RM's HalfMoon Mantis Palace R.I.P CARNICERA

No he's not digging that much. Half the rock was pretty much up off the bottom to begin with because it sits on the pvc. He has pushed all of the larger rubble to the edges of his den and just left the sandiest stuff.

After the inactivity I was very suprised to see him away from his den last night. I was even more suprised by his speed! While he was eating the scraps a hermit got to close, he thumped it but bolted to the backside of the rock and that was the last I saw of him. He also bolted this morning as soon as my light hit him.

 

It is possible he molted in 3 days. He is pretty small right? When they are small it doesn't take long at all. They will typically bury their molt in their den and consume it over time. They start with the soft parts and consume the harder parts when they become strong enough. After the molt they are unable to strike, and doing so could cause injury. During this time they may accept soft food (krill, silversides, etc), but will not attack snails or crabs. If something comes close they may do a meral spread in order to scare the intruder away, in sort of a bluff.

He could just be getting used to his surroundings as well. It is normal activity for him to scram when you approach as he hasn't gotten used to you yet. If he was far away from his den his shell must be hard enough to strike. He could be looking for prey or looking for new dens (good signs).

 

Good writup Stepho! Much better than my jibberish lol...

 

Thanks man! Another thing I noticed..when he encountered the hermit he kind of layed to one side before smacking at it and bolting away. And yes he is small, about 1.5".

 

He probably won't dig out his den much more than he needs to get in... unless he is like fister who had one entrance that was dug out a lot. I assume he was building a garage.

When I added Fister as soon as he hit the water he bolted straight into a hole in a rock. He stayed there for the rest of the day and the next day he would peak out and look around, but didn't leave his den. The following day he started to dig out areas around his rock and build new tunnels, but didn't go far from his den. Over the next few days he started to explore more and built tunnels through and under rock all the way to the other side of the tank so he wouldn't have to be in the open more than a few seconds.

 

Agggh I'm so confused. I haven't noticed if his raptoral and legs are back. But now that I think of it...he was VERY fast chasing the shrimp on a stick. I was suprised at how fast he was and he wasn't leaning to the right so much anymore.

 

It's definitely possible that he's molted already. I had a cleaner shrimp pair molt the night they got in to the tank

 

Was he inside his den when he was laying to one side? Inside his den it isn't uncommon to find them in odd positions. half the time they stick their head out of their den they are upside down or sideways

 

yeah he was but he was in a newer part to the front of the rock and eating. But when the hermit walked under there he didn't totally lay onto his side but did roll enough that I got a glimpse of his belly right before there was a poof of sand and the hermit retracted into its shell. Then Bucky scrammed and that was the last I saw of him last night.

 

which legs was he missing? When he is moving fast he is swimming. For swimming they use the pleopods (the feathery looking this that are under the abdomen, sometimes called swimmates) not their walking legs. They should have 3 pairs of walking legs which start at the beginning of the abdomen right at the end of the carapace. At the base of the carapace they should have 3 pairs of maxillipeds they use for manipulating objects (moving rocks, positioning food, ripping of stuck raptorial appendages etc.)