How to tell if a shrimp/invert is healthy before buying

[Jakeem]

Ive been planning on adding a cleaner shrimp to my tank however i do not know what to look for when buying a shrimp from my LFS.
Are there signs i should be looking out for like buying fish?

 

[billdogg]

Laying on it's back on the bottom is a bad sign:hmm2:

Is it moving around, perhaps picking at algae or other things in the tank? Does it react if a fish swims by?

Cleaner shrimps, especially the common skunk cleaner, are almost always out someplace where the fish can see them, waving their antennae around trying to attract a customer.

 

[ROB2005]

One of the ways is to observe the person catching the shrimp. If the shrimp isn't putting up much resistance when attempting to net him, that might be a sign.

 

[JUNBUG361]

What they said ^^

 

[Uncle99]

Perched up high and swaying back and forth.
Not that's it's a health issue but colour intensity varies with shrimps so be discriminating, look for a deep rich solid red for the fires, and bright red stripe on the very white background on the skunks. Like any invert, temp and salinity acclimatization is important.

 

[hkgar]

I generally check their vitals - pulse, blood pressure and temp. and of course reflexes.

 

[Tripod1404]

Put your hand in the tank, it it jumps on it and tries to clean it, it is healthy.

 

[jlmawp]

Put your hand in the tank, it it jumps on it and tries to clean it, it is healthy.

Sometimes I feel bad for not having parasites on my hands, and that I'm always a slight disappointment to my skunk cleaner.