Red Claw Crab Lifeless

[nosoup4you]

I was cleaning out my 'crabitat' and lifted a rock and found one of my females laying lifeless on the bottom. I have had her for roughly 5 months and she has molted twice since I got her. In both past molts it happened overnight so I really don't know what their molting behavior is like. I am assuming she is dead as she is pretty limp and does not respond to touch but I can't bring myself to throw her out in case she is only molting (and I keep convincing myself that I see signs of life). I did smell her (weird I know) and she smells a bit crabby but since I had never had occasion to smell my crabs before, I don't know if this is normal or not. Could someone please just tell me if she is dead or not? Is it normal for molting crabs to be limp? Thanks in advance.

 

[lordofthesea]

when in kept them they smelt really bad when they died - i didn't have to go near the one that died to smell its death-ness. if there is a whitish line along the back of its shell it is molting. if not, give it a while. if it doesn't move then he may be dead molting is very stressful. he may be exhausted and recovering from AFTER a molt...