New mantis

[ZC]

Excuse the camera it's not the greatest, but you get the idea....
I picked up my new mantis shrimp from a LFS yesterday, she's a MONSTER, there were quite a few snails and crabs for cleanup crew, but this morning from 4 am to 6 am she managed to kill just about everything moving in her tank! It was quite loud! but still worth waking up to watch, I really wish I would have had the camera then! I'll have some more pics soon, she's still a little bit shy when the lights are on.

Anyways here are some pics....

 

[mattyice]

that PVC needs to be much larger, also what type of lights do you have over the tank? also that was prolly just an initial territory clean out, she will settle down soon and will prolly be staying in that burrow quite often, peacocks are active but they really wont come out of their burrow unless it hears something or you in the tank or its at night, at least thats how mine is

 

[Gonodactylus]

The diameter of the pvc looks about right. If anything it could be a bit narrower. You want the inside diameter to be able to allow the animal to just make a u-turn and that is just a little over it width. In the field, a 5 inch O.s. would have a burrow diameter of under 2 inches. As for length, the longer the better - at least twice the length of the animal and I usually try for 3 or 4 times the length.

Typically, O. s in the field are not active at night except during the full moon or when very hungry. In artifical conditions with varying lighting cycles, you will frequently catch them out at night.

Roy

 

[ZC]

the PVC is just what came with her from the LFS. It's about 18'' long and has a 90 degree elbow on the end. She seems to like it, and she can do U-turns in it easily and quickly!

I have had N. Wenera's before , but they are no where near as cool as the O.S.'s!!
I'm almost a little scared of this one! But that makes it all the more fun!

 

[ZC]

Well she's finally out and about, and active all the time now so i'm starting to get around to taking more pics of her ( i think it's a her at least) so here's some new ones. The pics come out kind blurry it's just cause i have to zoom in and I don't have that great of a camera.

This one is zoomed in as far as I can go, but you can see her colors good in this one.

 

[ZC]

How do I tell exactly if my mantis is a he or a she? Anyone know? I have read and read but it never really gives a difinetive answer. Since both male and females can have the same coloration, i'm stumped.

 

[mattyice]

get it to rear up on the glass and look between the last set of walking legs and if you see two sticks pointing inwards (besides the legs) its a male, if you see two dark spots pretty close together its a female

 

[Ladipyg]

SHE'S A BEAUTY!!! Congratulations on your new girl...

 

[ZC]

Thanks! She's quite a character!