Liberache is his name.

[bump321]

Here is a picture of my mantis shrimp named Liberache. He is a hoot & he loves to have his picture taken. This guy hangs out like this all the time. Not shy at all. We liked each other at first site. I saw him & had to get a better look & he did the same. He came right up to the glass & had his eyes studding me. Not in a mean way just wanted to see who i was i recken & say hello in his own way. I realy liked him so he came home with me. Then I had to make him a home becouse he was not on a wish list. I have had him for over a month now & he is a real charmer. My cat realy likes him as well. The two of them sit & watch each other.

How can I tell what he is ?

Can you tell if its a girl or a boy ?

How big can it get ? He is a good 4 inches right now.

He seems to love all kinds of food not a fussy eater for sure. Big, small, frozen, live or dead he eats it all.

One neat critter. I was told abought this forum here on RC. I didnt know RC had one for the mantis shrimp. I will be doing a bit of reading here real soon.

If you have any dos or donts I would love to here them.
Bump

 

[Timmy]

It is a Odontodactylus scyllarus (peacock mantis).

On Roy's list you find more infos about this species.

Here

 

[bump321]

Hi Timmy

By looking at your avatar it looks like you have one to. I will take a look at the link.

Thanks
Bump

 

[bump321]

Do you know how to tell if its a boy or girl ?

Also how often do you feed ? I have been feeding once every day & he seem to be eating it all. I just want to make sure he is getting plenty to eat.

I read the link but it didnt have answers to the two ?s above.

Bump

 

[Timmy]

Hi Bump,

my O. scyllarus is a female and i feed all my mantis shrimps every day, sometimes every secound day.

You can see the difference between male an female when you look at the legs. Take a look at the pics, there you can see two tubes attached at the third legs. The female gonopores are between the first legs.

G. falcatus male

O. scyllarus female

 

[bump321]

Wow

I dont know how in the world you got these shots.

How can you tell if they want to bread ? If you can only keep one in a tank when do you know they are ready ?

 

[Timmy]

With a macro lens and a good camera it is no problem!

How can you tell if they want to bread ? If you can only keep one in a tank when do you know they are ready ?

This is a very good question, but i don't know the answer.
I hope Dr. Roy can answer this question.

I have some pairs and i hold them in one tank seperated with a clear divider. I don't know the time when they are ready for sex.

 

[bump321]

Do they fight if you put them togather & they arnt ready ?

 

[Timmy]

I have a pair G. falcatus in one tank with a divider. The divider has a small hole and they can go trough. The very first time they fight, but now it's different.
The male goes sometimes through the divider and stay in the "ladies room" without any fight. Sometimes they share one cavity.
I think when the time is come i have one dead mantis or a female mantis with eggs.

 

[bump321]

The female kills the male ?

 

[Timmy]

No, if one mantis is molting he can be killed by the other. If you hold two mantis (pair) together there is always a risk that this happend.

 

[bump321]

OK

So if i can find another one & get a divider with a small hole it should be ok as long as its boy - girl & will be iffy during a molt.

Should they be the same size ? Or does the size really matter ?

I have been reading & alot of you here feed scallops. Is it frozen or fresh from the stores ? Mine likes squid real well. What all do you feed yours ?

 

[Timmy]

There is allways a risk that you lost one mantis. I think it is better if they have the same size. Better is always a divider without a hole.
If the right time is come you can let them together.

I feed a lot of frozen food like shrimps, shells, krill, fish and sometimes life crabs from the stones.

 

[bump321]

Shells ? what is that ?

abought how much ? I want to make sure he is getting plenty but I dont want to over do it & have leftovers hidding down in his cave to spoil. He still has 2 or 3 snails in his tank so i must be feeding plenty.