unusual behavior?

[Jambi]

I dont know where my peacock was raised, im guessing captivity. He doesnt behave like I expected any mantis would. When I feed him squid with a feeding stick, instead of the quick typical "mantis strike" you see in videos, he just swims out, attaches his whole body to the stick and just eats it right there. That was last week. Now, ever time I feed him, i do it with my fingers. He swims right up and eats out of my hand. Im not really worried, Im just wondering if hes healthy or not. Maybe hes jsut extremely friendly. I guess if he was hand fed from birth, then he doesn't need to be aggressive?

He (or she) is about 3'' long. very very very active, its already made 4 homes in my tank. Hes always in a different one. He has alot of rock, substrate, empty shells and macro to decorate with too!

So far all ive fed is frozen squid soaked in Garlic guard, he eats like a pig, I feed him half a cube a day.

 

[DanInSD]

Interesting. I would not hand-feed a peacock -- just too much danger of a whack. Cool that he's so outgoing -- mine just is a boring homebody.

Dan

 

[Jambi]

im worried to throw a mythax crab in there for exercise lol, i think the peacock might lose the fight.

 

[justinl]

you need to feed smashers hard shelled stuff at least twice a month. if you dont, you run the risk of the mantis losing its rapts. A small crab or hermit will NOT be able to harm a peacock. at worst it will just survive and your peacock will have a new tankmate.

if you really want your peacock to start hunting (and i advise this), put in a small crab or a couple hermits or even snails and just dont feed the mantis for a few weeks.

I would also advise more variety in that diet. good that you soak frozens in selcon, but try using krill, silversides, clam, etc etc etc. I go with three diff frozens and cycle between them. occasional live feed. i also dont think there's any need to feed every day. once every two days is plenty. I feed my mantis once every three.

 

[Giga]

I second justinl the you should get your mantis to hunt and use those smackers again. Just put a couple of live food in there and don't feed him the normal frozen food. He won't starve once he's hungry he go to town on the live food. I would also avoid feeding by hand. One day he'll get you and a Peacock can do some damage. I remember someone else hand feeding and the mantis smack them and they lost there fingernail:eek2: I have a N wennerae and she is so small but very very aggressive. If I even think about putting my hand in her tank she rushes up and smack the sides or my hand(even a 1.5incher carries a powerful wack)

 

[ck1]

it is unlikely that your mantis was born in captivity- but very well could be used to being in captivity and that explains the social/ non-aggressive feeding behavior.

Julie

 

[Angel7989]

my O.S is the same way, she has 3 hermits, 2 turbos, 1 maroon clown, and a chromis as tank mates. she doesnt care about them and only eats what i feed her on the skewer. although my tanks parameters arent the healthiest so you may want to check yours

 

[Jambi]

So far hes been eating squid, silversides and i cut off tiny peices of Tiger Prawn. Everythings been soaked in garlic. How much should I be feeding him? He's about 3'' long and my ammonia levels have gone up a very tad bit, I think its because he takes the food into his house and doesn't finish it all.

I also threw about 3 hermits in there and so far he hasnt touched them, I wont feed him for a few days and see if he starts hunting.

Should I be feeding him every day otherwise?

Also, he likes to swim out in the middle of the tank, no rocks or anything, shove his head up to his eyes into the sand, and sit there, for hours at a time. He does it, then when I stick food in, hes very active and swims around everywhere. He never curls up or anything. Its just kinda weird, it usually happens when I accidentally leave the lights on past his bedtime. He also cant decide on a home, he makes a different one every couple days. He hasnt been using any of the empty shells I threw in there, just digging holes in the sand under my rock.

Hes very active though, eats, has great color, and seems happy to me. Ill try to get some pics of my setup in the thread.