Little red mantis
 

About 2 weeks ago I acquired a little red mantis shrimp from my lfs. The mantis came in with a shipment of live rock, and after an unsuccessful attempt to sell the mantis, the store offered the mantis free to a good home. I found a piece of lr at the lfs that apparently is the perfect mantis cave (the lr does look like a cave with twists and turns, ledges and portholes..all which the mantis uses), because the little mantis took to it immediately. I suppose the mantis is doing a little interior decorating because I hear clicking noices now.
My first question is this...its color was more vibrant and opaque; its color now is now translucent. Is this a sign the mantis is getting ready to molt?
I'm feeding krill & brine shrimp...both are taken with great gusto.
What other foods should I offer to the mantis?

I can't believe that out of all the males in my local saltwater/reef club, the only taker was me, a female. Aren't mantis supposed to be manly critters? :lol:

Oh...the little red mantis is a smasher.....

Color in N. wennerae is mostly determined by ambient lighting and background matching. The red morphs usually come from fairly deep LR. However, at the LFS it was probably held on a light background with broad spectrum lighting. That will produce a lighter animal.

As for manliness, I've had several students who obtained their PhDs working with me on stomatopods and almost all were women.

The mantis was darker at the lfs....it is lighter in color now.

Did I say something inappropriate? I thought it odd no male wanted the mantis. If I had not taken it, its next stop would have been the toilet.

So in answer to my 2nd question, what additional foodstuff should the mantis be offered to ensure its good health?

I have two smashers, a small (N wenn) and a large (peacock) - two separate tanks. I ask my LFS to give me the non-reef safe hermit crabs they find as hitchikers in live rock or that occasionally arrive in shipments. I also feed live fiddler crabs and olive nerite (brackish) snails. Both the small and the large mantis eat them.

I am a North Carolina female too, and I like mantises. But I also like venomous fish, eels, triggers and snakes.

Hello LisaD. I'm fond of eels too..in fact Aquamains in Greensboro has a gorgeous wolf eel I would love to have. Beautiful creature.

I offered the mantis nerite snails..the tiniest we could find, but the mantis wasn't interested. I'll let AC (lfs) know I'm looking for non reef safe hermits. I thought I would offer some live baby pepperment shrimp, but in checking with Aquamains tonight, they did not have any peppermints small enough for my mantis...

Thank you for the food tips. dr

baussie... how big is your mantis? You might try small ghost shrimp and large gammarus pods.
Greg

And soak food in a vitamin supplement on occassion (selcon, etc.)

you could also try some baby ram horn snails - your lfs will have them in planted tanks. just ask if you could buy several for the price of an adult snail. just remove if they aren't eaten. I'd also try some small pieces of raw shrimp or scallop on a feeding stick (I use bamboo skewers). I wouldn't spend the money on peppermints. you can salt acclimate ghost shrimp. a hungry mantis can decimate a ghost shrimp 3X its size. if it is eating the krill and frozen brine, I wouldn't worry.

baussie, I'm in Mebane, about 50 minutes east of Aquamain's. is the wolf eel green (male)? mine is a female (brownish). if you don't get it, I'd like to buy it if it is a male. let me know. BTW, did you know wolf eels are not really eels, but dottybacks? talk about the black sheep of the family. :) I have two "true" eels - a zebra moray and Brazilian dragon moray.