Help for the Clawless II

[Carrie]

My little clawless crab, Claude... 5 months tomorrow w/ no claws, totally hand-fed.

He's so pre-molt. He's never tried to dig under so I've been able to watch him all this time. And he's just at that point where it's 'molt or die.' I'm hoping he makes it. At this point if he goes on any longer the gel-limbs for his new claws will be blocking his mouthparts, if they aren't already. (I need a better magnifying glass!) He either can't eat now or he just doesn't want to, given that he's about to 'pop.'

New (possibly) molting sign: you can actually see the new skin at his joints. They were dark maroon but now there's a bit of pink under there. He's having a very hard time moving and his skin is very dull. But his eyes are as bright as always. I know from Aleta (surface molter jumbo) that they can still move up until right before the molt.. and from Kali IV. Those two were able to drink and move their antennaes. Everyone else has been more mysterious. Nevertheless in the hours before a molt they really do look like they're dying. Claude can't retract very far now b/c the gel-limbs are so big. He looks sooo miserable!

I know he's going to molt in the next few days... or else he hasn't been able to eat... and things'll go the other way. 'Die' instead of 'molt.'

It's hard to know exactly when to leave him alone entirely since he's been hand-fed almost every day until the last two weeks. I've been opting to leave him alone more and more as he became more obviously pre-molt. After all this time of ignoring 'let nature take its course' I think I'm going to have to... b/c he doesn't WANT to eat. There's a marked difference in response to food. He used to reach out for the food when I'd feed him (as he would if he found something really good and he still had claws) but now he's trying to use his legs to push the paintbrush away. Hint, hint...

I hope the apparent view of the new skin means that he's going to molt in the next few days... and not that he CAN'T molt.

I thnk I'm going to put everyone else into the iso tank (Claude's tank) and let him have the 'big house' to himself--it's far more well-heated than his tank. He'll have a better chance in there, I think. Dig a hole for him and keep pouring water in there to keep the humidiy up.

Wish the Clawless One luck... b/c he needs it.... and as I always forget, he's really a she!