My New Mantis!!!

[sandlot13]

Hey everyone, here's my new mantis shrimp (I believe its an Odontodactylus scyllarus). I was so excited to get him. At the moment he's in a 7 gallon holding QT tank till his new home is fully cycled. Right now he is approximatly 3" long, so it's gonna be fun to watch him grow! any tips on how i should feed a guy this big? I fed my other mantis (N. wennera) with hermit crabs, but he was so small it didnt eat all that often or too much........ no im kind of stuck. Was going to order from aquaticisland and get a cleaner package to feed the new guy, but they are closed for the summer. What does everyone else do for food? How often do you feed them? Would feeder guppies work alright? ghost shrimp?

thanks guys hope you like him!

This was taken when i first got him(or her i guess).......

 

[cperez155]

Cool mantis!

 

[BLockamon]

If you need large quantities of hermits or snails for feeders, I'd recommend www.reeftopia.com. It's hard to beat their lot prices ($0.25 for a blue-leg hermit, $0.35 for an astrae).

 

[sandlot13]

awesome, thanks for the tip....... i was actually thinking of ordering from there, but i wanted to make sure i was getting the best deal.

 

[Timmy]

It is not Odontodactylus scyllarus, it is a Gonodactylus chiragra female.
Nice mantis.

 

[sandlot13]

oh really! thats awesome...... i wasnt sure on what specie it was. Can you tell me how you could tell it was a G. chiragra, and how to identify thats its a female? thanks!!!

 

[Timmy]

I take a look at the telson, color and the color of the uropods. I have two G. chiragra females with exactly the same color. Males are darker.

 

[majestic sea life]

i say F G. chiragra. i have one that looks just like it.

 

[sandlot13]

thanks a bunch guys! This is only my second mantis, but I am excited to get a different specie than my last one (wennerea). Are your G. chiragra's interactive? what do you find they like to eat the most?

 

[psychodave]

My G. Chiragra, Mitch, is actually more active than Twitch, my G. Smithii, though Twitch may be molting. Mitch LOVES astrea snails and squid. I tossed in some hermits and he took em out fairly quickly...I dunno if he ate them as I had a rather large GHA bloom shortly afterwords.

The G. Chiragra's are not a very active species. Mitch sits at the entrance to his cave and stairs back for hours and occasionally makes patrolling runs around the tank.

 

[sandlot13]

ya, so far Roseline hangs out in a make shift cave mostly, but goes on spurts of energy where she patrols and moves things around. Still fun to watch, thats for sure!