My 1st Mantis

[slaeyer]

Was at the LFS the other day, and they were complaining about a recently discovered mantis in their 125 Gal display tank. We decided to try and net him, using krill (his obvious favorite food) as bait. After about a minute of trying, he swam right into the net and we scooped him out. Now I have my very own 1.5" mantis in a 2 Gal hex.

 

I put a freshwater snail into the tank, and he ate it all up quite greedily. I'm not sure what else to feed him though. I know he likes freeze dried krill, and now I know he likes snails. Should I try a salt-acclimated molly? Maybe some hermit crabs? I'd much rather feed him something that I can either reproduce (hence the freshwater snail) or purchase cheaply and easily.

 

Oh yah, a bit about the tank, it's a 2 Gal "Walmart" hex with a 10 W Coralife 50/50 PC retrofit, roughly 2 lbs live rock, and a fine bed of quartz sand (I'm cheap, and in nebraska, sand is free around the sandpits). Filtration is an Azoo palmfilter. I painted the back of the tank blue to help with lighting, and cuz it looks better I think.

[Withers]

try mollusks from the grocery store. also, maybe silversides, or "table" shrimp, also from the grocery store. is he a thumb-splitter or a crusher?

[Howf777]

freshwater feeder fish, those lil goldfishies u can buy from petsmart @ 8 or 10 for $1

[majestic sea life]

if u get a better pic and PM it to me i can ID him i think

[ifynanceu]

i had to give mine a drink of boiling water!!! tried to get it out, but the rock it called home was burried in the bottom of the tank, and it was smarter than the average trap...i wanted to catch it and give it away, but couldn't and he was eating all of my hermits...the electric blue legged ones were getting to be expensive food.

[slaeyer]

Posted some 1024 x 768 pics of my mantis on my website - http://www.angelfire.com/ne2/cwhite99/mantis/ - Hope they're good enough to id him with.

 

I tried a few more foods yesterday and today. He's not fond of live prey I've noticed. He doesn't seem to like the mollie or the crabs I've placed in his tank. While he does go after snails, I think they're much easier to catch, and don't defend themselves.

 

He does seem to like most any meaty food I've thrown in there for him, including shrimp, snails, thawed octopus, squid, mussels, even goes after a dead mollie without hesitation. I tried quite a collection of foods today held on a wooden skewer in front of his burrow to see if he'd try to eat them. He seemed to be interested in most everything I tried - he even managed to get the snail off the skewer, and tonight, had some "dishes" piled in front of his burrow. I sure hope that I can offer him a good enough diet to seem him through for a long time to come.

 

He's such a neat animal, always pearing out of his many burrows, I'm pretty sure he's a smasher, as he's been "working" on his burrow home, making it just the right size (you can hear him all over the house)

 

Majestic, if you can id him, can you tell me about how big he'll get? I'd like to know so I can plan his new house (I'm thinking a 10, or I have a 20 long I can use also). I'd like to get him something he'll be comfortable in for a while, but not so large that I'll never see him.

 

 

Anywhoo, thanks for the responses you all gave, and ifynanceu, sorry to hear that you are having such a tough time with your mantis problem. Hope things get worked out.

[OxInYourBox]

Nice find. You're right. He's a smasher.

[Rene]

Hard to tell without the meral spots (on the inside of the smashers) but it looks like a Neogonodactylus wennerae or bredini. Both are almost identical and can grow to about three inches in length. One person has kept theirs to almost adult size in a less than 1 gallon aquarium. After they have a burrow and if you keep the water quality up, anything 2.5 gallons and over should be fine. They're hearty beasts and quite a few people keep this species in 2.5s. They're also probably too small to crack the glass, but if you are worried, go plastic.

 

You're right! They're fascinating animals and I've had mine in a three gallon for a few months now--I'd take her over any fish. For the record, you don't need to feed them live food and as a smasher she doesn't naturally eat fish and may not eat them in the aquarium. Mine eats and has always eaten flake. They may be stubborn at first about taking unfamiliar food but hunger will win them over. It's neat to watch them kill live prey but it can get expensive, and they may take uneaten portions back to their den where it will rot.

 

And welcome to mantis and nano-keeping!