so confused

Jaci · Post by **Jaci** » 27 Feb 2006, 05:59

one of my crabs was showing a few signs of premoult, so i put him in ISO (it's been 8 days now), but he hasn't come out of his shell nor dug any holes. i just assumed that he was going to be a surface moulter. he is drinking and eating a lot. he's also been really lethargic. did i mistake the signs? should i keep him in ISO or take him out to be with the other crabs again? should i wait? if so, how long?

senorcrab01 · Post by **senorcrab01** » 28 Feb 2006, 17:09

Your crabbie might just be preparing for his moult which would explain the eating and drinking. He's probably just storing up plenty of food energy, fat and water to survive the long period of time that he won't be able to eat or drink when moulting. Also if he's lethargic he could be a little sick (I hope he's not). In either case you should probably keep him in the iso tank for a while more. I hope this helps. Good luck with your little friend.

Jaci · Post by **Jaci** » 01 Mar 2006, 06:07

thanks. i'll keep him in ISO then. i was just getting worried because it's coming up on 2 weeks of him being in ISO and he hasn't done anything except sleep, drink, and eat. it's been warm and dark...is there anything that i can do to promote or help his moult along?

senorcrab01 · Post by **senorcrab01** » 03 Mar 2006, 18:12

It sounds like you're doing pretty much everything you can. The only other thing I can suggest is to add a little water to the substrate. Not to much though. You don't want it sloppy wet, just good and moist. This should add to the humidity and it might entice him to dig. Also put some shells in the iso that are a little bigger than the one he's in. It could be he just doesn't want to moult without a better fitting shell to move into. If he doesn't do anything in a week or so i'de put him back into population. I hope everything turns out ok.

Jaci · Post by **Jaci** » 04 Mar 2006, 06:40

ok, that sounds good to me! when we got tweek, we purchased a neutral shell for his next shell, but when i got bebe, we purchased what we thought could be her next shell, tweek found it first and was looking into it, turning it over and over, climbing over it and looked like he was really interested. it was so funny. this is the shell that is in ISO with him. should i add the shell that we bought when we got him?

senorcrab01 · Post by **senorcrab01** » 04 Mar 2006, 09:42

The more shells your crabbie has to choose from the better.