Did my crabby drop some eggs??

[CrabMater]

Hi folks, been crabbin about a yr now, w 3 PPs. Two of them have been getting real close. sleeping together in a coconut birdhouse everyday for weeks. I noticed one of them disapeared for a few days and reappeared today by the saltwater dish. Spent a long time washing his legs. i thought it was molting time. but a few hours later i came home to this. A curious pink,orange pile of tiny bead like pearls clinging to the side of the bowl. I eat all sorts of roe and that's exactly what it looks and smells like. Both crabs are back in the coconut sleeping together as usual. i know the eggs (if they are eggs) arent viable, but can someone confirm if thats what im looking at
http://imgur.com/a/cQdtL

http://imgur.com/a/K9lZU

here they are
http://imgur.com/a/5ZG8N
one of them may need a new name .

[wodesorel]

Could be? Mature eggs are grey which is when they normally leave them scattered, but new eggs (first week) will be orangey instead. I've never heard of them removing eggs that soon, but if something went wrong the female will certainly ditch them rather than carry them.

They do take a while to scrape them off their tails, and the eggs normally stick so you should see a few stranglers on the back or claws of the one who did it.

[daws409]

I've never dealt with eggs so I wouldn't want to give the wrong advice or info... I'm tagging @Renroc Hopefully she'll be in touch soon.

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[CrabMater]

Thanks Wode & Daws.
Im leaving them there till my daughter comes in. id like her to see them since she helps w the crabs. ( as much as a 7yr old can help) they are already kinda funky. The crab who was Dean, has had zero interest in whatever it is off. Truly a crabby mystery.

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[Giner13]

Oh wow!! Interested to see what the other person tagged may say. I've never seen crab eggs


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[CrabMater]

Update:" Eggs" completly melted or dissolved in the hot and humid tat. came back a few hours later and jelly pyramid in picture was flat and almost deflated. a lot of it spilled into the water. i had my daughter w me, didnt take pictures, but we did examine. They were individual round dots. but no black spots, so IF these were eggs they were very immature.
I cleaned everything up. "Dean" did not dwell in the area, and is active and alert. John is also eating and running around upside down on the screen lid. like nothing happenrd.
Theres a part of me that hopes its just crab junk because the idea of a pile of ditched eggs makes me a little sad. But at the same time i am 100% incapable of caring for 1000 baby zoea.
I hope all is well in the Hotel.

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[Renroc]

Strange as it may seem seeing I"ve had 2 goes at raising babies and have 7mth old babies...... I have never seen eggs on my crabs. First I've known of it is wriggler zoea in the salt water pool. Sorry can't help much on this. BUT if you want to check put them in the salt pool and see what happens? They should hatch instantly on hitting the water. This may not work though if they are not ready/too underdeveloped or not viable for some other reason.

[CrabMater]

Hi Renroc, After the discovery I did some research since I had no idea about the life cycle of a HC. I shone light into the water bc this pink matter slid into the water and no darting zoea to be seen. after careful examination the pink dots were devoid of black dots i saw on more developed eggs.
after my daughter went to bed i poured the water into a clear soda bottle so i could check for floaters but saw nothing. my inexperienced opinion is that the crab ditched a batch of eggs that she deemed unviable. Im just shocked one of my crabs laid eggs. i put extra food down for them and will keep an eye on things.
thanks to everyone for your advice and help.



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[CrabMater]

Imagine my surprise when i saw yet another smaller but identical pile of this orange jelly substance on the salt water dish. Took HOPEFULLY a better picture.
http://imgur.com/a/8tjKT
its a dime sized deposit of jelly.
heres a close up of a few that fell into the water. no zoea. just sank to the bottom
http://imgur.com/a/gagz4
"Dean" is asleep in the Cococabana like nothing happened. S/he ate and ran around yesterday evening. and this morning, around 7am , just like yesterday, i found another gift by the waters edge.

[Giner13]

That is interesting!


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[CrabMater]

That is interesting!


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it sure is! i really have no idea whats happening, im making an educated guess since I'm not catching the crab in the act. but what else can it be??

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[wodesorel]

What have you been feeding them? It looks like dissolving food. Eggs would be perfectly spherical, they wouldn't fall apart to tiny bits.

[CrabMater]

i thought it might be food. but nothing I've given them has been that color or consistsncy. last few days have been chicken breast on the bone, boiled eggs and greens. nothing gelatinous or orange. the "dots seem to fall apart after an hour or two under my UVB light. when the two sleeping crabs wake up I'll clean out the dish. i dont like to remove dishes when they're asleep it really spooks them. Its times like this im sorry i dont have my time lapse camera set up yet.

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[wodesorel]

Boiled eggs with yolks?

[CrabMater]

Boiled eggs with yolks?

yep. bout 5 days ago.

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