Is my mantis shrimp preparing to molt?

[wwarby]

I've had Oatmeal, my peacock mantis shrimp for about a week and a half now and her behaviour has changed a little in the last two or three days but especially in the last few hours. Just wanted to check if any of this indication of preparation for a molt, or something anything I need to worry about.

• I noticed she started curling up in a ball like a woodlouse for a minute or two every few hours. I think she might be trying to clean her tail or something?
• She started lying on her back or rolling over in the entrance to her burrow (a 2 inch UPVC pipe), but never for very long.
• This last hour or so she's been very animatedly exploring every nook and cranny in the aquascape, swimming in and out of her burrow, climbing up the heater etc. She seemed to be trying to dug a new burrow under one of the aquascaped rocks a couple of times.
• She's moving quickly and is out and about more than usual.
• I've seen her picking up little bits of rock and playing with them, but not taking them anywhere yet.

Her burrow has three entrances, there's enough rubble rock in various sizes on the sand to cover them if she wants.

Also not sure if it's relevant but my tank parameters are pretty bad at the moment - 0.25 NH3, 0.2 NO2 and 25 NO3, tested by experienced staff in my LFS yesterday. I'm getting help from them on that, added more bottled bacteria yesterday and will be adding an ammonia removing filter material tomorrow. I know I've messed up in that regard, I followed advice that I wish I hadn't and my mantis shrimp may be paying the price for it but I'm doing my best to put it right and hoping Oatmeal will cope in the meantime.

 

[HankstankXXL750]

Never had a mantis, but presence of ammonia a concern. I would suggest water changes along with the bacteria. Then make sure your dosing the bacteria and testing ammonia daily. I use Aquavitro seed and prime.

 

[jabberwock]

Never had a mantis shrimp either, but typically when a crustacean molts they know they are about to be vulnerable with their new soft shell, and they find a shady spot and hide while the new shell has time to harden. This is true of crabs and lobsters, so I might be comparing apples to narwhals...