Somebody ate Moya (Maybe?? Or did she shrink that much?)

[tnt4eva]

Wait - sorry, I was confusing Moya with Sunshine Did Moya have anything bad happen to her prior to the molt?

[wodesorel]

Nope, nothing bad. She's the queen bee of the tank. (Although I think some of the new crabs who are now molting are bigger than she was.)

I got her in July 2010, and she molted a couple months later and shrunk a little bit. (It was noticeable though.) From then one she's pretty much been a permanent lump under the cholla on the middle level during the day, and she spent her nights in the moss pit (when the other crabs came out to play).

I didn't even realize she was missing! It had maybe been three weeks? So it was an incredibly fast molt for a crab her size. She needed a 1 3/4 to 2 inch opening but squeezed herself into a 1 1/2 instead. That shell now is too large for her!

Hubby wonders if maybe she choose to loose the bulk so she could wear the shell comfortably, or because I have so much vertical space and she was too heavy to easily climb around. I told him that as far as I knew a crab loosing mass is always a bad thing, but she seems to be okay and is more active in the last day then she ever has been in the past.

[tnt4eva]

When Ghost shrunk, he'd been naked underground when he was ready to molt and I noticed while trying to get him to reshell that he appeared dehydrated as his tail was a little wrinkled and shrunken. So at the time, I assumed the size loss was due to the dehydration, as he immediately dug back down and didn't visit the water dishes in ISO before he molted, so he never rehydrated.

It's certainly odd that her molt was so fast, although I guess if she shrunk she would have had less exoskeleton to regrow which might have taken her less time.

[zippity]

Sorry a crab got eaten, but I"m glad you didn't lose Moya. It's definitely her, IMO, from the photos.

[IBlab crab]

I understand that they shrink a little post molt until the exo hardens but I have had a small recently shrink before her latest molt. It was weird I thought she was a different crab. She was larger after her molt and is healthy. She eats alot of food so it is not nutrition. Any ideas?
Wodesorel,Sorry for your loss,but congrats on the molt.I always feel like it is their birthday after a good molt.
IBlab crab

[Craftycrabber]

oh my goodness, what a mystery!! Going on the way the big pincher looks I would say it is Moya in both pictures. Perhaps you will know for sure later by observing how she acts. Good luck!