Question for *Kathy* (or anyone else that wants to jump in)

[CrabbyAbby]

Kathy I was tooling LHC's archives and found a thread with a question of what causes molts to go wrong that you'd responded to. One of the causes you mentioned was an under or over active molt hormone. I didn't know there was such a thing and always attributed infrequent molts to poor diet or something lacking in the environment and frequent molts to good health.

The reason I question it is that I had a gorgeous crab named 8-Ball, a baseball sized chocolate brown hermie that I just adored. He did everything with gusto and was such fun to have around and watch. In 18 months he pulled off 4 molts and passed on the fifth. I found him below ground, his exo before him uneaten. It killed me to lose him and I couldn't imagine what I'd done wrong to lose one so healthy but I figured despite his large size, his appetite fueled his growth which fueled the need to molt. How do we know this wouldn't be the case? Could it be?

[Guest]

I'm sorry you lost him!!! [smilie=comfort.gif]

I am convinced that Tammy's theory is right about the molt hormone thing. She also believes that some exotic species like Indos & Straws, cannot molt properly if they have been deprived salt water for a long period of time.

A jumbo should NEVER molt 4 times in a year! A jumbo should only molt once a year or 18 months, in most cases. My jumbo just completed her first molt with me & I have had her for about a year.

I have had crabs that have seemed to put off molting for a long period of time, and then suddenly, they can't seem to stop molting. Every time this has happened, I eventually lost the crab to a molt.

It is nothing you did wrong! There is no way to stop a determined crab from molting. But, unfortunately, when they molt too frequently, they seem to get weaker & weaker with each molt, until they finally expire.

Again.....I am sorry!

[CrabbyAbby]

That's my boy. It's been a few months and I still miss his presence in my tank.

That's distressing to know. I was actually pleased that he molted so frequently, took it as a sign of great health and conditions. Feel kinda like a novice now and I've been crabbing more than 3 years!

Thanks for the info Kath.[/url]

[Hermie Lover]

That's my boy. It's been a few months and I still miss his presence in my tank.

That's distressing to know. I was actually pleased that he molted so frequently, took it as a sign of great health and conditions. Feel kinda like a novice now and I've been crabbing more than 3 years!

Thanks for the info Kath.[/url]

That is a BEAUTIFUL crab....and I can feel your pain. I had "King" a PP about the size you have pictured, that I had for 3 years, he had molted about every year for me....then, he molted in 6 months and he came up w/o his shell. I seen him eating his exo, and thought he would be ok. I had his shell sitting there w/ him, but he refused to go in it....within a week, he passed. I cried my eyes out about that crab....I get EXTREMELY
attached....

Thanks for sharing your story....

[CrabbyAbby]

Thank you Angela. My sympathy for King's passing too. Maybe they're romping together tearing up heavenly turf.

[MudCrabDude]

That's distressing to know. I was actually pleased that he molted so frequently, took it as a sign of great health and conditions. Feel kinda like a novice now and I've been crabbing more than 3 years!

Thanks for the info Kath.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

If it makes you feel any better, I've been an on-and-off- (and on-and-off-) novice since 1985 (but frankly been doing way better since, say about Oct. 2007, I think.......I guess...)

[Guest]

It doesn't matter how long we've been crabbing, something always comes up to surprise or shock us. You are hardly a novice! It just makes us feel that way when we run across something we don't understand.

[wickedannabella]

Abby, I had a crab that just would not STOP molting. Jethro would be up only a week or two before he'd go back down and molt again. It was so hard to watch him do this over and over and over again, so I feel your pain.

I'm so very sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to lose a fave.

((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))

[Guest]

I've had this problem too. Clancy ( a jumbo) came from a terrible environment, I do believe that he was starved and certainly did not molt while he was there.

He molted a few weeks after I got him and for the next year and a half he molted every 5 weeks. It took him approximately 2 weeks to molt and then he would eat for 3. I have lots of pictures of him eating and molting and the last 2 or 3 his exo became more and more mottled looking. Finally he passed away.

It was one of my saddest losses.

[CrabbyAbby]

Holy smokes, every five weeks? That's insane. Poor baby. I'm surprised he even made it a year and a half as that leaves no recovery time. I'm sorry for your loss Lola.

I posted this on Coenobita.org as well looking for more info. I'll share whatever reply I get.