Can Red Crabs shed their skin?

[Al Bundy]

Last week I removed from my tank what I thought was my dead red crab. I thought it felt kind of soft and light as I removed it but didn't think any more of it.

Today, I spotted the crab back in the tank. You can imagine my confusion.

So my question is can they "shed" skin? Or am I totally losing it?

 

[Katchan]

Most (if not all) crustaceans shed/malt/whatever just like bugs and spiders. They need to get rid of their hard outer shell so they grow more this is probably what shappened HTH

Katchan

 

[Snowbrumby]

Yes, crabs, lobsters, crayfish, etc do shed their skin. That is how they grow.

 

[pseud]

My crab shed it's skin, and my wife told me it was dead. I went to get it out and she yelled 'There's two of them!', then I realized one was his skin.

I read somewhere that you should leave the old skin in the tank for about a week, so the crab will eat some of it's old skin. Something to do with high calicum content, helping his other skin below harden... not sure how right that is though.

 

[scott67892002]

i never take crab skins out of my tank and they always disappear!

 

[utahfish]

yeah the crab will eat it's old skin for calcium. also aquarium salt helps after they molt. it help draw the moisture out of their shell and hardens it quicker. they are most vulnerable to infection and disease after molting. the more the crab molts the healthier it is a happy crab is a healthy crab