Is my mantis shrimp dead? =/

they go through phases where they "huff and puff" to expand their shell to loosen it. They will then start to kick their swimmettes and work to get the shell off including their swimmettes. You should see some movement of at least the swimmets however depending on the position it is lying in you might not see that. Bob would curl up in a ball in her den so at times I thought she was dead.

I would go in and take a peak at it later today and see if it has moved any. I wouldnt do anything other than that today. Tomorrow if he isnt moving you might want to take a skewer or something and tap him. Again, if he did pass it was nothing you did what so ever, it is very stressful event and everyone on this forum who has had a mantis has lost at least 1 or 2 to a molt.

Thanks about the dog. That was Oscar my rescue pug. He was the best dog ever. I got him after an entire pug breeding mill was killed due to an extreme heat wave (short nose dogs can not take heat at all) When the animal control got there, all the pugs and pups were dead with the exception of 2, Oscar and another one. Unfortunately I had to put Oscar down about 3-4 years ago (he had a good 3 years with me) but just havent had a chance to change his picture out (i cant remember how to change my avatar!)

 

Hey guys, bad news he didnt make it =/


I posted some pics of him maybe you guys can tell me if he died from molting or not



By eazyduzit at 2012-05-30


By eazyduzit at 2012-05-30


By eazyduzit at 2012-05-30


By eazyduzit at 2012-05-30


By eazyduzit at 2012-05-30


By eazyduzit at 2012-05-30

 

i am so sorry! It does appear that he died in a molt more likely. Again, this just happens in this hobby and even in the wild.

From the pictures it appears that you had a peacock mantis. Peacocks in particular have the worst molts and have the one of the highest mortality rate.

Dont give up, talk to your LFS..........possible that your LFS will do a refund (I doubt it because is so common) but worth the shot.

When I get my mantis I ask the store to special order them for me. I do not allow them to unpackage them and acclimate in their store, instead I pick it up right after it arrives. This way it only has the one acclimation period versus the two

 

Yeah your right. I got this guy for only 20 dollars so I felt like I got sucha great deal, it was a mantis that the store discovered in their display tank after realizing they were losing lots of their inverts. I still dont believe it was a molt, because he was fine in the morning but dead 7 hours later, it was a really hot day and I dont have a chiller just a ac unit that makes my room freeznig cold(but it was off that day). He never moved his eyes fins nothing, I really want to get another one but the cheapest one I found is a $70.00 4 inch peacock which is in southern california. Thanks for all your help