FAQs on Freshwater (and Terrestrial)
Crustaceans Behavior
Related Articles: Freshwater Crustaceans, Invertebrates for Freshwater Aquariums by
Neale Monks, Forget Crawfish
Pie, Let's Make a Crawfish Tank! By Gage Harford
Related FAQs: FW Crustaceans 1, FW Crustaceans 2, FW Crustaceans 3, FW Crustaceans 4,
& & FAQs on:
FW Crustacean Identification,
FW Crustacean
Compatibility, FW Crustacean
Selection, FW Crustacean
Systems, FW Crustacean Feeding,
FW Crustacean Disease, FW Crustacean Reproduction &
Crustacean
Selection, Crustacean
Behavior, Crustacean
Compatibility, Crustacean
Systems, Crustacean
Feeding, Crustacean
Disease, Crustacean
Reproduction, Freshwater Shrimp, FW Crabs, Terrestrial
Hermit Crabs, & Marine Hermit ID, Hermit Behavior, Hermit Compatibility, Hermit Selection, Hermit Systems, Hermit Feeding, Hermit Reproduction, Hermit Disease/Health, &
Crayfish FAQs, Crayfish 2, Crayfish ID, Crayfish Behavior, Crayfish Compatibility, Crayfish Selection, Crayfish Systems, Crayfish Feeding, Crayfish Disease, Crayfish Reproduction,
|
|
Atyopsis moluccensis; Molting, Behaviour - 06/14/2004 Hello
Bob, <Hi, Michelle, Sabrina (the freshwater shrimp-obsessed) with
you, today!> Recently we bought 2 bamboo shrimp for our tank a
couple days ago. We thought that one of them died because he was laying
there. But when we looked at it we found both shrimps and what we saw
was a shell. My question is if they shed or lose their
shells, or why are they doing that? Thanks, Michelle <This is
totally normal, Michelle. All shrimp - and even crabs,
lobsters, and crayfish - shed their exoskeletons (their shells) as they
grow larger. They form a new shell beneath their old one,
and when they've grown too large, the old one splits and is shed
off. The new shell is soft when this happens, and then
hardens after the old shell is off. This process of shedding
shells is called 'molting', very much like lizards or snakes
shedding their skin. If you feed them well, your shrimp
should molt regularly. Wishing you and your shrimp
well, -Sabrina>
Cherax sp. with a Doritos Diet? Hello there! <Hello! Ryan
Bowen with you today.> I'm Tracy, nice to meet
you! *waves* <Ah, nice to meet you as well> We just
got a pet crayfish recently cause the people at my mom's office got
tired of taking care of it.. =( <Too common, sad> But
we're doing our best to take care of her now. <A fishkeeper is
born>. I learnt much about how to do that from your site, so many
thanks! And I identified her gender, which no one bothered
to do in the 1 year they had her!! *rolls eyes* <Nice
work!> Anyway, she was very active for a few days and climbed all
over the tank exploring.. or whatever it is crayfish do.. but we're
quite concerned now cause for the past few days she's been hiding
in her hole most of the time and staying very still for long periods of
time. Even at night, she only gets out to climb around for a
bit, then she's back to hiding. At first we thought she
might be molting, but nothing has happened for 5 days. Does
preparing for molting take that long? <It can, and after the animal
molts it will remain hidden as the shell is not hard
yet.> Or is there another reason for her
behaviour? We try to keep the tank clean.. uneaten food is
taken out after a few hours. About 20% water change every
week. We feed her sinking fish food and bits of peeled
tomato. There's limestone in her tank. I am
not sure where I can find iodine in my area, does feeding her
fish/prawns occasionally work as well? <Water changes
alone should be plenty of trace elements.> Shy says
hi! I'm not sure what species she is.. she's blue
all over though! <Cherax sp.> The brown markings are actually
algae cause her previous owners fed her potato chips and didn't
clean her tank enough. *grumble* <I'm not surprised that your
pet is "adjusting" to her new environment!> She's
about one year old and is 5 inches long. <That's about as large
as she'll get. Feed sinking algae pellets, and
supplement with some small, meaty items for best coloration.> And
very adorable! Thank you for bearing with me, I can get really
long-winded at times.. =) <No worries! You ought to hear
how long those "reef" guys get..
sheesh! ;) Ciao Tracy!> *hugz* Tracy
Please help !!!! hey, I have a tropical aquarium with a small
blue Marron <This is a Crayfish for browsers: Cherax tenuimanus>
about 3 inches long and went I went to check my tank this morning I
found the blue marrons shell without him in and than I looked under a
rock and he is there and he isn't moving is hibernating or some
thing and growing back a new shell or is he dead please write back as
soon as possible thank you for your help. <In all likelihood your
Marron is indeed hiding while its new exoskeleton is hardening. Do
leave the old one in the tank (sometimes they are eaten to help build
the new one) and the crustaceans hiding space intact... It should come
out in a week or so. Bob Fenner> From Ian
Hermit Crab Reproduction? Nope - Just Molting - 8/21/03 We
apparently had a male ("Jupiter") and a
female ("Crustaceous") hermit crab. They
were reasonably active (when it was safe I let them out to walk
around an open space on the floor). They enjoyed their
food and drank from their sponge. They always
slept cuddled closely together. <Hmmm... no mention of daily
spraying of them/the tank for humidity... helps them to breath
easier - literally. Too many hobbyists are not informed of this
and the crabs suffer slowly over time (evidenced by inactivity,
incomplete molts, etc)> Then Crustaceous seemed to be getting
antisocial and was off to herself most of the time. I
realized she was in the same spot through the day and then also
through the night. When I picked her up, she just
about fell out of her shell - and of course she was
dead. But her body looked really weird - as if there
was almost nothing inside the skin. <this was
simply the molt my friend> I planned to bury her with the rest
of our long last hermit crabs, <yikes... how many bodies?
I'm wondering if they just haven't been petering out
slowly from lack of spraying/humidity?> but I thought I would
clean the shell and keep it. I was shocked when I looked into the
shell and saw what looked like a very tiny fully formed hermit
crab claw. It was orange/red in color. I
determined there was no life in whatever it was and tried to pry
it gently from the shell. It was a
tiny formed crab. The legs broke off as it just fell
out once it was loosened. That also seemed as if there
was not much (if anything) inside the shell. There was an odor so
my husband quickly wrapped it up and disposed of it. I
am sorry to say we didn't just bury the whole thing in the
yard. But, I was afraid of disease and the whole thing
was so weird I wasn't sure it really
happened. Jupiter is not looking too well right now
either. I totally scrubbed their home, changed
everything and am trying to keep him safe if there were any
germs. But, I am afraid we are going to lose him. I
have been obsessed with that baby crab - because that's what
I'm sure it was - and regret I hadn't seen your web site
before I disposed of it. I would appreciate your
comments. Ann <please do buy a handbook online or at
your local pet store on keeping hermit crabs properly... much
data online too. That was no baby as you might guess by now, but
the shrunk molted living crab. It sounds like you need a spray
bottle in use by the tank ;) Best of luck. Anthony>
Hermit Crab Reproduction? Molting - 8/24/03 Thank you
so much for your prompt response. I feel terrible to
know I caused its death. <no worries, mate...
their natural lifespan is not so long... and the crabs we collect
are generally adults of an unknown age> I do spray the crabs
(obviously not enough) and make sure they always have plenty of
clean water in their dish and sponge. <excellent
to hear... and do check out the following links mentioned to us
by a daily reader after seeing yours and other recent posts:
http://www.landhermitcrabs.com
http://www.hermit-crabs.com
> I have kept them successfully for years at a
time. And I have read up some - again obviously not
enough. I only learned from your site about their need
for salt, though I should certainly have figured that out
considering they come from the shore. I never, never heard
anything about the crab molting - not from any of my friends who
have many more hermit crabs than I have. <my goodness... tis a
common, albeit secretive occurrence. The molts are generally
eaten> And believe it or not, I did even buy a hermit crab
book at the pet store when my granddaughter brought the first
hermit crab here. <excellent... you really are
quite on par my friend. Keeping them for a couple of years is
quite good too> But she took the book, and I had the
crab. Not a very good combination. Please be sure no
other hermit crab will suffer in my hands. Thank
you again. <always welcome... best of luck! Anthony>
|
|
|