Mantis...How intelligent do they get?

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by burgerchow

they have the best eyesight of any living creature. Also, they are the fastest animal ( striking speed that is ). The speed of a mantis's strike has been equated to the speed of a 22 caliber bullet.

actualy there are a few myths there. they don't have the best eye sight but rather a unique eye structure that lets then see more colors than any other creature (that we know of)

as for the striking speed yes it is the fastest motion of any animal, but no where near the speed of a 22. what was commenly said was the force of a 12"+ mantis strike could be comparable to the force of a 22, not the speed.

Do I like them yup they are entertaining, and neat, they used to be quite common 10 years ago in the hobby, but like any other fad you don't see them much any more.

(for the person wanting to know where to get them)
normaly unless you special order one you will only get them as hitchhickers in live rock orders. I got six in my 50lb order about 12 years ago, two didn't make it I gave two away and I kept two.

Steve

[FragIt Dan]

Originally Posted by mandyplo

Ha. Haha. Can't stop giggling. Hehe hahahahahaha HAAA!! I don't think the creator of this thread is as amused as I am.

+1

[StirCrazy]

they don't get smart, they have some neat quirks about them but as far as intelligence there a bug. I had my two for 4 years, more interactive than a fish but nothing I would call intelligence.

Steve

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

they don't get smart, they have some neat quirks about them but as far as intelligence there a bug. I had my two for 4 years, more interactive than a fish but nothing I would call intelligence.

Steve

I dunno, mine stuck his head in the return pump, that was pretty smart...

[Borderjumper]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I dunno, mine stuck his head in the return pump, that was pretty smart...

Awww it was checking the impeller for you!

[burgerchow]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

I dunno, mine stuck his head in the return pump, that was pretty smart...

if he got himself out of the return pump and survived, I'd say he was pretty smart. lol

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by burgerchow

if he got himself out of the return pump and survived, I'd say he was pretty smart. lol

He wasn't that smart, unfortunately...

[daniella3d]

Really? I read a few times they were intelligent. Sure is not the same as a dog of course but I thought they were more intelligent than a bug.

Another thing that surprise me is that it recognize me and only come out when it is me. I tried to give the pipette to my boyfriend to feed it a couple of times but it would not come out for him. Then I would take the pipette and he would need to back off and the mantis would come out and pick the food from the pipette. Not sure why but it does not seem to trust other people.

Originally Posted by StirCrazy

they don't get smart, they have some neat quirks about them but as far as intelligence there a bug. I had my two for 4 years, more interactive than a fish but nothing I would call intelligence.

Steve

[Casey8]

Originally Posted by daniella3d

I have a mantis shrimp in my tank which I rescued from a piece of liverock about 8 months ago. It was the size of a large amphipod when I got it, and it's now 2 1/2". She's quite intelligent. I trained her to come to pick the food from the pipette, and she pick a few mysis from it and run back into her cave.

For the last few days she was not coming, and I did not see her at all. So today I put some mysis shrimps in front of her cave and the current took them inside the liverock cave. I was waiting to see if she would come out but she did not and I thougth she might be dead, but suddendly she came out of there with a mysis and threw it back at me. She went back inside the cave and got another mysis and threw it at me and she did that for the 3 mysis I had put there, one by one.

My gues is that she's molting so she does not want to eat but rather then letting those mysis rot inside the liverock cracks, she returned them to me. I picked them up with the pipette and she went back inside her cave.

I was quite impressed that she did not simply let those inside to rot there. She also have many entrances to her large cave so she could have pitched the mysis out through other openings but each time she returned to the front door and pitched the mysis in my direction. It was really cute

I thought that was quite intelligent of her

Have you had a mantis do something intelligent? if so, what was it? I would love to hear your mantis story!

Very cute story about your mantis, thanks for sharing. I am always fascinated and enjoy reading about any kind of intelligent animal. I think they are all smarter than we thought.

[NightShadeFairy]

I saw a beautiful peacock mantis at J&L Aquatics just a few weeks ago, they often have them. My boyfriend used to have one, it was set up on the night stand beside our bed.. and was so very cool, he would come out of his cave to grab the shrimp off the feeding stick, but if he didn't see the stick, he would quickly go back in his hide. The way he interacted with us (and he certainly recognized us from other people) really gave the impression of intelligence, whether it be our own human perception of that I don't know, but regardless very enjoyable to own! It did kind of creep me out at certain private 'moments' to feel eyes on you, only to look over and see those beedy eyes watching you with interest! We started calling him Merv the perv! Lol!