Molting Time!

[J2FcM]

Whelp,
Motoko, the G. Smithii has gotten a strange milky blueish color all over her now, and isn't interested in food, and has taken to smashing off chunks of coral, breaking apart rocks, and moving every piece of debris she finds or digging large tunnels through the sand.

She's gone insane, and I believe I am going to experience her first molt under my care.

I'm thinking of changing the water just to make sure things are nice and clean for her, and maybe just turning off the lighting for a day or 2 and covering the tank.

But, on the flip side since she isn't eating I was hoping dropping a few hermits in the tank might clean up any algae growths.

any words from the fine Mantis citizens?

[acrodave]

when ever mine does it she blocks up her holes and stops eating..then after she sheds she opens the holes back up and is ready to go..and i also think that she eats it because i never find much of it other than a few pecies of it

[justinl]

If you can avoid a water change during a molt without compromising water quality, that is the best option. Or just do small water changes.

[cobaltplasma]

I can't speak for the water quality thing, it's something I'm a neophyte about hehe...but when my girl (a P.ciliata) goes to molt (going through the 3rd under my care), she seems to gather all of her favorite rocks and sets them about her burrow entrances, eats one last meal, then blocks off her burrow and I don't see her for 3-4 days; going into day 3, I might see her later tonight, but if not probably tomorrow. She does get more ornery and aggressive the closer to molt time, snapping at hermits, fighting with the pistol shrimp, etc.

I'm fairly regular on water changes so it's not something I think about tooooo much when she's about to molt, although I'm a little more particular about removing uneaten food quicker. Like justinl mentioned, maybe small water changes would be best if it's during her molt, otherwise I think it'll be okay and you can do your adjustments when she's done, out and about, ready to wreck havoc again ;)

[J2FcM]

She fights with pistol shrimp... do the shirmp and hermits... fight back or just die?

[cobaltplasma]

I hear the clacking and snapping, then I see the pistol shrimp flying out of the burrow, across the aquarium, and dive into a small burrow in the coral. She'll peak out and see if the offending shrimp is still around, and if not it's back to her excavation process.

The hermits she plays football with, punting them across the aquarium with a solid whack. They're stunned and just cower in their shell for about 5-10min before peeking out. It's mainly when they get too close to her main burrow, although that proximity expands the closer she gets to molting; if it's a regular, non-molting time then she won't strike at a hermit unless it gets within an inch or so of her burrow, but come molting time she'll venture out 2-3", sometimes more just to whack a hermit that even looks at her sideways.

She's killed a couple of the hermits that constantly try to walk towards her burrow, but those that are left learn after one strike and start walking in the opposite direction.

[J2FcM]

Sounds cool, how big is your Mantis vs the said Pistol and Hermits?

[Turtall]

You can offer massages, body treatments and even facials but dropping a few hermits in might be like the "Oh great...just started my period and now the in-laws have shown up!" If evrything is okay in the tank and Motoko is preparing to shed just let her do it; play some Enya and keep things cool and calm. Our Odontodactylus brevirostris, Poweena, puts out the "Do not Disturb" sign and so we don't. After a couple of days she puts out the "Take molt and Replace with Smelt Eggs" and is everthings cool again.

[J2FcM]

word. Yeah< i got sick of watching her drag around small frags and then get frustrated and just toss them aside. So I picked up some big rocks and just shoved them into her favorite "hide and seek" holes and she seems content because she finally just sits in her cave. lights out early

[cobaltplasma]

I'm all for the massages if she promises not to snipe my fingers ;)

My mantis is about 3" long, she's grown about an inch or so since I got her. The pistol shrimp is pretty tiny in comparison, barely 1" I'd say, the hermits are all relatively small, too, about 1/4" to 3/4" so they're quite punt-able, heh. The small ones she tends to ignore more, though, unless they insist on harassing her burrow space then she'll either whack them away or straight up kill them.

She moved burrows yesterday/last night, shifting from her new main back to her old burrow. Barricaded the two entrances and haven't seen her. I haven't seen her do that yet and hope that everything's okay, that when I come home tonight she'll be there eating a goby or something and hopefully of a different color :)