Mantis Shrimp Behaviour

[Moogled]

Hmmm a sound idea. So far I've been gambling on frozen food.

Is it a good assumption to say that feeding mantis shrimp is a bit more expensive because they require stuff like hermits to eat?

I read about spearers and smashers and their differing diets. I suppose I'm just hesitant because I haven't seen any results yet.

MY TIME WILL COME >: (

[justinl]

mantids are more expensive for two reasons. one: they're bigger than most true shrimp. two: they're cooler. yeah you have to feed them but that will cost about 30$ in a year for frozen and live.

for simplicity i would just keep trying frozen. he'll take for it eventually. have you tried soaking the frozens in a supplement like selcon? or even garlic? Maybe your particular batch of krill isnt palatable... how old is it?

btw spearers dont deal as well with hermits or snails. just crabs, shrimp and fish. imo whether or not spearers even need occasional live food is questionable. smashers need it to excercise their raps.

[Moogled]

The krill is less than 2 months old. I keep it well-refrigerated in my freezer. My fish in the display tank love the stuff (the frozen brine shrimp too).

Do mantids rather starve to death than eat food they don't want?

[rudy]

I guarantee if he is not eating he is going to molt.

Also as a Ciliata is not a true spearer, but an unevolved smasher it will eat some smaller snail and if you remember the other food that was in his tank Marco....mussels. He will eat them too.

Mantis will eat flake if they are hungy enough

[Skimmer Juice]

I would buy mine clams from the superstore snails on ocassion. He also ate frozen krill. You could also feed him cheap fish from your lfs. Also mine never ate when he was about to malt.

[Moogled]

Success! He's eating!

[justinl]

sweet! that is good to hear. do you know if he molted?

[Moogled]

I don't think he molted yet.

I fed him krill on a stick today and he grabbed it and retreated into his burrow to eat it. Granted, he only ate a bit of it and threw the rest away, but that's probably cause he was starving.

[dunl]

Just read this thread Marco....


They can be picky, too. Case in point? My chiragra will charge across the tank from the bottom to the TOP corner on the other side to get krill, swimming as fast as his little flippers will propel him. If I move it around he just does somersaults and keeps going after it.

Yet, there is a molly that I acclimatized to saltwater in April that is still alive in his tank....fresh scallop got chucked back at me...twice.....periwinkles were tossed out of his cave like little basketballs.....go figure.