Skunk cleaner shrimp life span?

[AbsoluteFaye]

I've had my skunk cleaner for over a year and I got him at about 2" long. Was wondering if anyone knew their lifespan? All of a sudden he's been hiding in a back corner of the tank and rarely comes out. I've noticed my beta has been roaming the tank more and more (she's normally shy) so I'm not sure if the shrimp knows she could eat him or if she senses that he's getting old and weak? He's always been a front and center shrimp and I've had my beta for many months with no issues. Anyone ever had experience with a skunk cleaner in this way? Nothing new added to the tank recently either.

 

[Sniperhank]

Mine would change where he was every few months until his untimely demise. Don't believe my marine beta was to blame due to the shrimp being so much larger than the beta.

 

[AbsoluteFaye]

My shrimp is large but my beta is about 4". I noticed he wasn't eating just now when I fed them. He's normally a pig.

 

[Sniperhank]

IDK Faye. I have 0 success rate with shrimp so I gave up. But man I can't wait until my beta is that big. He is as big as my thumb atm.

 

[Kristy3693]

I haven't had luck with cleaners. My snapping shrimp is great. The skunks hid before they died. My lfs told me they do that when they molt, but they did the final molt to heaven.

 

[AbsoluteFaye]

We'll he molted and now he's fine. Lol. Front and center as usual. It was weird though because he's never hid before a molt. Glad he's ok though.

 

[Mebbid]

I always hear people talk about how shy their skunks are and I have yet to see it happen. My skunk is a gutsy little punk and even molted right out in the open in front of me. That was a strange one to see.

 

[AbsoluteFaye]

Yeah I saw mine molt once too. I was like "wtf is this shrimp doing ?" And it was like he vibrated and then unzipped and shot himself out. Really crazy thing to see. He seems completely fine again now. What a weird little guy.

 

[Kristy3693]

So glad he is back to his old self! They are amazing creatures!

 

[AbsoluteFaye]

Thanks! Yeah he's doing all the normal things. Funny thing is my beta isn't hanging out near him anymore. She's back to being shy. So strange.