Moss pit emergency- naked, freshly molted crab

[wodesorel]

I'm sorry! I thought you had the legless molter. Getting confused. Yeah, if she's moving around normal and is okay without her BP then there's no need to fuss. She should try to get out of the container on her own when she's ready.

[purpleperson]

Ahh no!! It's totally okay. yes I figured she would, but I'm thinking it will be a couple days before then, so I just want to be prepared before we get to that point.


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[purpleperson]

Peeked inside the ISO today while cleaning up the main tank a little. Not as much antenna movement today, did not eat much Exo since the last time. She seems to be much smaller in size than she was pre-molt.. (About half the size) however, I did see her shield leg move when I first lifted the cover, so I think she was out and about before I checked...


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[purpleperson]

Triple post but I didnt want to start a new thread for this as I think it could be related.. There's something up with my sub. In the last couple days, I've had crabs who don't normally dig keep trying to, but as soon as they get a couple inches down they stop and try somewhere else, and it continues on... Any idea?


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[wodesorel]

Smelling anything funky? If it were me, I'd be getting in there and digging and seeing if something was up. Crabs can just dig for the heck of it and if you were a newbie I'd say don't panic and wait, but you've been doing this a long time and if you think something is really really off, go with your gut!

[purpleperson]

Nothing funky. Thinking I'll dig after school and see if it's dry down there or something. I would just consider myself a newbie with these crabs though, as I have had them for years in the past.


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[purpleperson]

Alright- I think it's too wet. The substrate has settled to about 9 inches. About 4 inches down, if I push on the sub or squeeze it, water comes up out, and as soon as I stop it goes back in. It is not "slushy" nor smelly, just seems to be wetter as it goes down. How do I fix this and do you think it could be my problem? I'm thinking I used to much water in my EE as it was my first time using it...


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[CallaLily]

If you have more cocofiber bricks, you can break off pieces and stick it down in the substrate to absorb the excess water. Or I've seen people say they've done the same with paper towels.

[purpleperson]

Sorry to bump this thread again but I do not want to start a new one for the same topic.

I fixed the too wet substrate issue and of course the one that was digging stopped.

Anyways I was wondering when I should change my ISO for the crab that was attacked? I checked on her for the first time in awhile today and she is pretty much done her Exo, just has the tips of the legs and the BP left and I heard that they leave those behind. She has also started to harden up considerable and gain some colour. She's currently in a deli cup with a lid and holes and stuff in a makeshift "molting cave" that I made for her. When am I supposed to let her out of that into a more normal Iso?

Not sure if I mentioned this before either, but along with missing her BP I think that she may be missing a leg too.


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[wodesorel]

If she can be confined somewhere away from the others, move her now and leave her under a cocohut/dish with deep enough substrate underneath so she can dig out on her own. When she comes out and starts eating and drinking normally, give her a dip in freshwater to be safe and pop her back in with the others. Edit: As long as she's moving around okay. If there's bad damage and you don't think she could keep up with the others, iso til her next molt.

[purpleperson]

Update: she was out walking around earlier this morning so I took the opportunity to take her out to snap some pictures. Poor thing, I feel so bad for her, but on the bright side she seems to be moving around quite easily.. Even if she is much slower than she was before. I am so happy that she is pulling through!!


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[wodesorel]

She looks really good!

[purpleperson]

Sorry to bump an older topic, but another one of my crabs was attacked while molting and so far I'm sure the same thing: missing BP and leg... Any ideas why this keeps happening ?


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[purpleperson]

By the way, this time it was underground


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[wodesorel]

Ideally, they needs lots of space and lots of molting space. Our recommended guidelines are decent but if there's problems they may end up needing even more space per crab so they don't run into each other. You can get a jerkface crab who likes to go after others. If that's the case there's no stopping it until you figure out which one it is. If you still have just the 4 in a 40 gallon I think you may end up having a troublemaker. I had one myself. Giggles took years to settle down. You can try to tempt them with more seafood options, and if you can swing it pieces of snow or king crab. You can often buy one leg at the seafood counter and then chop it up and freeze it and have it last for 6-12 months which won't break the bank.