what a surprise.

[thanew]

ok last night I was looking in my tank and I saw this white crab figure... I was like wtf.. maybe he molted (didn't know much about molting at the time) so I poked him and it did not move... sadly I thought he was dead.

so I removed him and disposed of him correctly but then this morning I turn on the tank lights and to my surprise there are two crabs staring at me! instead of the one I had last night.

I searched and searched the tank last night hoping that maybe he did molt but I could not find anything in the tank at all besides the other crab, not in the wood, not in any caves, nowhere...

anyways, I am just happy to say that he was not dead, that he molted and that was quite an interesting experience!

-thane

[Jchillin]

Surprise, surprise...now that you've seen this I'm sure it won't freak you out when it happens again.

Does this make you a New's Year's Dad!?

[thanew]

i guess it does.. now I must wait for the other one to do it... animals are so interesting... i never knew they shed the whole thing at once, maybe just pieces but "the more you know"

[BrianNY]

It's a good idea to leave the discarded shell in the tank. [acronym:db9cf594bc="In My Experience"]IME[/acronym:db9cf594bc] they will eat it and the added calcium in the diet helps harden the new softer shell.

[BillyZ]

That's been my experience as well (with the lone blue lobster I had for a couple years a while back) When they molt, they will be absultely solitary. They are extreemely vulnerable at that point and so will hide very carefully until their new shell has hardened. The one I had also would consume his old shell when he molted, as Brian noted.