Blue Lobster Lost His Claw

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balajake

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Hi, new to the forum.

well,i bought a blue lobster 2 days ago and about an hour ago he suddenly rolled on his back and couldn't get up, i thought he was dying. i left him for a few minutes then decided to intervene. i got a small net and gently tried to turn him back over but i spooked him and he jumped really fast but right out of his shell ! i'm so stupid and didn't realise he was shedding and he jumped so fast the poor thing lost his claw. i feel awful, i didn't expect him to be shedding so soon after i got him so it didn't enter my mind.
i read that they grow back but how long will it take ? i hope he wont die now from shock.
 
I have two blue lobsters myself (male and female). It seems like shortly after they get to a new tank they molt. Not sure why But if I move mine they molt as well. My male lost a claw to my female his second or third molt afetr I got him His next moltb took about 3 months and during that one he got back a small claw. (like 1/4 inch, his big one is an inch and a half) He molyed again since then and its now about a half inch. Im guessing it will be the same size as the first after about a year. keep in mind I am no expert just going by what mine have done.
 
Thanks for the reply. He took me totally by surprise, i really should have realised straight away what was happening but i panicked as i thought he was in trouble. He's fine now, hiding away until his shell hardens up.
 
I can understand why it would scare you They look like a contortionist having a seizure at different points in a molt. If ever see two of them doing the deed for the first time you will swear they are trying to kill each other. till they are latched together
 
I can understand why it would scare you They look like a contortionist having a seizure at different points in a molt. If ever see two of them doing the deed for the first time you will swear they are trying to kill each other. till they are latched together
I have purchased a large sunken ship for him. he now lives in it happily, only coming out to snag the odd catfish wafer. is funny and disturbing to watch him just suddenly emerge from nowhere from inside the dark boat, like a sea monster
 
I have purchased a large sunken ship for him. he now lives in it happily, only coming out to snag the odd catfish wafer. is funny and disturbing to watch him just suddenly emerge from nowhere from inside the dark boat, like a sea monster

catfish wafer? I'm going to ask the obvious, but are you keeping the lobster in the same tank as any fish?
 
I have purchased a large sunken ship for him. he now lives in it happily, only coming out to snag the odd catfish wafer. is funny and disturbing to watch him just suddenly emerge from nowhere from inside the dark boat, like a sea monster

catfish wafer? I'm going to ask the obvious, but are you keeping the lobster in the same tank as any fish?

yes. hes in with plecos,rafael catfish, gouramis,clown loaches and angel fish, red tail shark. he likes the algae wafers.
 
Oh dear. He really doesn't belong in a tank with any fish. They are likely to pay a hefty price at some point. I can only recommend becoming him.
 
Oh dear. He really doesn't belong in a tank with any fish. They are likely to pay a hefty price at some point. I can only recommend becoming him.

he is a little posessive over food and will barge the plecos out of the way to get to a wafer but other than that the other fish will sit quite happily next to him. he is very well fed and of course if he become very large i will move him.
 
Have a 10 gallon handy if your in a situation you may need to move him. They grow pretty fast. If I recall it is a 50 percent increase in body mass per molt. While my male gets longer and his claws get bigger my female gets thicker and looks more like a tank. But I have had them about 8 months now and when I see the ones in stores the size they were at purchase I think of them as babys.
 
Have a 10 gallon handy if your in a situation you may need to move him. They grow pretty fast. If I recall it is a 50 percent increase in body mass per molt. While my male gets longer and his claws get bigger my female gets thicker and looks more like a tank. But I have had them about 8 months now and when I see the ones in stores the size they were at purchase I think of them as babys.

hes in a 340 litre at the moment but am looking to get another tank soon
 
Oh dear. He really doesn't belong in a tank with any fish. They are likely to pay a hefty price at some point. I can only recommend becoming him.

I was always in the opinion of that until I went to ferrybridge about 4 months ago. the guy who took me around was of the opinion they are good in community tanks aslong as they are fed well and with fish that can "give it back" and he ended up talking me into getting one in my cichlid tank that has a plec in.

He made himself a cave under a few rocks and has been there happy ever since, shed about 3 or 4 times now and is a good size. The only thing he does at the minute is try nip the Plecs tail and to be honest Im going to have to re-home the plec anyway as hes getting too big for the tank but Ive not had any reason to suggest taking the lobster out of there, he doesnt seem to bother any of the fish and the few times he has hes got a wack and gone back in his cave to sulk.
 
All depends on the lobster. My female literaly cut my first pleco in half and it was bigger then she was. I am not saying its impossible to keep them together. My male and female were in a tank with Tetras,platys, guppys, and mollies as well as mystery snails. Occasionaly A fish would vabish but with live bearers there was no big deal.

Then momma had her fist batch of babys and they decimated the tank. Anything under and inch was wiped out except one tetra we named tank. They even took down a few full size mollies. After the babys got sold we rehomed the momma and my male to a new tank.

I think the most insane thing I saw in all of that was a 1/2 inch lobster latch onto the fins(one claw on each fin) of a full size molly as it swam by the lobster then hung on like a rodeo clown till it took down the molly. At any size they can be vicious little buggers.... but I love them so.
 
Just bumping this to say his claw has grown back. it's smaller than the other and the pincers overlap abit but he's doing great after his second shed
 
Hi, new to the forum.

well,i bought a blue lobster 2 days ago and about an hour ago he suddenly rolled on his back and couldn't get up, i thought he was dying. i left him for a few minutes then decided to intervene. i got a small net and gently tried to turn him back over but i spooked him and he jumped really fast but right out of his shell ! i'm so stupid and didn't realise he was shedding and he jumped so fast the poor thing lost his claw. i feel awful, i didn't expect him to be shedding so soon after i got him so it didn't enter my mind.
i read that they grow back but how long will it take ? i hope he wont die now from shock.

first off, cray often moult when entered into a new environment. especially if it is warmer of colder then its original.
indeed its a good trick for keepers to learn.

the claw will grow back, but only after a moult.
it may not be back to full size on the first moult. but a second one will do it.
however you may notice the soft part of the claw growing up till the next moult.
I'd add an antibacterial to your tank till then. cray are very prone to bacterial infection.

only problem left now is, will the cray moult again. after being handled?
you wont know till it dies, unfortunately.
such are the breaks when keeping unresearched stock.

incidentally no amount of calcium additives will have the slightest effect on how you claw will develop. so dont be tempted to try any additives.

now, if your cray splits its carapace, but does not moult. drop me a line. i have a few solutions to the problem. I wont post then on the open forum. if i do you get dill wits trying it all the time.
 

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