live food: this is kinda weird, so read on...

[kennerd]

OK, I have a small mantis (1.5") He's a smasher, brown/grey with grey oblong eyes, and turquoise& beige edges to his fins. He's doing pretty well in a 6 gal eclipse tank, 3" southdown DSB, blah, blah, blah....

Here's the weird thing: he won't eat diced shrimp, krill, formula one, diced clam, anything..,...as far as I can tell, at least.

there is only one thing the little bugger likes:

I have a freshwater breeding tank next to his that has two broods of japonica shrimp fry growing in it (the Amano algae-eating shrimp) and there are a bunch of freshwater red ramshorn & turban snails breeding in the tank.

Well, gave it a shot, and threw one in front of his den , and BAM: he blasts the living #$%# out of it, then runs back out, retrieves it, and zips back into his den....

HMMMMM: so now, I throw in one or two every other day, and he's will grab them two at a time, and you can hear him smash them in his den, and throw the shells out:

So, after the japonica grow up, I think I'll keep the tank as a snail breeding tank to keep my free food source going! Might try soaking them in Selcon to juice 'em up a bit.

Anyone else out there using a strange "alternate" diet for their mantis?

 

[ISFRAEL]

ive read somewhere that fw animals are not a good idea for sw animals to live on long term. cant remember the exact reason for this though. maybe do some research

 

[ISFRAEL]

i use live sw shrimp from the local tidal pools. very easy to collect with a net and very fun to watch getting crushed. they are FREE as well.

dr caldwell told me that he only uses selco to promote egg-laying in mated
females, but does not use it regularly for most animals. A varied diet seems
adequate.