Peacock bad molt???

[Kati]

I have a peacock thats about 5" long, and I came downstairs this morning and he was laying on his back next to his old shell. He looked ok, his swimmerettes were moving and he was looking around, but I thought it was so weird that he wasn't hiding or attempting to eat his molt. I looked in his tank earlier today and he is wondering around, acting pretty normal, a little lethargic... but his molted shell is still laying in the sand. I am going to get him some iodine in a few minutes, but I wanted to know if there is anything I should be doing or if this could be normal behavior. Thanks for any advice! Oh, he was acting totally normal before he molted, making changes to his dwelling and he slowed down eating a little. But now he wont even go into his little cave :(

[Bebo77]

help.. i've fallen and i cant get up.. lol jk

[Thurge]

DO NOT ADD IODINE.
If you don't test for Iodine its very easy to raise it to toxic levels.
IMO you probably came upon your mantis just after it had finished molding and was simply tired. You said it was normal last night and this afternoon it was wandering around but lethargic which leads me to my conclusion that it was tired.

This is from memory of an article I read in Coral last moth.
Iodine is found in two forms in nature and it is in a 3 or 4 :1 ratio. Because of this most kits test for the most common form and do not look at the lessor form so testing can be inacurate. Iodine is used in trace amounts and pushing it much over the normal levels makes it toxic. While there are some organisms suck as some brown algae that concentrate Iodine in their flesh, its done at a slow rate and should not drastically deplete your Iodine level if you are keeping up with water changes.

We have all read that Iodine MAY AID in curstation molting but I am not sure if that has been comfirmed, but even if it has, if yo uare keeping up with waterchanges the levels should be good.

[DanInSD]

I would just turn the lights down, ensure optimal water quality, and wait. It is quite possible that Dr. Roy will have some words of wisdom on this one. It sounds like the molt was a tough one.

Dan

[Gonodactylus]

In a normal O. scyllarus molt of an animal this large, if the burrow is a tight fit, the animal will come out of the cavity to molt. If you see the old molt skin all in one piece (mostly), that is a good sign that the molt was successful. The animals may turn on their back for a few minutes, but usually they are walking normally in an hour or two. They may be slow for a day, but if the rapts are in good shape and the animal is upright, all should be good.

I keep seeing suggestions to add iodine to stomatopod tanks. I have never done it and I can see no reason to do it if the water is partially replaced on a regular basis and the diet is a normal "seafood" one. Krill, snails, etc have plenty of iodine. More over, if iodine were needed, it would be before the molt, not immediately after. At this point the animal is vulnerable to toxic compounds and it isn't eating.

It is one thing to be worried about iodine if you are a commercial aquaculturist with very hign densities of shrimp in a pond with pour water quality. It is entirely another to have 100 grams of stomatopod in an aquarium with excellent water quality and a good diet.

Roy

[Kati]

Thanks everyone! He is lokoing pretty good now. He buried all of his old molt skin... I can't figure out why, but other than that all is well. Thanks for the warning about iodine, glad I checked before I added it! I managed to snag his molted raptorial appendages while he wasn't looking so I'll try to post pics later. Thanks!

[Pea-brain]

Not uncommon for O. scyllarus to bury old molst skins or food. If it isn't eaten in a couple of weeks I would remove it, but leave it be for now.

Dan

[BLockamon]

I only find a few pieces of Lou's molt shells. He eats the rest.

[Gonodactylus]

The odontodactylids appear to be unique among stomatopods in burying their molt skin. I have seen it not only in O. scyllarus, but in O. brevirostris, O. latirosris and O. havanensis. We even have video taken in the field during an Aquarius mission of an O. havanensis leaving its burrow, dragging the moltskin about 30 cm and burying it. They often will dig it up in a day or two when their mouth parts and gastric mill are better able to deal with the harder parts. The is obviously a nutritional component to this behavior providing not only protein, but also minerals that are needed to harden the new molt skin. There may also be an antipredatory aspect removing a strong source of odour that could give away the location of the burrow at a time when the animal cannot defend it.

Roy