Poor Molt Recovery

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:14 pm

My "bully" PP, Snowman, molted in November and she just molted again toward the end of January. Now I feel really bad for her. She is only medium-sized and should be ready (by the standards of my other hermies) to return to the main tank, but she is exhausted and just lays around. I've caught her eating and I've given her all kinds of treats, but she even eats in slow motion. I just peeked on her now and she was sleeping on top of the corkbark in her ISO. She finished her exo probably about a week ago.Should I be worried? Has anyone else had this happen with crabs of this size?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:43 pm

Have you tried the organic honey yet? I haven't had any sluggish after a moult, but it sounds like honey might give it a boost.

NewCrabber · Post by **NewCrabber** » Mon Feb 07, 2005 3:19 pm

Let's see, well, zinc, copper and calcium contribute to healthy, successful molting. I don't know how immediately beneficial they would be in getting her through a rough recovery if there is a problem, but it certainly couldn't hurt to offer her foods rich in each. Have you any spirulina or red raspberry leaves?What do you consider medium? Just asking because I'm not sure if you are a little surprised that she has molted twice within a short period of time or if it's only her behavior after this molt that you are questioning. My quarter size crabs take longer than a week to fully recover. Maybe this isn't unusual for her? What was she like after her first molt?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 1:27 am

Some of us think that molting and post molting problems are caused by lack of B complex vitamins.Unfortunately, if she's done the deed, it's probably too late to make a difference by boosting her vitamin B (especially B12) but it's worth a shot.Meat, eggs, wheatgerm are all good sources of B complex. B vitamins are destroyed by high heat, and the commercial diets are probably lacking in them because of this.Try giving your crab some scrambled eggs with wheat germ. It's all I can suggest right now.Another thing I've noticed with my crabs is that they tank up on natural sugars before molting. Chitin is nothing but a long-chain sugar, so I believe they convert sugars to chitin (along with cellulose, which they also convert). I have an Indo in PMS right now that drank green coconut milk for 5 hours straight the other night and slept by the bowl.I don't know if any of these suggestions will help after the fact, but if you add more meat/eggs/other Vitamin B source, and more natural sugars (honey, fruit, coconut/milk) to your crabs' diet, it may help with future molting problems.I hope this helps you. I'm sorry your crab is so sluggish. It really does hurt when you can't do anything immediate to help them.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 7:39 am

Sorry about your Eagles and your crab. I doubt this will help but my straw has been eating buckets of crushed cuttle bone since she molted.

NewCrabber · Post by **NewCrabber** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 12:44 pm

This may be totally unrelated, but when I first began crabbing, I was scared off from buying Es because it was said they don't molt well. So, I waited several months until I felt confident in my crabbing ability before I bought three. I hadn't had any losses, no PPS problems and several successful molts by then. After two weeks, one of them dropped a limb after a bath. Needless to say, even with all the reading and question asking, I thought I'd be prepared for something like that, but being my first Es, not having any problems like this before, I was in a panic. Putting her in ISO, she immediately buried and kept me on pins and needles for a month, but when she came up she was fine with the exception of the missing limb. I assumed it was PPS until, after that initial molt with me she began molting every other month for, it was either six or eight months. Every other time, she'd regenerate the limb and then lose it again during the next molt. And each molt taking a little longer than the previous one to recover. Thing is, when she had it, the limb always looked normal and she used it. It's been almost three years since I brought her home and since the last back to back molt, she has been molting fairly consistently every 8 to 10 months, hasn't lost that limb and is growing well. She started out about the size of a fifty cent piece and I just wondered if Snowman might be experiencing something similar, some problem that isn't obvious, something her body is attempting to repair or get right so to speak.