On mantis Burrow Construction...

[andgott]

I have been away for a while, And my Mantis, Mr. BoJangles, has been BUSY... He has enlarged his 'home' in the live rock into quite a castle, with at least 3 entrances (all of which have shell doors that fit PERFECTLY, clever little bugger). This is quite an expansive complex, his rock is about 10" or so long, and the burrow goes right through it... When I put it in there, it only had a small crevice in it that he hid in. Watching the construction progress has been a real treat- I can't believe that I was actually going to get rid of this critter when I first found out that I had one!

Do all mantises keep this busy? The Mr. Gets up by 7 each morning, and from the constant clicking and puffs of dust coming from the burrow, I can tell that he is busy ALL DAY. He doesn't stop until late, late evening... And he does it every day. Judging from the size of his debris pile (which he neatly stacks outside only ONE of the entrances, kind of bizzare) he is going to run out of rock soon. Are all mantises like this, or is mine just overly ambitious??

BTW- It is an N. Wennare, For those who aren't familiar with him...

-Andrew

[Ruu]

My mantis (fluffy) has been doing the same thing. My largest piece of live rock is now his home (he moved a week or so ago after a molt), and what appeared to be a small indentation is now large enough for him to easily hide in. I'm waiting for him to come out of one of the other sides now.

Dave

[Uriel]

My Mantis (Baron von Munchausen) keeps pretty busy as well, he is a small (maybe 2.5") G. Viridis , btw. He also has three entrances in his big LR Castlle, though he usually uses walls of smaller pieces to fill the holes. As well, he burrowed up into the dome (it is about 6" tall, this LR piece) and knocked out a 'balcony' of sorts. Occassionally, he can be seen looking out. BvM constantly hammers small wedges and other bits in, shoring up areas that he (or I...ahem) have moved. recently, he used a big snail shell as a support column, and it now sits in the middle of the wide 'Front gate' section, as a warning to Beauregard the Hermit, The Jade Emperor (E Mithrax) and any ofther foolish lesser beings who might venture near (he only rarely eats a hermit, as he really prefers snails).

[T-T-Trigger]

<--- shaking his head.... The Baron and BoJangles and Fluffy... lol funny :rolleyes: :p

[Gonodactylus]

All stomatopods require a burrow or cavity and much of their energy is spent build and defending their homes. When the cavity is too small, or unsuitable, they will work for days altering it. (In the field, they would be more likely to leave and try to find a new one, but most aquaria have limited options.) Intense construction often signals an approaching molt. THose of you with O. scyllarus are certainly familiar with such activity and the same is true of other smashers as well.

Roy

[Ruu]

Originally posted by T-T-Trigger
<--- shaking his head.... The Baron and BoJangles and Fluffy... lol funny :rolleyes: :p

Yes - The baron and BoJangles are ridiculous names for Mantis shrimp, I agree.

Dave

[andgott]

Originally posted by Gonodactylus
Intense construction often signals an approaching molt.

Roy

Explains a lot... He seems to spend a long time building, then disappears for a while- Closes everything up... Must be molt time!

Still building today, although he did take a break to eat for a while...

[msackett]

Andgott,
Mrs. Bojangles is going great. She is loving her new home up here in Wyoming. She told me that she hopes the Mr. is doing well, but that she doesn't miss the way that he treated her :) She is enjoying life out on her own and likes the place that her new sugar daddy(me) put her up in. Her new home consists of a 12 gallon JBJ Nanocube DLX. She is also very busy arranging her home to suit her stylish tastes, but she told me the other day that she would like some new mushrooms and zoo's to decorate the place with. So those will be put in shortly, after i can frag them from the other tank.
I hear her smacking and smashing away continuously. She is quite social and loves to come out and watch me, as i am watching her. She loves to eat shrimp still, but enjoys socializing with snails and bringing them to her lair for dinner. But i guess the snails like it so much they never leave. She also has a funny habit of hunting down large copepods all around the rocks and sand for appetizers. She has grown fond of silversides in the past rew months, but seems to enjoy a diverse menu. I have some old fuzzy pictures at home, but will try and get some new ones shortly.
She says to tell the Mr. hi and she hopes he is managing the place OK without her around to do all the cooking and cleaning.

Matt

[andgott]

Glad to hear she is doing well... I am glad she has a good home. Is she still green?? I THINK that she was red when I first got her, and changed during a molt... Either that or she didn't make herself known at all for the first month she was in the tank (all I ever saw was red- I assume that they were both coming out for food, but I didnt know that there were 2 in there until the green one showed up)...

The MR. Is LAZY- he leaves the snails alone, prefers to eat nice fresh gulf shrimp that I feed to him... He is in a 38 gal tank, along with 2 ocellaris clowns, an urchin, a couple of anenomes, some snails, a limpet or two, and all sorts of soft corals and sponges- all of which (except for the clowns, of course) were hitchhikers on the live rock...

Of all the 'Critters' I have in both my SW tanks, he is the most fun to watch- and the most interactive. Amazing- He was free!

-Andrew

[msackett]

Yeah, she is still that same green. She enjoys eating snails, but she also is always willing to take a handout from me. I can always tell when she is ready for a bit of shrimp because she will come out and sit on the rock and look at me until i come over to the tank and feed her.
Yes, she is the most fun SW critter that i have. My other tank was somewhat neglected when i first got her. Both are doing well now, and my other tank has snails reproducing, which i then put in her tank for her to eat. So that works out well.
Glad the Mr. is doing well.

Matt