Molter up in ISO - Have Questions

[WireCrab]

Hello everybody,

My one crabby, Snoop, who is in a 10 Gallon ISO made it up from her first molt with me! She is looking good, both eyes, all legs, etc. I have some questions:

1. How long should I wait before I put her back in the main tank with the other crabbies? It is a 30 G with 8 crabbies
2. Her colouring is dull; how long does it take for her colouring to return?
3. What foods can I give her to help her in the recovery?
4. My newest crabby, Marlo who is a tiny, is missing a leg! I brought him home from the pet store without seeing anything but his adorable claw as he was in his shell; How many molts will this take to regrow?
5. My second newest crabby, McNulty, also a tiny who I got a day before was also in his shell, is missing the tip of his front leg; similarly, will this grow back in one molt?
6. Any tips/suggestions on how I can help both the 2 guys who aren't molting but need to or in general are more than welcome!

Much appreciated!

[wodesorel]

1. How long should I wait before I put her back in the main tank with the other crabbies? It is a 30 G with 8 crabbies

If she had a normal molt and dug herself back up she can go straight in with the others now.

2. Her colouring is dull; how long does it take for her colouring to return?

Are you sure she molted? Some crabs are naturally pale. I doubt she'll change color much now that she's on the surface again.

3. What foods can I give her to help her in the recovery?

Things with calcium and protein like shrimp and insects. Coconut is also a great superfood as it's loaded with both fats and proteins. Bee pollen is pretty amazing, too, if you have it.

4. My newest crabby, Marlo who is a tiny, is missing a leg! I brought him home from the pet store without seeing anything but his adorable claw as he was in his shell; How many molts will this take to regrow?

One. It might look funny and not move well after that first molt, but after the second you shouldn't even be able to tell which one was missing.

5. My second newest crabby, McNulty, also a tiny who I got a day before was also in his shell, is missing the tip of his front leg; similarly, will this grow back in one molt?

Yep! Although it'll probably look bright red after the first molt and normal after the second.

6. Any tips/suggestions on how I can help both the 2 guys who aren't molting but need to or in general are more than welcome!

Just make sure they get a good selection of proteins and fruits - that will help them build up reserves for when they do molt.

[WireCrab]

Thank you for the reply Wode, greatly appreciated. I am 99% sure that she molted as she was submerged for a month, one day I thought she was trapped so I picked her up and she was fully retracted in her shell and completely white and what I thought was part of her exo where she was dug up. Also, before the molt she took a shell that was way to big for her, now that she is up, the shell fits her perfectly so she grew a fair bit. Her colouring has changed as well, my girlfriend and I are pretty positive of this; is this normal?

[wodesorel]

If she was white she was freshly molted!

I've had some drastic color changes in PPs before, so I don't think it's too abnormal. They go through a lot before we get them and that first molt can be really hard on them because of it. She may continue to darken with subsequent molts, or she may stay pale until she gets older.

[WireCrab]

Great ! Yeah the pet stores around my area keep the humidity at 35! It is absolutely ridiculous, and one of my newer crabs that I got was sitting in a tank with temperature at about 90 degrees! I am extremely surprised at how resilient they are.

One last question, do I simply bath her in salt water and then put her back in? When I place her in the water she will be retracted in her shell, how long is it safe for her to be under the water?

[wodesorel]

Yikes! 35% or 90 degrees is not good.

Personally, if they have a normal molt and have dug themselves out I don't worry about a bath. If they've had a disturbed molt (and technically she did since she was dug up at some point) then it is a good idea to give them a quick freshwater bath. She won't need to stay long - just a few moments - and there's a good chance that she will pop open once she hits the water. If she doesn't, it's up to you if you want to wait a minute or if you just want to move her into the tank. They aren't watertight even when sealed up, so she'll still get a good bath even if retracted.

[WireCrab]

Sounds great! Thank you so much once again.