CtryLuv's Crabbie Cove Molting Care
Crabbies have an exo skeleton that protects their body. Unfortunately as the crabbie grows, the exo-skeleton does not, so the crabbie must shed the old exo and grow a new one to accomodate his new size. During this process if the crabbie is missing any legs or pinchers they will grow back at this time. It is similar to a snake shedding his skin.
Molting is very hard work and very stressful for the hermies. There are quite a few Pre molt symptoms that a hermie will display before he settles down to do his work.
Eating - A hermie will pig out more than normal when they are getting ready for a molt. They need to stock enough nutrition to be able to do the hard work ahead.
Drinking - Same as eating, you will notice them hanging out in the water dishes more often, one, to stock up on fluids, and 2, to possibly help soften up the old exo. Salt water is very important to this process. Hermies that have access to salt water have a much easier time with their molts than hermies that dont have salt water.
Ashy color - Sometimes a hermies exo will start to look dull and ashy. They could also develop cloudy looking eyes.
Lethargy - A crabbie building up for a molt will often be more lethargic than normal, not as active.
Grumpiness - A crabbie that has always been friendly can start to display anti-social tendencies, not wanting to be held, not wanting to be around other crabbies, ect.
Digging - They might dig more than usual trying to find a good place to settle down so that they can molt.
What does a molting hermie look like?
When a hermie molts, often times they will resemble a dead crab. Many newcomers to crabbing have thrown away molting crabbies thinking they were dead. If you have ever seen a locust shell, it is very similar. The hermie pushes the old exo skeleton off and then retreats far back into his shell to rest. A hermie DOES NOT molt the abdomen, so if you see the abdomen also, then something else is going on.
What can I do for a molting hermie?
If they are dug down, the best thing to do is just keep your conditions optimal and leave the hermie alone. Disturbing a molting hermie during this stressful time can cause death. He will eventually get his strength back and start to eat on the old exo. NEVER throw away the old exo. They must eat this to get the nutrients they need to regrow their new exo.
If you have a surface molter (one that molts on top of the sand) you will want to try to isolate him. You can use the bottle method, where you cut the bottom off of a 2 liter bottle and push the bottle down to the bottom of the tank around the hermie. This will keep other hermies away from him and his exo and the molting smell can sometimes be irresistable to other crabbies. You can also isolate him in an isolation tank. Make sure the conditions are optimal, carefully pick up the hermie and his exo with a plastic spoon and place him into the iso tank into a little indention you have created before hand. Cover him with a hermie hut or something to keep it dark for him. NEVER try to bury a crabbie yourself. When they bury they create air pockets so that they can breathe. This is not something we can recreate. If you wish you can put water and maybe some crushed eggshell or cuttlebone close to him also.
Once this is done, just leave the hermie be to rest up and gain back his strength. If he is in the main tank, he will come up when he is ready. If you have Isoed him, once he is up and acting like his old self again, being active, has good color, eating and drinking regularly you can probably add him back to the main tank after a quick dip to get the molting smell off of him.
Below are a few pictures of exos that Marie aka Ladybug15057 from CSJ is letting me use. Thanks Marie!!!
Notice in the first pic how the eyes are hollow? An exo is hollow, so an easy way to tell if its an exo or a crab is to look at the eyes or see if the exo crumbles easily.
In the 2nd picture you can see the newly molted hermie pulled back in his shell.
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