QuestionQUESTION: I had 3 purple pincers in a 20gal. long tank. There is a large, flat water box with a small saltwater insert (I know the P.P.'s don't strictly need it, but I like to offer). I offer a variety of foods, and the tank stays ~75-90% humidity with a temp gradient of 70-85degrees F. The 3 crabs are in shells with an opening between 1"-1.25". The smallest one buried, molted, came up and seemed fine. I just looked in on them to feed, and she was dead! What happened?
ANSWER: Are you sure she's dead and not surface molting?
PP's need salt water too! Did you notice anything odd about the body?
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QUESTION: Yes, she was dead. And her eyestalks were gone- Eaten?
ANSWER: Was her abdomen there? The eyestalks being gone actually suggests molting rather than death, since they do not molt their eyes. Do you still have the "body"?
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QUESTION: Her abdomen was present but she smelled dead, and when I picked her up she just kind of fell apart. I do not have the body any longer. Can you tell me more about the molting and the abscence of the eyestalks?
AnswerEyestalks and antennae and the abdomen do not get shed when molting, they stay on the crab, that's one of the ways of identifying if it is an exoskeleton or a body. If the abdomen was present it was not an exoskeleton. Another way to tell is to crush one of the pinchers (I know that sounds harsh) but if it is hollow it is an exo and if it isn't it's a body. This is something I do if I find a random leg. If it is a dropped leg, that is something to worry about but an exo leg isn't as big a deal as sometimes they don't always eat all their legs.
