My first Mantis

[Malign Reefer]

Oh man I love this little guy, he took a piece of shrimp from my hand.

 

[Malign Reefer]

Is it odd that I have not seen my mantis out in the open since the day I brought him/her home? About 2 months now. It will pop its head out for feeding but then goes back in the hole and eats.

 

[JJOHN82]

I had a bright green one like you say yours is and he stayed in hiding alllll the time. He would come out at night and rummage around the tank. The think I liked about that one is he would turn live rock into swiss cheese making caves and tunnels in everything and all you would ever see is his little eyes peering out of one of the holes. Is yours doing this?

 

[JJOHN82]

For identification check out Roys list.
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/
The best indication is going to be the markings on the inside of his clubs which you can see when he as I like to say "flexes" up at you. There are several green smasher species.

 

[Islandoftiki]

My tiny black mantis hides almost all of the time with his little eyes sticking out from his den. He comes out when nobody is around and redecorates his tank. It took him about a month to start doing that though. Initially he just hid and would only eat every couple days. His absolute favorite are frozen enriched mysis shrimp and live dwarf cerith snails. If you order them from Reef Cleaners, they often send you about six trillion dwarf ceriths when you order 5 or 10, so I ask for extras for my mantis and that gives me about a 6 month supply. I keep the spares in my other tanks and toss a couple of them into his tank once a week. They don't last long.

His little tank is situated directly across from the TV, and every time we have the TV on, he's right there looking up at it, or looking over at us on the couch.

Just don't expect him to be super friendly until he learns to associate you with food... which he will.

 

[Malign Reefer]

I had a bright green one like you say yours is and he stayed in hiding alllll the time. He would come out at night and rummage around the tank. The think I liked about that one is he would turn live rock into swiss cheese making caves and tunnels in everything and all you would ever see is his little eyes peering out of one of the holes. Is yours doing this?

He/she is a mid to bright green color and I only see his eyes now and again.

 

[Steve C]

I had what I thought was G. viridis. Started as a very dark purple red colour and after the first shed under aquarium lighting turned bright green. Mine also hid constantly. Does yours have pale/white eyes?

 

[Malign Reefer]

I had what I thought was G. viridis. Started as a very dark purple red colour and after the first shed under aquarium lighting turned bright green. Mine also hid constantly. Does yours have pale/white eyes?

It has white eyes.

 

[Steve C]

I very rarely saw mine.