Did He Molt Or Steal My Other Crabs Exo?

evre1's-mom · Post by **evre1's-mom** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:16 pm

One of my big guys was up top this morning after more than 8 weeks. He had torn the tank up and dug up my tiny who had been under for about a month. He had also changed shells. Now for the questions: 1. He was tearing around the tank in a frenzy, acting really scared. I couldn't get a really GOOD look at him, but I DIDN'T notice pointy black toenails. I DID see part of a BP where he had been buried. Is it possible that he has molted and I just couldn't see it, or is it more likely that he stole the exo from my other molter and spent 8 weeks underground eating it? I still haven't seen my other big guy. He went down about the same time, but he is the one I accidentally dug up and then placed back in his spot on the other side of the tank . There is no dead fish smell; just a musty type smell that has been there for a couple of weeks.

sugarselections · Post by **sugarselections** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:50 pm

One of my crabs, a medium PP, went into an absolute panic for hours when he resurfaced after molting. He came up voluntarily and had finished successfully molting. I'm not sure what that craziness was all about but he dug himself down for a few hours the next day and came up that night acting calm and normal. When he buried himself again, he dug up my small PP, who had luckily finished molting by that time so there was no damage done.

I can't give you an answer on why your guy got so upset, but I can tell you that one of my crabs did the same thing and he ended up being perfectly fine.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 8:51 pm

Hope your other buried guy is o.k. I know they can bury "forever" without molting, and whenever I have to dig (such as last night when my tank flooded -- again!) I tend to find random bits of exo that maybe my molters forgot to eat (?). They're just too mysterious sometimes

, but I hope your crabbies are all o.k.

.

evre1's-mom · Post by **evre1's-mom** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:56 pm

Thanks, guys, for the support. These are my first crabbies and I'm a little (okay, a LOT) nervous about things. My little guy didn't seem any worse; just panicked, but he dug right under again. Now if my other guy comes up okay after having the whole tank dug up around him, we'll be fine.

evre1's-mom · Post by **evre1's-mom** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 9:58 pm

BTW, peggycats, I love your little "hermie nest".

Tetracolor · Post by **Tetracolor** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:25 pm

Hm.. can't say I know for sure, but if he was gone for 8 weeks then he probably molted and he just came back up. The craziness....

Perhaps some unexplained crabby behavior. Good luck and keep us updated!

evre1's-mom · Post by **evre1's-mom** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:25 pm

Okay, here is what I know for sure. The big guy has settled down somewhat but still wants to hide. I still haven't been able to tell if he molted because I don't want to pick him up and stress him out. My tiny guy has definitely molted and he is a little pistol! He got into the WATER DISH and switched into one of the shells I had in there to keep him from drowning. The shell is a long snail-like shell that is VERY big and cumbersome looking, but he loves it and he's cute as a button in it. I got a couple of pics, but they're not really great. I think tomorrow I'll try to take him out and get some good ones to post. Now when my last one comes up in that tank, I can breathe a sigh of relief. He is between a large and jumbo and has been under for about 8 weeks. I'm hoping my other guy didn't cave his space in when he was digging. Crazy thing is, I'm not sure it it's Herman or Willie who surfaced because they are so close in size. Guess we'll see when the other one comes up. LOL!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 10:10 am

Your pictures of the babies are so cute. I hope your PetsMart is no longer filling the tank with water!

evre1's-mom · Post by **evre1's-mom** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:39 pm

Michele,
Unfortunately they WERE still flooding the tank last week. Makes me sick. What makes me even sicker is that I lost Willie during a molt. I found his remains today.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:30 am

I'm so sorry about Willie, was he the one dug under then?

evre1's-mom · Post by **evre1's-mom** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:38 pm

Yes, it was him. Everyone else who molted (Bandit, Herman, Tiny Dancer and Bashful) are all doing great, though. Everyone decided to molt within a couple weeks except Spitz. I'll be glad when he does so I can exhale. He HAS to be long overdue because his shell is WAAAY too small and he is so sluggish. He buried himself last night for the first time. Maybe he'll go ahead and do it.
BTW, I had no idea how much my tiny babies would grow! One of them stole a shell from the water dish that I had put there to keep him from drowning! Obviously we don't have to worry about that anymore.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:48 pm

You must be feeding them well! Hopefully Spitz is doing his thing. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Again, I'm very sorry about Willie.