Transporting mid-molt?

[ColoradoCrabs4]

The time has come- on moving day (December 13th), 5 of 6 crabs were under the substrate. Three came up, meaning two are still down. Those that came up are all settled in their new tank. I was so confident that after a month all would be up, but that’s not the case.





I can see the two molters (Tiger and Fossil) when I carefully slide the tank over the edge of the counter.

Tiger appears to be upright and moving a bit and has been for a few days (I am hoping he will come up tonight). Fossil (photo) has barely been moving, but there has definitely been some motion based on side-by-side photos. There are also no bad odors, so I believe he is alive but I am concerned that he is in a very fragile state.

My next door neighbors may be willing to host the old tank until the crabs are up. I think we can carry the tank carefully enough that the tunnels are not jarred into collapsing.

If they cannot- should I dig both out? Should I attempt to drive the 25 minutes as slowly as possible and transport the whole tank?


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[ColoradoCrabs4]

Shoot! I just saw the post from 3 weeks ago asking this same question- I had searched “molt moving new house” to try to avoid redundancy before posting but missed that one.

I am new on Tapatalk and cannot figure out how to delete my post above, so for right now it remains!


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[aussieJJDude]

Nothing wrong with posting your own question, even if its been answered. The search function helps a lot in answering questions, but if one requires further clarification, it's always worthy of a post!

Now, to answer if I was in your shoes, I'd dig up the moulters and then allow them to surface moult under your care. A small trip (39 mins) where you'll get them in good conditions in a quiet tank (I'd recommend an iso tank if you have one) and allow them the peace to finish the rest of the moult would be what I would do. Pack em in spaghnum (lightly moist, not damp or wet) and travel with them in that. Keep em warm, and then place them in a suitable tank and just let them do their thing.

[ColoradoCrabs4]

[mention]aussieJJDude [/mention] thank you for the recommendation and supportiveness! I ended up driving with the crabs, with the plan to check their chambers upon arrival and make sure that little to no substrate shifted. I was able to confirm after a smooth drive and transfer that the chambers were intact. The crab that had been up and moving (Tiger) just crawled up this evening, but it may be a little while before Fossil shows.

In a lovely coincidence- just stumbled upon your 2020 CrabCon video regarding the introduction of live plants! Excited as I’ve not yet had success with past attempts. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.


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[aussieJJDude]

Glad it went relatively smoothly throughout the entire process! Now the fun part of waiting for them to come up.

And thanks, I also have it as a 'written form' in the forum, if you haven't checked it out already

[ColoradoCrabs4]

Success!!! Both made it!

Great to know about the written format- I will definitely be referencing it!


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[myllkti]

Yay!!