Falling out of shell or exposed exoskeleton?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 12:20 pm

I have a "molter" (well, I think he was molting) who came up after being buried since the first of December. I was excited to see him again so I picked him up and turned him over and there was the walking half of his body out of the shell as if he were normal. My question is this: if he was dead, would he only half fall out of the shell, or did something go wrong during his "molt" and he came to the surface to finish it?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:01 pm

If you read my post about my molting story, its very similiar. But, mine didnt come out from digging, it just surfaced, and the body was hanging there, so i iso him =)

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:45 pm

Hi Shallgren,

The only way to really tell what's happening is to check the eyes. Are they hollow-looking? If so,then your crab must have molted,hopefully it's ok

If he molted and has the exo hanging out in front of his shell,then perhaps another crab must have dug him up,as he wouldn't have been able to do that himself.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 7:21 pm

thanks all, in the process of checking his eyes (which I couldnt as they were still too far back in the shell, i noticed the lower joint of the back leg (which was sort of broken in half before purchase) had a reddish tint around the out side, which became black further in. I think it was hollow, because it never looked like that before. There is a good chance he was dug up as I saw him on the bottom of the tank along with about 5 other crabs.

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 7:35 pm

It's kind-of hard to tell exactly what's happening with your crab Shallgren

To be on the safe side,just incase he has molted,have you iso'd him in the tank by using a softdrink/soda bottle?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Dec 21, 2006 8:33 pm

I put him under a coco-hut and dug it under the sand far enough i dont think he could be bothered.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 5:44 pm

Yes they do... I have another crab I posted about earlier in Emergency that hasen't moved in probably 2 weeks now...

Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs · Post by **Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 11:32 pm

I agree ISO is the best bet for your hermie because it sure does sound like a molt.