First Straw Molt! Some questions...

cranlsn · Post by **cranlsn** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:22 am

Sebastian decided to molt, but the only reason I found out was I saw Ben digging near the water dish. When I looked in I saw Sebastian's shell and red stuff all over!

My first thought was cannibalism but further inspection found a LOT of red exo and a red crab still in the shell..**whew**.

Now the questions...there's a LOT of exo so I'm assuming that he just molted, however; he's BRIGHT red in there...what do freshly molted straws look like?

Second...in my panic I pulled him out of his hole. I put him and the exo back in, but since I'm not an expert digger I just put sand back around him. I've iso'd the hole with a pop bottle. Sound good for now?

It looks like Ben didn't get to have any extra exo as it looked to all be there. Naughty crab!

HERMEZ · Post by **HERMEZ** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:59 am

well you know to keep the sand loose as he may be too weak to fix it--you could have just have made a bunker so to speak and coke bottle him would have been good--
molted crabs tend to look pale not darker--I cant say I have seen a straw just freshly molted--mine arent kind enough to dig to the bottom for me--and none have surface molted on me. So I cant answer that one really.

Just do what your doing all should be ok.--I tape a cloth around the bottle sometimes too to give a more dark secure feeling.....

Good luck keep us posted ok?

cranlsn · Post by **cranlsn** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:37 am

I'll try adding some shades later so he has his privacy...thanks for the idea!

As for the bunker...that's kind of what I did I didn't pile any sand on top. Just loosely around the sides. He's got his air pocket underneath with the exo, and you can see the top of his shell. So...I should be able to tell if he's in trouble (i.e. stuck) without disturbing him further.

The color thing has me mystified because I figured he would be paler but his BP is fire engine red!

I'll post updates as he "gives me more info".

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:20 pm

I have a Strawberry that just came up from a month-long molt. She's starting to darken a bit but was pretty pale when she first came up. From what I've read that's normal.

She decided to molt in the middle of the tank so I had to use the Coke bottle Bio-dome method. Worked like a charm!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 8:37 pm

When I rescued Shortcake from being attacked by one of my other straws, she was not even done shedding her exo. She was bright red. She ate her entire exo in about 3 days, and she is a medium. She was running around & was sufficiently hardened in about a week, so she went back into the main tank.

Shortcake has molted twice for me in 3 months, and my little straw Holly, is down for her second molt. Those two straws seem to be expert molters & do so quickly & easily. I hope yours does the same!

cranlsn · Post by **cranlsn** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:56 am

I hope so too...the molt was so perfect that I freaked out at first. It looked like Ben had ripped him out of his shell. As we speak Ben is standing out side the pop bottle like a kid locked out of the candy store....I'm seriously thinking about getting him a cuttle bone smeared with shrimp...

So far so good...Sebastian's shell is still visible, but it looks like he's moved sand around to his liking. Got my fingers crossed and the only disturbing I'll be doing is if Ben gets TOO interested.

wickedannabella · Post by **wickedannabella** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 12:47 pm

I'm making mental notes like mad since ALL my straws are now down. I've got me fingers, legs, toes and eyes all crossed...(Yes, it's very difficult to type) and I'm hoping they all make it!

My two dark PP's are also down as is Gary (rug) and Wally (normal PP)

Jethro and Bob are the only two up and I added Sierra for company because she was so big in the 10G.

How long should a medium to almost large straw take to molt???

cranlsn · Post by **cranlsn** » Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:18 pm

OK...another question...this morning Sebastian had "tilted" his shell up. (NOT upside down..I know that's bad...just up a little.)

It looks like he's eaten all of his exo, and this afternoon he poked his head out to say "Hi!". This evening, he's still looking around, hasn't reburied himself, and looks pretty "hardened" up.

I know this seems pretty soon, especially for a larger hermie, but do you think I should remove the soda bottle and let him find where he wants to be?