Red Claw Crab Molting

[RCC]

I think my red crab is molting but im not sure.He was on a piece of wood all the time above water, for at least 3 hours. I just put a platty in and maybe hes scared of it, i dont know. Being up on land is bad for them for so long so i tried to push him a little to go in the water.whan he was partly in the water red little pieces came of of him so i let him stay on the wood. I know hes moving so its not a exoskeleton and hes not dead.ANYBODY please help!

 

[RCC]

knowone then

 

[three-fingers]

Doesn't sound good tbh, they moult the whole carapace as one, not in lots of pieces.

You shouldn't try and poke the crab back in the water, they can stay out of it for ages as long as it's moist, as the air always in in a paludarium.

Are you keeping him in freshwater still? If so, that;s the problem, sounds exactly like the moulting complications they get when kept in freshwater.

 

[RCC]

really, i am keeping him in fresh water but is it the fish , thats easy to fix. But putting the tank as a brackish not so easy anything else you can include like other possibilities

 

[TylerFerretLord]

No, it's not the fish. No, there aren't any other possibilities that will help in the long-run.

The crab is not going to do well in freshwater, and I'll be surprised if he survives his molting problems. He needs brackish water, and it's not hard to supply. Simply buy a hydrometer, a bag of marine aquarium salt, and slowly up the SG by small waterchanges.

The platies can survive in brackish water up to a SG of 1.0003, if that's what you worry about.

 

[RCC]

thank you very much how much do the hydrometers cost and the salt?

 

[TylerFerretLord]

A hydrometer runs 10$-20$, and the bag of marine salt depends on the brand, but usually no more than 20$ for the smaller bags.

 

[RCC]

thank you again