"Social" Mantis Behavior

sickboy

New member
I realize that mantis shrimp tend to vary, but I'm curious about good practices to get mine to be more "social".

Does anyone have any good practices that help make the mantis more comfortable outside of his/her den?

Mine's quite pretty but I never see him.

I suspect there's isn't any absolute answer, but if anyone has had good luck with their mantis I'd be curious about what you did.

In my case I have a dedicated 20 gal tank with live rock. Marvin seems quite happy in there, boring through the rock like it's his favorite past time.

I usually throw a half dozen or so hermit crabs or snails in the tank every few weeks for food, he takes them as he pleases. Currently an emerald crab is managing to survive in there- I had a bubble algae outbreak he's taking care of nicely. I also fee Marvin freeze dried krill if he'll take it one in a while.

Thanks!!!
 
LoL... Sounds crazy but I sometimes feed mine (Max) by hand. If you decide to do that (though I dont recommend it) release the food as soon as he grabs hold of it or he WILL strike your fingers.Spend time watching it and dont pesture it. Max always comes out when I am around and will sometimes watch what I'm doing in my room. Treat it as well as possible. I give Max a varied diet of shrimp and live crabs that I gutload with a crab food that is loaded with betacaratines, vitamines, etc. Keep its tank clean and provide him lots of areas to hide you begin to get on its nerves and should begin to show up more for you. Realize that thies does vary with different types of mantis's though. Max is a G. Smithii so I know that they are often very lively and often concidered to be the showiest of all stomatopods.
 
Hey shadowf4x,

My friend from the LA area brought it to me. I guess they are VERY hard to come by and he hasn't seen any for a while. Everyone demands Peacocks now.:rolleyes:
 
Shadowfx4,

I've been waiting over 6 months for the shop I got ADHybrid's G. Smithii to get another one in. I still stop by there every couple weeks to make sure he still has my number. I was there last week and he had a few different mantis to choose from: a Gonodactylus chiragra, Pseudosquilla ciliata, and an Odontodactylus scyllarus.

Ryan
 
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