Yikes I found something.......

[supersmile]

I caught it. I took my rock out and put it in freshwater and I caught it with my tongs. It is for sure a mantis shrimp and now I have him in a plastic bag flaoting in my tank. How long do you think he can stay in there?? I am going to go and post it for sale now!

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Some LF stores will buy them from you, too....or give you store credit!

[Delphinus]

Wow that was fast work Can you snap a picture?

[supersmile]

I tried taking a pic of him in the bag but it wasn't clear at all. But I was just looking at a bunch of mantis shrimp on the net and it is for sure some kind of mantis shrimp. How much do these guys usually go for?

[justinl]

Ive heard of mantises escaping from plastic bags. If you have a glass fishbowl or some kind of rigid container, that would be better. Even an ice cream bucket well cleaned using freshwater would do well. If you think it will be in there for a while put in some small pieces of LR and sand.

the price is highly variable by species. If you can get a pic I might be able to ID it. Usually they go for anywhere between 10-50$. Rarities much more.

[supersmile]

I just called Big Al's and they are selling theirs for $60. he said he has never seen a black one before. The ones they are selling are Peacock.

[justinl]

overpriced unless its a rare species. You probably won't get many buyers at 60 bucks. It's not the worst ive ever seen though. Ive seen a few peacock mantids (common in the mantis trade) go for 100$US. Usually stores have no idea what species of mantis they have and just give it a random price. Ive even heard of one guy who ordered a pricey mantis and drove 4 hours to pick it up. when he got there it ended up being a pistol shrimp.