De shelling a dead crab

[cdragont]

My 5 year old crab died during his last moult, but I would like to keep his shell. Unfortunately the way he died he is not falling out of the shell, just drying out in the front where his exoskeleton is and slowly rotting out further back in the shell. Is there any good way I can get him out so I can clean and keep the shell? Hopefully something where I don't have to boil him out in one of my cook pots is preferred.

Many thanks for any help.

[Zacshack174]

Can't you just pull him out. ugh it sounds cruel.. Or..shake him out so cruel but he is dead.

[cdragont]

I guess I could just pull him out. Ugh that's almost as bad as cooking him out. I can try it.

Ok so the legs came out, but the back and the head are still stuck. Any other thoughts?

[Zacshack174]

Did it work?

[cdragont]

Did it work?

No I only got the legs. nothing else.

[Zacshack174]

I'm always able to just shake them out and keep the shell...

[emmac350]

I'm really not sure what else you could try (never had a death whose shell I kept unless they dropped it or fell out of it). If you're still really dead set on getting him out, you could try using tweezers, or boiling it and then spinning the shell so that gravity would pull the crab out (if you look at the bottom/point of the shell, this should be counter-clockwise).

[cdragont]

I guess I'll just leave him outside for a while. Maybe something will stop by and chew him out of the shell for me. If not I might just ditch the shell, I can't stand the thought of cooking in a pot after I boiled a crab out of it. Thanks for the bits of advice everyone.

[Wai]

I had a crab named Venus a few years ago who died stuck in her shell. I ended up having to move her body around until she fell out just to make sure that she was dead. The experience was horrible.