Shrimp Cannibalism

OhNo123 · Post by **OhNo123** » Mon May 28, 2007 4:25 pm

I know Shrimp are carnivores and often eat their own young, but do they commonly eat another shrimp their size? Between the past two days, 1 specific Ghost Shrimp molted. Yesterday the tail, today the head. The GS that molted cannot swim correctly and often runs into objects and runs into the gravel since it seems as if it has a damaged leg. A berried female kept chasing it around and eventually grabbed onto its tail and dragged it around, eating it. It did not seem like the Berried female was cleaning it at all. So I removed the hurt shrimp into a cup. Should I put it back into the tank and sees what happens of leave it in the cup?

OhNo123 · Post by **OhNo123** » Mon May 28, 2007 5:18 pm

Well, sadly the shrimp died due to its injuries. The tail was no longer functioning so it could not get up, only lay down on its side.

pixl8r · Post by **pixl8r** » Mon May 28, 2007 5:25 pm

Shrimp are opportunistic hunters. If a weak/sick/vulnerable meal presents itself they will hunt it down, if they can. Have plenty of nooks for shrimp to hide in after molting. Overpopulation is another cause for such aggresive behaviour.

OhNo123 · Post by **OhNo123** » Mon May 28, 2007 6:05 pm

pixl8r wrote:Shrimp are opportunistic hunters. If a weak/sick/vulnerable meal presents itself they will hunt it down, if they can. Have plenty of nooks for shrimp to hide in after molting. Overpopulation is another cause for such aggresive behaviour.

I see, my tank is kind of crouded ( around 28 GS ) and has few hiding spaces. One dark corner and two caves. I'm thinking about putting half-cut flower pots in them and some Java moss. Good idea?

Suzie Q · Post by **Suzie Q** » Tue May 29, 2007 10:02 am

I am sorry to hear that your shrimp died.

I have seen this behavior. I am sad to say that your shrimp that died, was dying anyway. My oldest female had been "acting funny" for a few days when one of the younger females grabbed her and started munching. After a few seconds, the other female (had 3), and the 2 males attached her also...with in less than a minute the sickly female was dead. I could do nothing for her, so I let the others have a fresh protein snack. Within about 10 minutes, the snails were cleaning up what was left.

OhNo123 · Post by **OhNo123** » Fri Jun 01, 2007 5:54 pm

Suzie Q wrote:I am sorry to hear that your shrimp died.

I have seen this behavior. I am sad to say that your shrimp that died, was dying anyway. My oldest female had been "acting funny" for a few days when one of the younger females grabbed her and started munching. After a few seconds, the other female (had 3), and the 2 males attached her also...with in less than a minute the sickly female was dead. I could do nothing for her, so I let the others have a fresh protein snack. Within about 10 minutes, the snails were cleaning up what was left.

Thanks for the tips Suzie Q, raising shrimp is short of difficult. Part of the tail molt is still floating around, getting eaten whenever the shrimp get a chance. The shrimp look depressed. Just did about a 25% water change today.