What makes a molt go wrong?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 11:38 pm

Strange...the miracle of molting, starting over so to speak: fresh and new, yet it is almost like a threat to our crabs. Why?What is it that goes wrong?Are they just as fragile in the wild? You would think in the wild they would have even less of a chance of survival since there are no "Critter Keepers" (so to speak

there to make sure all goes well, from start to finish. Start meaning the proper foods to help them along, to making sure they are not disturbed by other crabs...yet its still like a death sentence to some of our crabs. Some, not all. My 4 crabs all molted with success, even the two surface mounts that were disturbed because I had no clue what was happening when I picked up the cocoa huts and both crabs did great. I have Pyro, my big straw, and frankly I am terrified for his first molt here with me. I am preparing him with lots of good foods (just found food made especially for Straws on the crab addiction and yep, I ordered it!)I know he will want to molt soon as he truly settles down in order to grow his missing BP back. He has been here with me for close to a month and is doing really really well adjusting but I am still terrified. My heart will break if something happens to him during his molt.Back to the question:What factors contribute to the molt going bad?What happens to the crab and how can this be prevented? I understand diet and proper enviroment has evything to do with it, but is there anything else? I thin

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 3:02 am

Here's a great CSJ article on molting.CSJ: Moulting - the crisis

Willow · Post by **Willow** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:34 pm

I think diet plays a huge role in proper moulting (and would explain why they don't have so much trouble moulting in the wild). Back when I used to feed my hermies commercial foods, the Es would always come up from their moults with deformities and weird spots on them, or they didn't come up at all . It wasn't only the Es, but they were affected the worse. I haven't had a bad moult since I switched to an all-natural-foods diet. Good salt water is a factor, too. And I've been playing with the idea of UVB exposure contributing somehow to hermie health, and of course they'd get plenty of UVB in the wild.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:43 pm

quote:What factors contribute to the molt going bad?What happens to the crab and how can this be prevented? I understand diet and proper enviroment has evything to do with it, but is there anything else? It is just my thoughts on it, but there could be any number of reasons why a molt would go wrong....DietLack of UV lightingGeneticsOver or underactive molting hormone.Lack of, or weak salt waterDisturbed by another crab Bacteria-ridden substrateThe unexplained......I noted the "unexplained", simply because I don't think we really know what percentage of molting deaths happen in the wild. We also don't know the average age of crabs in the wild, or even what they eat there on a daily basis. We don't know the % of either deaths to molts, or if the death coincided with other factors.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 12:19 am

I thought I'd put my two cents in about strawberry crabs. I have four of them . I've had them from New Years Eve. It seems to me that these crabs live differently than other species. They live and depend more on the sea. I've noticed that my straws ten to munch on the reptimoss, which is sprayed on a regular basis with salt water. I give my straws a lot of sea salt and a lot of seaweed because this is what they are exposed to in nature. I think many straws have difficulty with their molts because there's only been one source of sea salt in the tank. This is just a thought but it sounds logical to me.

Aviate · Post by **Aviate** » Sat Mar 07, 2009 4:09 pm

Myself and some others are starting to theorize that theres something in captivity these molters are not getting that they cant do without. Ive seen perfectly fine crabs molt once and again, then suddenly on another molt die with no explanation. It just happened to 2 of my crabs recently. It could be anything that they need that we are unable to duplicate... the possibilities are endless. Could be they need sunlight, real ocean water, 3 feet of substrate, decaying fish and leaves in their diet ,who knows- it becomes a puzzle to create an optimal environment with animals that cant reproduce in captivity. But thats what I am starting to think. Ive seen some people who have had hermies for years and years lose crabs this way, with no explanation.