Dead or molting
Posted: Tue Sep 05, 2023 9:56 pm
I just found one of my crabs appearing to be dead on the surface. He had been eating a lot and turning whitish so I'm pretty sure he was preparing to molt. I found him inside his shell, upside down with just a bit of his pincher visible. None of my crabs had ever surface molted so I immediately assumed the worst.I gently picked him up and turned him right side up to see if his body would fall out (at this point I still thought he was dead and was just in denial so I flipped him hoping he'd move and surprise me). While researching what to do after crab death, I read he may just be surface molting. I absolutely do not want to harm him if he is molting, but he looks very dead. He also is emitting a slight odor, but honestly it isn't the undeniable stench others mention and he also has some stinky food so I'm not confident enough to declare death. I just gently placed him in an isolation tank and I'm hoping for the best. Do I just wait for the stench (or hopefully signs of life)? Is there anything I should do to clean the main tank in case he did die in there? I definitely don't want my other crab getting sick from any left over bacteria.