Yes, that's what I said. How long it takes to molt does NOT depend on size! I have two crabs that molted. My friend has 2 crabs that molted. Hers is bigger. Myn molted for two weeks, then one whole month! Her's(whitch is BIGGER and both were missing legs, myn had all their legs) molted for a day! Ya! A DAY! Both surface!(Well, Kero was kinda surface in my group, too) Myn are fine. Hers are fine(But she hasn't checked on the most recent one. He's likely to be alive!) Both one after another! When one was done, one molted. On both of ours! Kinda weird! Maybe cause they were together so long? They were bought at the same petstore same time, together. Or maybe they are sisters. Who knows!
UPDATE: They are walking fine! They both ate a lot of their exo too!
Molts (How long it takes by size is wrong)
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Guest
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Molts (How long it takes by size is wrong)
Last edited by Guest on Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Guest
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the whole molting process inculdes a lot more than just shedding the exo. first they (usually) dig down and find a nice spot to stay in. then they shed the old exoskeleton, then they eat the old exo. this is the part that usually takes a long time. while they're eating the exo, their new exo is hardening and changing color, depending on what kind of vitamins and nutrients they've gotten since their last molt. after that they come back up to the surface. when someone says that they're crab took a month or more to molt, they're referring to this entire process. just the shedding of old exo is not the only part of molting.
all of that is included in molting, and not even the micros can do that in just one day (mine take about a week). molting generally can be judged by size, but also it depends on if there's new apandages to generate, their diet prior to molt, and habitat conditions. also, if your crabs top molt, you want to make sure to iso them immideatly with their exo's so you can be sure that they eat them and not another crab. also another reason to iso a freshly molted crab, is that if you haven't fed meat (shrimp, fish, clams, etc.) in a while, the other crabs can smell the molt and may decide to eat the molter. you may think that they wouldn't do something like that, but when it happens to you, you'll start iso-ing crabs if they have molt symptoms, or top molt.
all of that is included in molting, and not even the micros can do that in just one day (mine take about a week). molting generally can be judged by size, but also it depends on if there's new apandages to generate, their diet prior to molt, and habitat conditions. also, if your crabs top molt, you want to make sure to iso them immideatly with their exo's so you can be sure that they eat them and not another crab. also another reason to iso a freshly molted crab, is that if you haven't fed meat (shrimp, fish, clams, etc.) in a while, the other crabs can smell the molt and may decide to eat the molter. you may think that they wouldn't do something like that, but when it happens to you, you'll start iso-ing crabs if they have molt symptoms, or top molt.
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Guest
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the average size that most stores sell, the quarter-golf ball sized crabs generally take up to a month for the entire process. if they don't dig down it will seem like it takes shorter, but that's cos they didn't go through the whole digging stage of it. i'd say it takes around a week to two weeks to eat the entire exo before they start acting normal again. until they start moving around and eating food and drinking water again, they're not done yet.
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![[smilie=worry.gif]](./images/smilies/worry.gif "worry"){kind=small}
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Guest
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some crabs take longer than others. i had one that dug around in circles for two weeks before he finally stopped and molted. just had to find the perfect spot i guess! but then again if i had to sit in the same spot for weeks on end eating, i'd probably want to make sure i had the absolute perfect spot to sit in too 
he'll probably take a while, especially since he's regenerating legs. so try to be patient, they know what they're doing, so try not to worry too much. 
he'll probably take a while, especially since he's regenerating legs. so try to be patient, they know what they're doing, so try not to worry too much. -
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ALL crabs do the actual shedding of the exo in a very short period of time, this is true. But the whole process of molting takes much more than the actual act of shedding the exo.
It also consists of the premolt phase, where they soak in the water, eat more, dig around, etc. which can take days up to months depending very much on the crab's age, which is linked most of the time to its size, and also depends on when they can get their molting hormones up to the right levels.
Postmolt consists of eating the exoskeleton, hardening up, and regaining color. This can also take a few days, a month, or more.
Saying that crabs molt in a day is not entirely accurate and is misleading to state. You are speaking of one segment of a lengthy process. Much like saying that the process of eating involves food getting to the stomach, without saying how it gets in there or gets out again. When digestion is a process and not a single event. That's the same as molting. It is a process, and not the single event.
You are confusing some newer members with this line of discussion, I'm afraid. You can't break molting down into a single segment of a larger picture and call it the whole picture. It simply is not accurate.
It also consists of the premolt phase, where they soak in the water, eat more, dig around, etc. which can take days up to months depending very much on the crab's age, which is linked most of the time to its size, and also depends on when they can get their molting hormones up to the right levels.
Postmolt consists of eating the exoskeleton, hardening up, and regaining color. This can also take a few days, a month, or more.
Saying that crabs molt in a day is not entirely accurate and is misleading to state. You are speaking of one segment of a lengthy process. Much like saying that the process of eating involves food getting to the stomach, without saying how it gets in there or gets out again. When digestion is a process and not a single event. That's the same as molting. It is a process, and not the single event.
You are confusing some newer members with this line of discussion, I'm afraid. You can't break molting down into a single segment of a larger picture and call it the whole picture. It simply is not accurate.