night digging tunnels into rocks and eventually would stick its head out the new hole. Would attack anything though. Our research tanks (for the bigger ones) would have to have plastic tubes around the heaters. The shrimp would attack the pilot light; several heaters broke and electrocuted the shrimp. Pretty violent to see them attack a live crab.

 

[Sati]

Geez, I'm gonna have shrimp nightmares... lol

 

[BillyZ]

lots of folks have separate little homes for mantis shrimp. But they do need their own place. You could set up something small and plumb it in with the sump of your main so you don't have to duplicate hardware etc and still have the benefit of a large water volume. And as mentioned above, be very careful when sticking your hand in that tank 8O

 

[quarryshark]

I kept a red one in a 10 gallon for about a month. Could not talk to wife into keeping another permanent tank so I took him to my LFS where he resided for a long time in a nano on their counter.
Interesting little creature. Was hard to catch, very intelligent.

 

[mykpoz]

not my picture just one I saw

 

[Hara]

nice picture

 

[mykpoz]

ya, I had to save it when I saw it.

 

[Brodie]

That's a Peacock Mantis. What's so interesting about the Mantis Shrimp is that there are two kinds: Spearers and Smashers. Some have long blade like legs to stab fish, while other species have calcified clubs that break open crustaceans, stun fish etc.


Check out this link for a huge amount of info on Mantis Shrimp http://www.blueboard.com/mantis

 

[BillyZ]

not my picture just one I saw

8O
That's one brave individual...

 

[mykpoz]

awe he's a gentle guy

just look at him, hes beggin for food!

 

[Brenden]

Mine comes out and begs for food. I have not got brave enough to use my hand though. I have seen what he can do to a stick so I will just keep using the stick.

 

[MantisFreak]

not my picture just one I saw

8O
That's one brave individual...

Not really. That particular O.s. had just lost it's clubs in a recent molt. That still was not a wise thing to do anyway. In fact, peacocks are one of the few species that CAN break glass. The smaller ones can break thin-glassed heaters so titanium heaters are a good idea or put electrical tape over the pilot light (or put the heater in a cage).

I've kept many, many species of mantis but my favorite is the peacock. The larger ones in my experience tend to be more open and friendly. For instance, Cuddles, Fluffy, and Sugar (all Peacocks) were very interactive and whenever I was around, they would be out watching me.

With some of the smaller species, it would take me a little time to earn their trust.

Dr. Caldwell just finished an ID site for typical hitchhikers.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/

Frankly, I've found mantis to be one of the most interesting critter I've ever kept. My dogs and cats like attention and food. My fish like food. Mantis also like food but they truly study you a LOT....in other words, they are observing you while you are observing them.

 

[austinsdad]

That particular O.s. had just lost it's clubs in a recent molt.

That would 'splain the picture. Otherwise, only a brave...or stupid individual would try that IMO. :?

 

[Umpa Lumpa]

not my picture just one I saw

Unlike some people I value my fingers, thank you very much.