I have a movie of AK changing shells... but I haven't managed to get 'footage' of a molt yet. I KNEW when AK was going to molt last time and I'd swear she waited until I went to bed to do it. 5 AM and she out-waited me. I was all poised w/ the digital camera for the entire night. Kali IV was 2002, those molts... no digital camera back then, so no video.
But I can do a good description. It was amazing! I felt very, very lucky.. and that crab was so trusting she also changed shells in my hands a few times, too. That's where she felt most comfortable. AK will change shells while you watch, but not while you hold her. The 'Arwen' half is shy but the 'Kali' half is obnoxious. She's like the two crabs she's named after so much. She has another molt coming up (she's pretty much on a schedule now) and maybe this time I can wait her out and get VIDEO. A molt for a crab her size takes about half an hour.
I will look in my notebooks for my original description of Kali IV's molt, since everyone wants to know.
She was my special girl... only right before she died I found out she wasn't a she. AK is definitely female--it's in the video. (Pleiopods!!) I hope that's spelled right. Hmmm...
Coming soon: The World Famous Unshy Hermit Crab, Kali IV (The Sainted) Molts. (Yes, she's a hermit crab saint... the only one thusly named.) I'd be so glad that the things I learned from her went on to teach others... She died in her last molt b/c I had to move and it was 'her time' (to molt) and her conditions were disrupted so much by the move. I'd learned enough to supplement calcium but not enough to keep the tank humid all the time--tho it was heated, let alone when moving. Given my two obvious pre-molters right now... I'm fixing up the main tank (after the mites!) tonight instead of dilly-dallying around like I want to. They're digging in Claude the Clawless One's iso tank and Claude lives on the bed.
More molting news: Claude comes pretty far out of his shell and lingers in the water-dish to soak his very prominent gel-limbs, where his claws will be after his next molt. He also uses his legs to rub water into his other legs and he's rubbing 'phantom' claws, where they'd be, w/ his front legs. He's kind of a whole new area b/c I have absolute control over what he eats and drinks. Thanks to the advice of several of you (both when I was here before and this time around) Claude has VERY good odds of survival. I hope to be able to post some pics of his gel-limbs sometime... if he'll be still long enough for pictures! I'd swear you can make out the actual pincher part of the big claw in there but he's so small.
When AK was regrowing one of her lost legs (she was w/o her two right legs for a time) the gel-limb contained a small, white, perfectly formed replica of her leg, complete w/ joints, all in that clear gel-limb sac, curled up in there. Again, no pictures... but she molted soon after it became really visible. Gel-limbs, if you get the chance to see them, are a very reliable indicator of an upcoming molt. I do have a pic of her new legs, which are 3/4 the size of the other limbs, brighter colored, and fully functional. It took her a while to learn to walk again w/ a full complement of legs!
Do I write too much, or what?
