Feeding a mantis

J

Joes_Taverne

New member
Hi,

I got a mantis in my nano reef. He shipped with the live rock. He is about 2 inch tall but I don't know, which kind of mantis he is. He look a bit like a Gonodactylaceus graphurus, but he's all light brown. I attached a photo:
105957Fangi.jpg


I bought frozen clam meat (or is mussel the right word?) to feed him. How much do I need to give?

At the moment I give a part of a clam every two days. And he likes it, he pulls it out of my tweezers.

Another question: In the evening I saw the last days 'smoke' coming out of his cave. It really looked like smoke and behaved the same way.

Thanks
Richard
 
I would think the smoke is dust from the sand that it is moving around in its deen. I have seen it also, and it does make you think of smoke.
 
Sorry for my bad english, what's a deen? The online translators didn't know the word too :).

I guess it means cave. Maybe it's scraping the dust off the wall.
 
Have you tried feeding with your fingers?
Looks like a smasher. Does it make noise?
Try feeding some guppies.

Just kidding about using your fingers. There are stories of people getting their fingers split open.
 
No, I didn't try to feed my fingers :) I think, I read enough about mantis shrimps not to do it.

Yes, it's making noises. It's often banging. I'm quite sure, it's a smasher.


Btw: I didn't know the word den either. And the translator of abacho translated it as 'hobby room'. Nice description for a cave. :)

But what about feeding it? Any ideas?
 
well, the hobby room analogy works, if your hobby is smashing various sea dwelling crustaceons into bits and pieces and sucking out their insides!....
 
joes: go to the grocery, and get some farm raised scallops, soak them in garlic and cyclopeeze, and strip off a small strip of scallop and use a tong or feeding stick, this makes my mantid's go Crazy!
 
I feed my O. scyllarus (10-12cm) a variety, she'll take just about any fresh/frozen seafood (although live seems to be especially enticing to her, for obvious reasons!). She'll also take shrimp pellets, which are dried.
 
I feed my N.wennera: Krill, Silversides, clams, oysture, and then there are always snails, and hermit crabs for him to hunt at his leasure.

Mine will gently take food out of your fingers.
 
thurge: do you hand feed him krill? If so, does he come to your hand, or do you go down to him? Have you ever been hit? I imagine the wennerae wouldn't hurt too much, mine will occasionally strike my feeding stick if the food is stuck on it, but otherwise is still pretty shy.. but I am working on getting himmore personable...
 
rwhhunt said:
joes: go to the grocery, and get some farm raised scallops...
Click to expand...

I went out of town last week, and decided to get a treat for my larger mantis before I left.
I went to the Safeway (Grocery store) and asked at the Seafood counter for 2 mussles. The woman frowned at me and put two on the scale, then proclaimed that it was too light to even read. I sighed and said,"OK, give me another one..."
16 cent purchase. The girl at the front counter looked puzzled at the 16 cent purchase, and i just said 'Manti Shrimp food'. She nodded,confused and continued ringing things up.
Once before, i bought a single clam and the clerk asked what it was for i replied 'Dinner for my mantis Shrimp'. He immediately started talking about mantis shrimp, asking about their alleged .22 hit, how fast do they really strike etc...
Ah, Animal Planet's Most Extreme stries again, making fans in the most unlikely places.


-Ron
 
rwhhuntm, yes I am that nut job.
If he is in his burrow, I will tap on the tank till he comes to the door, then go to him. But when he is out and about he will come over to me as he knows what is coming.
Never been hit and if/when that does happen, that will be the end of this little game. :)

It started with him in his PVC pipe which has a rock over top of it. I came strait down, against the rock so he couldn't get behind my fingers. He lightly taped the rock grabbing for the kirll and freaked me out (and I think he knows it) because i jerked and he didn't get the krill the first time, so I had to grab it from the water column and try again and all he did that time was reach up and take it from my fingers.


Definately wouldn't get into a tug-o-war with him though.
 
Uriel said:
Ah, Animal Planet's Most Extreme stries again, making fans in the most unlikely places.
Click to expand...

That's right. And it's really fascinating though my guest nearly never leaves his burrow. Seems to be shy :(.

@Thurge: I think, I'll never try that. I don't even try to catch crabs at the beach either. :)

Does anyone know, what kind of mantis I got? I'm afraid, I can't take it long in the small 2,5 g cube.

Richard
 
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