Help -- Mantis not eating

[BLockamon]

I've had Lou, a 5" male Peacock mantis, for about 2 weeks now. He will typically eat anytime I feed him and has already cleared his tank of snails.

He used to love scallops and silversides, but he doesn't seem to want them since Thrusday. I think I fed him frozen krill on Thursday. Friday was a skip, and I've tried a scallop Sat. and today (they were his favorite) and silversides today.

He just takes the food, maybe smacks it twice, and literally pitches it back out of his burrow. I'm at a loss.

Is he just getting pickey and wants some more snails? Do they do this right before molting?

Yesterday my nitrates were ~7 ppm and phosphate was 0.03 ppm. I haven't checked ammonia or nitrite in a while, but his tank is hooked to a 90 gal reef that's been up for over 2 years. No way I have ammonia or nitrite (which would read as high nitrate on the Salifert test anyway).

I am using Phosguard in his tank, which comes out tonight.

Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Gonodactylus]

O. scyllarus typically stop eating a few days prior to a molt and actively reject food. Usually you will notice some additional construction activity around this time.

Roy

 

[BLockamon]

Thanks. I am hearing a bit of knocking in his burrow and he's drug in some rubble rock (also sculpting the sand around the entrance).

Sounds like he's going to molt. Some of the silversides I fed last night fell down into the burrow. A little while later, they were sitting on the door step for the garbage man (that would be me) to take them out.

 

[BLockamon]

OK, I've confirmed that Lou molted (found pieces of his molt skin). However, as of Sat. night he still doesn't accept food. I've stocked the tank with plenty of snails so he can hunt, but I'm wondering how long I should wait before offering food again.

Any thoughs? Thanks.

 

[Gonodactylus]

Patience! Did you look at the sticky at the top of this thread on molting. A five inch O. scyllarus may not take food for a week to 10 days after molting. They often will eat soft food such as a raw scallop or oyster sooner, but there is no reason to push it. The animal will eat when it gets hungrey and feels safe enough to take on food. It will not starve. They can go for weeks without eating.

Roy

 

[Uriel]

(Echoes what Dr. Roy said)
When Hydra molts, he usually doesn't want to eat for 2-5 days afterwards (At least). I do have a yellow damsel living in there with him, and I feed it small bits of scallop/shrimp as well. When he is hungry, he will actively exit his burrow and chase the fish away, which lets me know that he is ok to eat again, without polluting the tank with large amounts of uneaten food.

-Uriel

 

[moosen34]

LOL... yeah... I know mine is hungry when he starts chasing the damsel in his tank. I would hate to be roommates with a Peacock Mantis when the refrigerator went empty

 

[BLockamon]

Thanks. I guess Lou's just kind of odd. He never really closed up this burrow and is still about as interractive as always. I was gone over the holidays, and the people watching my tanks never saw him, so he may have actually molted while I was away.

I'll just wait until a see new roadkill before feeding him again. I though one of the turbos was missing, but he's probably just hiding (smart little fella).

P.S. You know your mantis isn't hungry when one of his favorite types of snail falls off a rock INTO the burrow right in front of the mantis...and lives to crawl back out again.