r/shrimptank • u/Pleasant-Habit-3342 • 1d ago
Shrimp Photos Why does my shrimp look like a dog trying to squeeze out poop
One of my shrimps with eggs seems to curl up into itself. It's shell seems normal otherwise. I've also noticed that it uses its legs to pat or brush it's back. Is this normal? It reminds me of my dog on its hind legs trying to push out it's poop.
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u/rainbowdolly33 1d ago
this is the equivalent of a dog licking his butt, just giving herself a nice clean.
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u/ThugBunnyDragon 1d ago
If you look close enough, long enough, you'll see them shove their front legs inside themselves to clean. They're adorably disturbing
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u/FigNo1403 15h ago
Now my husband is going to catch me sitting in front of the shrimp tank with a magnifying glass 😂😂😂😂
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u/winter-ice-ace 23h ago
I always call it shrimp yoga :D
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u/Pleasant-Habit-3342 18h ago
Literally. It looks like it's been holding a pose for a little too long. But from the other comments it seems to be normal.
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u/lemonukiyo Neocaridina 16h ago
It’s my favorite thing they do, I find it so funny and idk why but there’s a bunch of photos of them scratching their butts on my phone. 😂😂😂
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u/FigNo1403 15h ago
They are scratching their butts on your phone? You may want to reword that. Or not. 😂😂😂😂
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u/DOOMISHERE 1d ago
btw those fishes over there will eat shrimp for sure
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u/Pleasant-Habit-3342 18h ago
Yeah, I was a bit hesitant at the start. That's why I haven't added neos despite them being much more colourful. These shrimps are much larger and in no way fit in the widow's mouth. I haven't seen any nipping from them so far as well. They seem to be mid-dwellers and rarely spend their time at the substrate where my shrimp mostly hang out.
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u/MisterAlex-01 1d ago
What kind of shrimp is that?
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u/Pleasant-Habit-3342 18h ago
It was sold as glass shrimps, but I'm thinking whisker shrimps considering the country I'm in and their aggressive behaviour.
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u/Mikelly2005 4h ago
Does it have red bands on the antenna? If not , it’s a whisker. If yes, it’s a ghost shrimp. But whiskers are definitely more aggressive than the latter.
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u/Pleasant-Habit-3342 3h ago
No red bands, no dotted pattern. It does have prominent front pincers. Plus they have very long antennae (whiskers) which does not come through in the picture properly. And their behaviour does seem aggressive enough to be whiskers. When I feed my tetras earthworms, my shrimps compete for them and even sometimes snatch them out of my tetras mouths.
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u/Veratridine 19h ago
My cherry shrimp does the same. It seems intentional, and I don’t think it's anything to worry about.
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u/BrookeBaranoff 1d ago
They like to fan their eggs to keep them healthy.
As long as it doesn’t stay curled.
Staying curled could be a bad molt.
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u/Unhappy-Reveal1910 1d ago
I saw one of mine do this just the other day, I'm very much a shrimp noob so I wasn't sure what it meant. Then I saw it seemingly lying dead on the substrate, but I went to remove it a couple of hours later and it was gone. I only have ADF's so I know nothing ate it. I have lots to learn still about shrimp.
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u/littlearthling 23m ago
I’m actually so glad I found this post 😂 I saw my pregnant shrimp doing this yesterday for the first time and I was so concerned lmao
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u/Freedom_FPV 1d ago
Lack of minerals in your water. She it’s itchy because her shell isn’t developing properly…also she has eggs so if you don’t have babies then the eggs didn’t have enough minerals to hatch. 2nd indicator that you don’t have the right mineral TDS
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u/Pleasant-Habit-3342 18h ago
Maybe it's me being paranoid, but what mineral supplements would I need? Or is there a water test for minerals where I can check? Edit: I'm not sure if this is the case though, as I haven't noticed my other shrimps do this for as long as this, even the eggnant ones.
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u/OpheliasGun Blue Neo’s 🦐 1d ago
Shrimp, unlike some of you nastiest here, actually wash their butts! 🙈