What’s wrong with my mom’s blue lobster

[Rocky998]

But what about the soft shell?
It seems now we know what those white things are thankfully but do you think the soft shell could be calcium deficiency?

 

[Donya]

But what about the soft shell?
It seems now we know what those white things are thankfully but do you think the soft shell could be calcium deficiency?

Just checked the thread again but I don't see any remarks from OP about the shell being soft? The carapace is normally kind of springy in these animals but it appears simply deformed in this case, which could have been caused by something as simple as molting in a tight place where it ended up in a funny position with something pressing on that side, in which case the gills could perhaps have just slipped out (under normal circumstances they wave around like weird little legs under the shell in many crustaceans). Unless I missed something I'm assuming the carapace hardened in that shape (to the degree that these things harden; like I said they are not rigid like a snail shell).

Freshwater inverts are adapted to pretty low calcium environments in general (certain large snails like apple snails being an exception). Again, diet is the way to fix that if it's an issue, not typically the water except to ensure that the parameters aren't hugely out of whack. Trying to dose calcium in a freshwater environment can have very bad results and swing pH all over the place; not something that should be done in most cases. Again, a diet base of something like shrimp pellets will give these critters what they need to build good exoskeletons and molt successfully.

 

[Rocky998]

Just checked the thread again but I don't see any remarks from OP about the shell being soft? The carapace is normally kind of springy in these animals but it appears simply deformed in this case, which could have been caused by something as simple as molting in a tight place where it ended up in a funny position with something pressing on that side, in which case the gills could perhaps have just slipped out (under normal circumstances they wave around like weird little legs under the shell in many crustaceans). Unless I missed something I'm assuming the carapace hardened in that shape (to the degree that these things harden; like I said they are not rigid like a snail shell).

Freshwater inverts are adapted to pretty low calcium environments in general (certain large snails like apple snails being an exception). Again, diet is the way to fix that if it's an issue, not typically the water except to ensure that the parameters aren't hugely out of whack. Trying to dose calcium in a freshwater environment can have very bad results and swing pH all over the place; not something that should be done in most cases. Again, a diet base of something like shrimp pellets will give these critters what they need to build good exoskeletons and molt successfully.

I thought the dented side could be from having a soft shell but I very well could be wrong.
Thank you for the explanation! That definitely makes sense.
And yes, I would never add calcium straight to the tank. I could get away with it cause of my extremely high KH but for other members here it's probably not a good idea

 

[Adelenr]

How exactly have you tried?

You need to upload the video to YouTube or similar video hosting site, then copy the link and past it in the text of the reply box on here (don't use any of the icons in the reply box)

I tried uploading it from my phone to YouTube but it just kept saying upload failed.

 

[Adelenr]

I thought the dented side could be from having a soft shell but I very well could be wrong.
Thank you for the explanation! That definitely makes sense.
And yes, I would never add calcium straight to the tank. I could get away with it cause of my extremely high KH but for other members here it's probably not a good idea

Thank you both. We usually feed him shrimp pellets and for a treat from time to time brine shrimp. It turned out to be his gills after all. We were out of town for a month when he molted. So we aren’t sure what happened. Hopefully it will be fixed with the next molt. We’ve had him for 2 years and this has never happened before.

 

[Rocky998]

Sounds like he's doing ok! Glad to hear. Hope he gets better