Yay!

[Itsy]

Ok bois been down for about 2 weeks n i was getting worried really worried. So tonight i pulled the tank out and looked under and i can see a pink little crabbie i think im gunna have my first successful molt im so excited i cant wait to see him when he pops out. If hes kinda a whitish pink right now, how long should it be till hes shiney and hard and i get to hold him again ive missed him. We have him in a tank with 8 other crabs and hes burried too the bottem of about 3 inches of sand n since hes burried no crabs have gone into the corner hes molting in since hes burried himself. So im just leaving him alone im just wondering if i should put anything on top of him or just let him be and hope all goes well. Im so excited that hes ok can anyone give me some advice when for when he climbs back up i know lots of calcium but anything else i should know about like should i bathe him soon after or no? Please tell me everything i need to know i dont want to lose my baby boi.

[msdiamonddawg]

Congrats! It's such a rollercoaster of a ride when they molt isn't it!! I know for me, I was so excited but so impatient and so worried!

I would just leave him be. Don't worry about putting anything on top of him. He'll come up when he's ready. I don't think anyone can really predict when he'll come back. I always heard the little ones come up sooner, but my little one was under longer than my bigger one! My crabs never bothered each other when molting and I have heard of crabs molting almost side by side. After their molt and resurface, I left mine alone for a good week before starting to handle them again and as for a bath, I definitely wouldn't stress him out with one after such a stressful time, but then again, I'm a bad one to answer as I don't agree with bathing anyway! :P

Calcium/honey - Nancy talk a lot about oak bark to get cellulose into them...good things to feed them. Once they come back up, life gets back to normal pretty quickly in the tank. Many of them go through amnesia though and can't quite remember you or the other crabs in the tank for a while! LOL!

[nancy]

I saw my name mentioned so I hope neither of you mind my putting my "two cents" worth in. I always leave molting crabs alone. If You're nervous about doing so you can place a coca hut over his point of excavation but don't disturb the substrate. Post molters need calcim and honey for strength. The cellulose comes as an everyday part of the diet, along with Zeaxanthin and protein. I also include extra-verigin olive oil as part of their diets. I don't believe that bathing crabs on a regular basis is a good idea. A crab carries a combination of plain water and salt water in its shell and a bath not decided on by the crab may upset the balance. Also. the crabs appear shiny because of a certain amount of oil on their exo. That's another balance that can easily be disturbed by bathing. My suggeastion would be, bath them whenyou forst introduce them to the tank and then include bowls of water large enough for the crabs to submerge in. Sorry to be so long winded. I always have this problem once I get started. Good luck with your crabs!