Crab won't stay in her shell! 4 days now.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 10:41 am

I'm totally lost as to what this crab is doing. Nothing has changed in her tank. Plenty of sizes and styles of shells available. Salt and regular water available. Cloudy eyes and drinking extra water so is working on getting ready to molt. She is an E and is a very laid back crab that has never did this before. We have had her since July and she has never changed shells. Her shell that she was in was to small and painted so I've been hoping she would change to a natural shell. She is still active and moving around. I have gently put her back into her shell and within an hour she is out again. She doesn't seem stressed and seems quite content sitting there with her backside hanging out. Can someone shed some light on this? She is still moving around like she always has with her shell, just without it now.

hermietastic · Post by **hermietastic** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 1:38 pm

I really don't know. Peggycats I belive had a crab that had the same situation. Hmmm..... maybe ISO with no substate (so that it won't hurt her abdomen) and extra shells. I really don't know.

Rhoney · Post by **Rhoney** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:08 pm

Sometimes a crab will have difficulty molting adn remove its shell to get off the exo, I'd ISO immediately with little to no substrate and hope for the best

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:35 pm

Should I just put some slightly damp paper towel in her iso tank with her water, food and extra shells?

Tetracolor · Post by **Tetracolor** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:43 pm

I had a small E, Lilac, who had done that before. She wasn't that active though... she was kinda slow moving and unaware of her surroundings. I figured that if I had been doing everything right until then that I wouldn't bother her and so she eventually molted without her shell and is back in it and is happily living in the 40B with the other crabbies. Sooo... if your confident in your pther crabbies not to devour her then I'd say to leave her as is.

hermietastic · Post by **hermietastic** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 7:57 pm

Melinda wrote:Should I just put some slightly damp paper towel in her iso tank with her water, food and extra shells?

I would do that.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:34 am

Well, she's still going. Her eyes are still cloudy, but no molting yet. I went and bought more shells yesterday and put in with her so she has plenty to choose from. I gently got her in one last night and looked this morning and she was hanging out of it so I was thinking she was gone. I picked her up and her legs started going. I don't get it but I guess I'll just let her do her thing. She is in iso with paper towels, salt and regular water, food and plenty of shells. We shall see.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:09 am

You can try choosing a size-appropriate shell for her, and gently guiding her abdomen into it. Then, gently tap her BP or the top of her head to get her to retract into the shell. Continue to do this every time she starts to untuck.....possibly up to 5-10 minutes if necessary. This method has worked on several of my crabs. If she weren't showing such a high activity level, I would think that she may be in the process of passing. However, as long as she seems fine otherwise, maybe she is just being a finicky shell picker!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:25 am

Well, she is, at the moment, in a shell. She is not locked into it, but she is sitting in it. I tapped on the big pincher and also the top of her head and she didn't retract to either. Her legs were moving so I'm hoping she pulls through this. I've had some that have been the limp not moving near death ones and she isn't like that. She probably isn't as active as she has been when she was in her shell, but she is definately still moving around and responsive. I'm really thinking she is having molting troubles and that is what is causing this.