The Shell Removal Experiment

[angelbear]

I wish your E would come teach mine how to change shells- they’re killlllking me!!! I still have 3 in their original little ‘buttcap’ while my other 2 have changed! And all 3 of @RiNiKy506’s have swapped too! Ugh. And they definitely have lots of options.
So their pickiness makes me even more interested in this shell experiment; like can we entice them to change a little more somehow? Idk. Love my Es but they need new shells on so I can tell them apart better!


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It is quiet possiable it might intice them. He was still examining thebone or two shells that would be a little too big for him this morning. Shy guy is down now. Havent seen him since Wednesday and Thing 1 and 2 since a day or two before all three had been showing molting signs so Speedy is all by himself on the surface.

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[Links]

Can I keep the smallest shells in until the 2 teeny ones change from painted? But I dunno where they are anymore. Maybe one is still in the entrance of a tunnel the small one made.


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[angelbear]

Can I keep the smallest shells in until the 2 teeny ones change from painted? But I dunno where they are anymore. Maybe one is still in the entrance of a tunnel the small one made.


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Not under context of the experiment. If you follow it. Ypu get 2 full days with shells and 5 days without is the idea.
A Friday night to Sunday Morning. A Thrusday to Saturday. Or whatever two days you choose.

[angelbear]

Not under context of the experiment. If you follow it. Ypu get 2 full days with shells and 5 days without is the idea.
A Friday night to Sunday Morning. A Thrusday to Saturday. Or whatever two days you choose.

Anything else introduces to many variables. We can only focus on one at a time. You however know your crabs best. If you feel you need to do something for safty or health please do so. Just know we cannot treat anything that falls outside the scope of the original experiment as data.

[Links]

Ok well I don’t even know if they’ve looked at the shells or not. they have basically disappeared after two days of having them so maybe they can hang out in their painted. They had their chance lol.


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[angelbear]

Ok well I don’t even know if they’ve looked at the shells or not. they have basically disappeared after two days of having them so maybe they can hang out in their painted. They had their chance lol.


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Lol, they might be molting. Which can take weeks

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[angelbear]

Thing 1 is back up for molt. Intrestingly they only showed minor intrest in the shells. Now I do cycle through a bag of shells so maybe none in this group intrest them or thet are fine in their current shells. Other than poking at them once or twice they are ignoring them

[angelbear]

I say this then proceed to watch Sppedy began to heavily inspect another green turbo. But got startled and hid. So time will tell if he changes or not. Here in anpther couple of weeks I plan on measuring my crabs and sorting through my shells. I try to do this yearly. Discard any that habe become craced or broken and offer new selections. I am trying to wait until they are all or most of them are back up.

[Links]

No observed activity on shells this week.

Mr Crabs (medium) has been inactive for the last few days as far as I can tell. He’s just tucked in his shell sitting upright on the sub. He was very active for a week or two before but I couldn’t tell much food was being eaten except for the worm castings. There’s lots of other things to munch on so it’s really hard to tell. At the end of his active stretch I noticed his eyes may have been becoming a little cloudy. I hope this means a molt is coming and I hope he is healthy enough to pull through. He’s been with me 4 months and has not molted yet.

Crabby (small) has not been spotted for about 2 weeks.

Strawberry (teeny) has been spotted in a usual hide spot a few times over the weekend. Still in painted shell.

Cookie (teeny) has not been spotted for maybe a week plus.




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[Hermiesguardian]

I removed what shells I could tonight. I plan on putting them back Saturday. I was able to bring out without unburying any, 8 shells from the 90 gallon tank. There are possibly 8 crabs if all alive. 6 definately are alive. Crab sizes range from small to large medium. Removed 8 shells from the 40 gal tank. Should have 6 crabs but have only seen 3,4 at one time. Most small mediums.

[RiNiKy506]

Can I keep the smallest shells in until the 2 teeny ones change from painted? But I dunno where they are anymore. Maybe one is still in the entrance of a tunnel the small one made.


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I would maybe wait until those guys change out of their painted shells. Getting them out of their painted shells is more important, in my opinion. I’ve had and heard of crabs changing into some pretty big shells, it’s hard to tell what a crab will think the perfect shell is, they’re crazy little guys.

[Links]

I would maybe wait until those guys change out of their painted shells. Getting them out of their painted shells is more important, in my opinion. I’ve had and heard of crabs changing into some pretty big shells, it’s hard to tell what a crab will think the perfect shell is, they’re crazy little guys.

Thanks. I might do that and restart the experiment after they change. But, they’ve had chances to change and haven’t. Maybe they don’t feel like it yet. One, strawberry (just a name not species) still seems to have PPS unless he/she is only active at night. The other painted shell crab (cookie) disappeared after few days.


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[angelbear]

That's true. Like I have said in the end do what is best for your crabs. You are the best expert on your colony. It was intresting to see the lack of intrest on my colony last week when they have shown a lot of intrest before. Maybe they just have found good shells for themselves for now. We will see what next weekend brings.



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[Crabsncritters]

Hi there! I'm new to crabbies but like the idea of this experiment. It's a new form of enrichment for the crabs as well as mimicking their natural environment.

I'm waiting for new shells to arrive, and then I'll make an official start with it.

My one concern, though, is our bebehs are still relatively new - we've only had them for a week now. They're hiding/burrowed a lot of the time, though I have seen them come up for food and water at night. My question is, should I root around for buried shells? Or should only pick up the surface ones for now since they may still be acclimating?

[Hermiesguardian]

Hi there! I'm new to crabbies but like the idea of this experiment. It's a new form of enrichment for the crabs as well as mimicking their natural environment.

I'm waiting for new shells to arrive, and then I'll make an official start with it.

My one concern, though, is our bebehs are still relatively new - we've only had them for a week now. They're hiding/burrowed a lot of the time, though I have seen them come up for food and water at night. My question is, should I root around for buried shells? Or should only pick up the surface ones for now since they may still be acclimating?

Don't dig for the shells. You might disturb a molter. Personally, since the crabbies are new there, Just my opinion. I would leave the shells for them. Others may advise differently.