is it unusual...

[Nina51]

for a peacock mantis to spend most of its time outside the burrow? the first few days i had scampi, he spent a lot of time inside but lately, he has been out and about most of the day.

a few days ago, i dropped a chunk of anthelia into his tank. thought, what the heck, it'll give him something to look at. last night, he decided it was either an invader or a toy and ended up tearing it all apart. i tried to get close to get a video but every time i tried, he would stop what he was doing, saunter over to the front glass, and look at me with his one eye as if to say "yeah? wadda YOU want??" LOL

 

[Calappidae]

It's not unusual for them to be weird sometimes. They ack unpredictable like dogs in aquariums.

 

[Nina51]

hmmm. i've never kept a dog in an aquarium. i'd need a bigger tank. a MUCH bigger tank!

 

[EI Gringo]

Keeping a dog in an aquarium would certainly be unpredictable

 

[snorvich]

In the wild, I have found them to be curious and extremely fastidious. I have spent a lot of time taking their picture and they do not seem to mind that as long as they do not see their own reflection in the camera lens.

 

[Nina51]

how awesome it must have been to see them in their natural habitat!! this guy is busy ALL the time, constantly moving rocks around. i found some small acrylic "rock" pieces in bright colors and dropped a few in to see what he'd do. he went to them immediately, piled them all up in one spot and then moved small pieces of rubble in a circle around them. this morning, he is rearranging again. LOL

 

[Martini5788]

Keeping a dog in an aquarium would certainly be unpredictable

Hahaha

 

[Nina51]

i'm sad...scampi died today. i have no idea what happened unless it was a bad molt. he was fine this morning, moving rocks around, very active, ate a piece of raw shrimp. this afternoon, i noticed him on his back. i covered the tank thinking he was stressed about something and just left him alone. looked a couple of hours later and he was gone.

i tested my water and didn't see any problems. ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates <10, calcium 490. what could have happened?

 

[carmelpi]

Awww i'm sorry to hear about scampi

 

[Calappidae]

Sorry to hear about that! Did he have any shell rot?

 

[Nina51]

thanks, guys. no, joe, no shell rot. he looked perfectly normal. what i think is that, because he was fed nothing but guppies for the 4 months he was in the pet store tank, his nutrition was probably suffering. i don't know if that would cause problems with molt (i suspect it would) so maybe that's it.

i may try another mantis but i'll order from liveaquaria if i decide to.

 

[Calappidae]

Trust me, live aquaria is the worst mantis shrimp supplier you can find. They can't tell the obvious difference between O. Scyllarus, and G. Ternatensis and Chiragra. Unless you see one in divers den, don't bother.

 

[Martini5788]

I got mine from ibluewater. She was expensive, but very healthy and they sent me videos of her prior to sending her. She came in a huge box with about 2 gallons of water, well insulated and I picked her up from the airport

 

[Nina51]

well, glad to know LA isn't a good place. don't think i've ever seen a mantis in DD but then, i haven't really looked there much.

thanks, sam. i'll check out ibluewater if i decide to go with another mantis.

 

[carmelpi]

Kpaquarics, bluezoo, etc"¦