Interesting Behavior

[rwhhunt]

Well, in the midst of Finals week, I have been able to make some very interesting observations of Boris (I guess I should call her "Bora" now that I know she is a young lady) here and there inbetween studying.... She molted about two weeks ago, after constructing a Beautiful WALL in a new place in the tank. Normally she has all of the (~2 lbs of rubble) stacked nicely in the front of her PVC pipe entrance, but about a 5 days before the molt, she decided to move all of the rocks and build a ~8" tall wall in the corner of the tank, where we normally engage in our staring contests. She doesnt seem threatened by me at all, and will inspect my fingers on the glass with her antennaes, and has NEVER, struck at me even when I tap on the glass- In fact, she will sometimes keep her clubs disengaged while we investigate each other... Well when this little corner was built up, if there was a hole in the wall where she could see me, she would run and get a rock and fill in the hole until i couldn't see her any more.. Well, this created a nice above ground "burrow" for her (I will post pics later, its very cool) that somewhat attaches to her previous PVC burrow, I feel this may be because she is feeling a little cramped in the PVC burrow only, (which is a good sized burrow anyways: ~2.5" diameter). Well, before the molt, she became very aggressive and would chase the clown fish away (but not strike) to scare him before she began her molt... So fast forward a week or so later, and she is done molting and has been eating a bit or krill every day or two, and has been out and about. Well, I felt that she may be interested in trying out her newly Molted Clubs! So I put a nice crayfish in there late at night when I get home, and she didnt really see the crayfish who immediatly went and hid under the LR towers. So I went to bed knowing I wouldnt see any action right then... The next day I find the crayfish had climbed out of the Tank, and was dead on the carpet! ... Well dam, so a few days later, I put in another Crayfish, but I make sure that they make eye contact... Well, Bora for some reason wont attack.... so I watch for a while... and eventually "coordinate" a mutual meeting in the rear of the tank.... Surely, This will be GREAT!...well, instead of bashing this gladiator crayfish, she instead turns around and blows (fans) sand a water behind her with her tail pushing the crayfish back away with the current!...well this is wierd I thought... I have never seen that before... So , I coordinate another meeting... Well, after several attempts, and several brush offs, Bora and the crayfish do meet over one of her burrow entrances, and the crayfish takes a strong whack in the face.... he is dazed and confused, but still kickin... So, I wait for another several hours, and check back later,..the crayfish is still hangin out not being dinner.....So... I am thinking, well, maybe she is not hardened from her molt about two weeks ago... but, as active as she is, that doesnt seem to be that case (although it still may be...) then Maybe i thought she was not hungry, still full on her tasty exoskeleton.... But I have fed her earlier in the week, so i decide to test my hypothesis... We both go and engage in a staring contest in her corner [with flat glass] (the corner with the wall, where she has now taken down the top so we can converse...) She actively comes right up the the glass and inspects my fingers, and gives me that puppy dog face! We exchange a few words, So I go and get a piece of krill to see if she is even hungry which may explain her not wanting to kill this crayfish... So The placement of the tank is on the top of the stair case, and it is curved bowfront tank-which has made me think that my image to the inside occupants is distorted and stretched (I probably look like some huge fat monster always tapping glass and probing the tank with my feeding stick!) (everyone seems skittish when they first get introduced into one of these curved glass tanks...Not to mention I think that when it is brighter in the tank than outside it limits visiblity to what going on outside...) so I grab a small piece of Krill from the fridge no bigger than a nickel and I am holding it in my fingers... As I walk up the stairs, and am about 5 feet from the tank, Bora comes running to the glass claws out and grabbing at the glass....I think, There is NO way she can see this krill out side the tank! (with the lights out in the room!) but sure enough, as I get closer I bring the krill right to the glass, she is right there trying to grab it out of my hands!! I have NEVER seen anything like it! Not only has she ever been this outgoing (other than being aggressive before a molt), she has never noticed food I have until it enters the water and she can smell it... I was taken back by this action! It was probably one of the cooler experiences we have had! (next of course to some of the excellent gladiator battles) I had always thought there there INCREDIBLE Visual systems was incredible, but probably TOO much information for her to process, the inside of my house is probably full of confusing items! Not to mention I was not sure how far Outside the tank she can see!! Well, now I know that she can see a nickel sized piece of krill over 5 feet away outside the tank in relative darkness!! I still am having trouble believing it myself!! Has anyone else experienced anything like this????

SO, the question remains...why wont she eat this poor crayfish.... does it smell bad, or are her clubs not fully hardened, has she changed her taste preferences, or maybe has she converted to a new religion and repents her sins of being a killing machine and feels ashamed of her old lifestyle?!!?

what ever it is.... she has been displaying some of the most unusual and interesting behavior I have ever seen from a creature....

 

[Hutton]

my smithii doesnt have to good of sight to the outside of his tank. when i am about a foot away he can see me eyes focused on me and his spots showing. i move a little farther back. and he has that look like, where did he go? peacocks do live farther down in the water than smithiis so this may explaine why.

 

[New2This]

I tried to feed mine a crab one day before a molt, the crab went into its burrow, spent about 5 mins and came right back out. Mantis NEVER touched it. I figure because it was so close to doing a molt. So it might be because of the molt, but I dont think so if its as active as you say. I know mine is ready to do battle when its out move things again. Sound interesting

 

[rwhhunt]

Alright, So I have pics:
Here is what her burrow looked like before the molt, the rubble scattered around:

Then, here is about 6 days before the molt where she builds up a nice onning for her entranceway:

During this time, she became aggressive and was very active and not shy AT ALL:

BTW, underneath Boris behind the fake coral is where the clown sleeps

About 4 days before the molt Boris decides she wants to build the biggest wall EVER in the back corner of the tank, where she is very visible to passer-byers, whereby she takes all of the rubble from the front entrance and moves it all to the rear:

SO fastforward almost two weeks later, and after two days with this crayfish in the tank, we have our pep talk in the corner spot late last night:

This is when I com eback and she grabs at the krill through the glass, naturally, I have to feed it to her on a feeding stick, but I bet I could hand feed her-just don't want to try!

Anyways, I get home tonight late, and Bois has suprised me with a Stripped Clean exoskeleton of her dinner buddy... and I mean clean as a whistle, not even an eye...

So whatever it was I think shes snapped out of it, and is back on the prowl...

 

[rwhhunt]

actually here is the pep talk before the krill: