Mantis Shrimp Mate

[Cheeta]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if I could get some advice on what I should do with my current mantis situation.

I purchased a peacock mantis a few days ago and recently discovered that she has eggs. I remember seeing a few other peacock's at the store and wondered if any of those could have possibly been her mate. I contacted the store and the person informed me that she did come in with another smaller mantis (which they still have). My question now is, should I purchase the other mantis and try to introduce them? I did some research online and discovered that these creatures usually mate for life. If i do decide to introduce them together, do you guys have any suggestions on how to best handle the situation? Would i even be able to introduce another mantis without them killing each other? BTW, my mantis currently lives in a 30 gallon tank.

Thanks in advance.

[kominato]

believe the original post was from the US !!

[Mez]

Hi dude, they are solitary animals that do not breed in captivity. Check out my site:
http://www.mantisshrimps.co.uk
Keep them alone, one or both will die otherwise. The eggs are infertile.
They dont have mates, when breeding season occurs a male will seek out a newly moulted female, mate, then leave. In seconds.
The ONLY mantis to be SOMETIMES found together is Lysiosquilla maculata, or "large zebra mantis".
Also, the 'peacocks' aren't always Odontodactylus scyllarus, often thats just what exporters call biggish ones.
Do check my site out, its 100% Stomatopod.
Thanks.
James