Molting behavior of G. platysoma

[orkspace]

I just noticed that my G. platysoma molted. He or she appears to be eating his shed exoskeleton -- is this normal? My O. scyllarus would simply leave their shed exoskeltons on the substrate, and I expected the same behavior.

I've turned off the lights on the tank for the day -- is there anything else I can do to reduce stress on the animal?

I can't find any rotting food that would cause a nitrogen spike . . . which is good because I can't do a water change today at work anyway.

I'm just nervous because I lost my last two shrimps immediately after their molts.

 

[Gonodactylus]

I doubt that you have anything to worry about. Normally, G. platysoma would molt sealed in their cavity and would eat most of the molt skin before reappearing in a few days. They will eat everything except the very hardest parts - dactyls and telson.

In the field, O. sycllarus will often bury their moltskin and dig it up in a few days and eat the soft parts. They occasionally do this in the aquarium and you can actually miss a molt if they do a good job.

A partial water change when an animal molts is a bad idea provided that the tank is stable and well run in.

Roy

 

[orkspace]

Thanks for the reassurances.

I lost my last two O. scyllarus immediately after their molts -- I believe due to an ammonia/nitrite/nitrate build up caused by their shed skins.

It's been a few hours since I noticed the critter shedding, and he seems to be doing fine.

 

[orkspace]

Update:

Five days after molting, my mantis seems to be fine.