Molting in my hand?!

[Shiya]

Okay, so, omg, I'm so shakey, I thought he was dying, I'll try to be coherant, oh, jeez, okay.

So, a week or maybe two ago, one of my big crabs, Darth Maul, got his shell stolen by one of the three big crabs I had just integrated into the tank that day. (( Or, I assume it was stolen, I don't think he just started streaking. )) I successfully got him into a new shell and the next day he had switched into a different one, then he hid himself under some wheat grass I had in the tank. I figured, destressing, right? Yesterday or the day before, I wanted to water the wheat grass, so I took him out from under it and dug in the dirt some and stuck him in the hole and partially covered him thinking, well, okay, he can cover himself the rest of the way if he's so inclined. He didn't move for a couple of days and today I was getting pretty worried and so I picked him out of the hole and held him and he started, or so I thought, trying to push himself from his shell, and it looked like one of his legs were breaking because the joint had split and it looked gushy on the inside and could bend around and I was like, omg, my crab's trying to die!! Cue me having an absolute fit and running around downstairs crying my eyes out. I held him and petted him and cried and prayed and everything else because I couldn't do much else, and then he started writhing. There's no other way to describe it. Almost like what you'd do if you were trying to squeeze into or out of a pair of too-tight pants. And I started seeing his big claw splitting off a bit and I was like !!!! and then the bit of leg that had split at the joint fell off, and there was a brand new point of leg under it!!! I got a couple of pictures (( no flash, though, and my hands are so shakey, and my lights are kind of dim, so I dunno how well they came out )) and... oh, this is both the coolest and most harrowing experience I've ever had. Has anyone ever heard of this happening, before??

I just hope me handling him didn't shock Darth Maul into dying! But, I mean, he wouldn't have molted if he wasn't comfortable...

...right?

[Shiya]

Pictures!! Darth Maul has subsequently finished molting and is now happily resting in iso. (( I evicted two of my tiny crabs from an already-set-up KK, since it was time for them to get integrated into the main tank, anyway. Not ideal for size, but I don't think DM will mind too much given his condition. XD ))

This one's really big, as bit as photobucket would allo,w but I didn't want to lose any detail. I tried to label things for clarity... And the blobby bit is, in fact, food. I thought he was dying, so I was trying to feed him. As it turns out, not dying at all!!



And here he is, post molt: Much more blurry, and much darker, but you get the idea:

[nancy]

I can't imagine what an incredible experience that must have been. You must have a very warm, friendly relationship with your crabby. Congratulations and your pictures are priceless.

[Shiya]

That's just the thing... I had adopted him maybe a month ago along with a herd of other crabbies from someone. So, he doesn't know me at all! Maybe all of the crying and petting made him feel comfortable... I mean, animals can detect distress, at least my dogs can, so maybe he knew I was just trying to help.

Or maybe he's just really laid back and unafraid of people. Either one is good, I'm just glad he's okay! Thank you.