Blue Crayfish Legs Stuck In Molt

[steviem]

Please help! I've had my tank set up since October, and my crayfish has been doing fine up until now. It is a 20g tank with one small angel fish and a guppy along with my crayfish. Water conditions were good the last time I tested it, but today when I tested, it was a little too hard. He has molted at least once before since I've had him, but he stayed hidden the first time. This time, he's been laying out in the open, and clearly struggling with the molt. It's day 3 and he's still got pieces of his old exoskeleton stuck on his legs. He's still moving and squirming, and sometimes he'll kind of push himself with his tail, but he's been on his side or his back since this started. Today he made his way into his house and I thought he was dead because he was very still, so I moved it. But when I moved his house he shot out from under it. The large claws have fallen off but the rest of his legs are still covered in the exoskeleton. I know this is taking way too long for him to get out of this old shell, and I really really don't want him to die. Is there anything I can do?? Should I add something to the water or move him to another tank or try to remove the leftover pieces of exoskeleton?

I tried to add a picture of him to help show the problem but I couldn't quite get it to work.

Any and all advice is welcome! Please help!

 

[Nils]

IMO I'd leave him. If he's already stressed, a move could stress him to the point where he dies. I would just give it a couple days.

 

[shellyx]

How's things? I had this happen to my large vampire shrimp, not much you can do.

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon shrimp and snail tank

 

[Cold Canadian]

I would help my praying mantis out of its exo skeleton with tweezers.
Just food for your thought.

 

[GreenGo]

I had a panther crab once that got all its legs and both claws torn from its body. Stood over it when it was preparing to moult (was actually about to shed its exoskeleton I found out recently) with an exacto-knife in one hand and a pair of tweezers in the other. Poked it a couple times with the tweezers, really wanting to help. In the end it ended up dying from WAY too much stress that I was primarily causing it.

I say this to make this point: I agree with Nils and the couple other people who said this: leave it be. I know what it's like to lose an animal you hold dear, and there's NOTHING worse than knowing you led it to its death.

I've since become determined to be successful in breeding the species next time I get them, but as of yet have not had an opportunity. Hopefully that'll change soon.