Drastic Color Change?

[Fairytail]

Hi,

I'v had mantis shrimp now for a little over a month. My larger one, Mr. Mantis, First appeared like this

Now he's molted about two weeks ago and looks like this

Any ideas on his species? I first thought Neogonodactylus wennerae, but he's green now.... The other one is smaller and still is red like in the first pic. Will he turn green as well?

 

[rwhhunt]

WOW, thats pretty significant, The exact same thing happened to a member on this forum, his mantis went from bright red to green, I think his was a wennera too

 

[Fairytail]

Also, can anybody tell me how big he'll get? I have them in a 5gal right now, and want to order some custom tanks(acrylic) big enough for them full grown.
Yes they are togather, they eat togather, sleep togather, etc......I know normally they kill each other.... but... go figure.

 

[rwhhunt]

maybe they are brother and sister! or maybe Lovers! if they are wenneras, a 5 is fine for one.... BUT if you have two... then maybe a 10 or 20 gal might be safer for when one of them decides to molt and the other tries to eat him....make sure they is plenty enough rock work and burrows to hide if need be

 

[Gonodactylus]

The animal in question is Neogonodactylus wennerae. If you search this site, you will find several threads where I have discussed color change and what causes it.

Maximum size for this species is 7-8 cm. It takes about 5-6 years to reach this size.

If you keep them together, in all probability at some point one will kill the other unless the smaller one has a cavity that the larger one cannot enter.

Roy

 

[Fairytail]

Ok thank you everybody for the info!! They are not siblings(differant sizes and differant shipments) but I plan on seperating them shortly. It was either put the smaller one in with the larger one and hope for the best, or it would of gotton flushed down the toliet. I have them in an acrylic tank right now and working on getting the extra money for another tank(gas prices NOT helping on that right now...)
Would a 5gal each be fine for them fullgrown? They are currently eating mostly ramhorn snails(Taken from freshwater)daily, with raw shrimp and krill supplimented 2-3x a week

 

[Gonodactylus]

You do not need acrylic for N. wennerae. A typical 5 to 10 gal glass tank is fine even for a mature adult.

Roy

 

[Fairytail]

Oh thats wonderful to know!!! My BF refused to let me use a glass tank after hearing stories about how they can break it. I'm assuming thats refering to the larger mantis species. I'm currently searching the site now, looking for the info on color changing.

You do not need acrylic for N. wennerae. A typical 5 to 10 gal glass tank is fine even for a mature adult.

Roy

 

[Safierdrgn]

Honestly I don't think a Wennerae could break through glass if it wanted to. Mine is so amusing and comes out whenever anyone walks up to the tank. I have him in a generic 5 1/2 gallon tank which is VERY thin glass. I have to be careful when using an algae magnet to clean the glass so that *I* don't break it.