chirping while molting?

crazycrabber · Post by **crazycrabber** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:00 am

so my molting crab was chirping a lot last night, and i could hear him moving a lot. i checked to see if it was marshawn, but he was not moving and the chirping was coming from under the water dish, where richard is molting. is it normal or okay for a molting crab to chirp? also before the chirping i lifted the dish up just a little, i didn't dig him up or lift it all the way, just a little and he looked a little bigger and was very active. it had been 5 days, can it sometimes only take five days or is something strange happening? also i heard this crackling noise like he is possibly taking off his old exoskeleton. but has been down for five and a half days without coming up, so this situation is strange. is the chirping good or bad? or neither?

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:23 pm

Usually chirping means distress, he could of been flipped and was digging himself around, trying to get comfy..Just cause he was there that day doesn't mean he will be there today. Crabs move all over before they are done and do a lot of banging / scratching against glass. I don't think anyone on here has ever heard a crab molt/ crack his exo shell. If he has went under a water dish you might want to replace the water dish with something else, just don't cover the crab up with substrate or dig him out. Depending on the size of your crab it can take a few weeks to about 3 months.

crazycrabber · Post by **crazycrabber** » Thu Aug 21, 2014 11:49 am

yeah he did the same thing last night, he chirped and yeah i could see him moving around through the glass. he would chirp and then marshawn would chirp back. i think that they are good friends and miss each other. but during the day he doesn't move at all. marshawn about 3 days ago started digging around the bowl and i had to barricade him from richard by putting two books in his way, but i think he has good intentions. they have been way noisier than usual during this molting time.

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 3:02 pm

Be careful crabs are very good at getting over baracades! If you have a crab trying to get at a filter you may have to iso them or you will have or shredding the other one up