Blue "lobster"

[erick1191]

i resently bought a blue lobster(crayfish) he's been eating fine and just chilling until yesterday. now he's out of his cave and in another corner of the tank. now he's on his side is he molting his shell or is he dying? can someone help he's to cool to let die.

 

[Spishkey]

possible that he is moulting, my big one takes about 20mins to do this, keep an eye on him and if he doesn't start moulting it could be a problem.
if he does moult make sure he has plenty of space to hide from anything you have in with him (other crays/fish etc) he will be like jelly and an easy target!!

 

[raptorrex]

i resently bought a blue lobster(crayfish) he's been eating fine and just chilling until yesterday. now he's out of his cave and in another corner of the tank. now he's on his side is he molting his shell or is he dying? can someone help he's to cool to let die.

if your cray is trying to moult, you will find a split in the carapace. this is just between the junction of the head/saddle section and the tail. they are quite hardy critter, the only other thing i can think of is either iron or copper traces in the water.

 

[kreacher]

Thats how they moult, they do that all the time, just watch bigger fish don't try picking on him (if you have big fish) It's also worth leaving the shell in for a while so they can eat a bit of it to get the calcium from it.

 

[OscarWilde]

Thats how they moult, they do that all the time, just watch bigger fish don't try picking on him (if you have big fish) It's also worth leaving the shell in for a while so they can eat a bit of it to get the calcium from it.

Leave it in until its gone. They eat them in about 2-3 days. Just make sure you dont overfeed with normal food while it's still there.

 

[raptorrex]

Thats how they moult, they do that all the time, just watch bigger fish don't try picking on him (if you have big fish) It's also worth leaving the shell in for a while so they can eat a bit of it to get the calcium from it.

putting a drop if Aquarium iodine may help the process.
its not the calcium they are after, there seems no evedence that crayfish can absorb calcium through their stomachs, its the organic lattice that holds the calcium together they are want.

 

[erick1191]

thanks he moulted everthings all good now