Two legs in one molt?!

Mirrorakay · Post by **Mirrorakay** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 3:23 am

At the end of November one of my little guys, Hades, went naked and dropped two legs after a fight with another crab. It took a little over a week to get him to the point he could return to the main tank, and he promptly buried himself when he went back.

From that point on Hades had remained buried without surfacing (as far as I could tell). However, last night I caught him up, sneaking around the tank and stealing as much food from the bowl as he could manage. Though, I was terribly surprised to see BOTH missing legs back and helping the little guy toddle all over the tank.

I'm just curious if anyone else has had a crab regrow so much in one molt? Or maybe he pulled two molts in a row? I'm really not sure, not that I have any complaints

Post by **wodesorel** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 4:39 am

Kathy just had a crab that regrew all six appendages in one molt:
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=79237

I've had crabs in the past regenerate multiple legs in one go. I always feel bad for the injured ones in the store, so not many of mine came completely whole.

The fastest was a small crab who managed to re-grow two and a half legs and a BP during a 35 day molt. Zeus didn't even eat or drink first to build up for the molt - I put him on the sand and he immediately buried himself.

They really are quite amazing, and the smaller the crab the easier of a time they seem to have. One thing you may notice is that the legs are usually thinner and a different color than the rest of the crab. (Around here new limbs and parts tend to grow in bright red, regardless of the color of the crab.)

I'm glad to hear that Hades made it and is doing great!

Sounds like he had a very rough experience before his molt.

Kathy Freer · Post by **Kathy Freer** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 9:36 am

Don't you just love how these guys are able to regrow their limbs?Congratulations to you and your little crab!!!
Kathy

Mirrorakay · Post by **Mirrorakay** » Mon Feb 21, 2011 1:12 pm

Yeah, I did notice that his new legs were quite red compared to the dark maroon that is his normal coloring. I'm not sure if they were thinner (he's horribly shy and hard to get a look at), but I was happy to see that he could move around with ease at last. He was really struggling to pull around the big shells he always seems to like.

It truly is amazing that these little guys can pull through such horrific conditions. They really are little troopers