my crab melted?

[KBS1664]

I've been stumped by this. I have red claw crabs and about a month ago one of them molted. I didn't see him for the next 5 days and didn't think much of it because crabs hide when they molt. I went to do a water change and I see a pile of mush sitting on top of the filter (I didn't see this before because the filter is hidden out of sight by driftwood). It looked like it had been there for at least 3 days or so. My guess is, he decided to go sun tanning right after molting and melted since his shell had not hardened yet. Is this even possible?

[plantedinvertz]

Maybe it died after molting and decomposed

[VinnyD]

hmm..did the other crab decide to make a small meal outta the molted one?...and didn't finish his "meal"?

[KBS1664]

the crab was a very large male. The other crabs are small females. The filter is his territory the others don't touch it. It didn't look like they made a meal out of him as he looked untouched. The reason I think he may have melted is because I've never seen a crab sit on dry land after molting. I was under the impression they need to stay submerged until the shell hardens. Not sure if this is true or not...

[martialid10t]

hrm. bad molt caused the death maybe? Not unusual with any crustacean. You might have noticed an incomplete shed.

Had it been eaten by the others i'm sure you might have noticed them picking at it.

[Mferko]

at first i thought someone else had the same thing happen but just realized it was another post of yours

[KBS1664]

yup! I've been stumped ever since it happened. My girlfreind was confused as well. She also said he looked like he melted. After the molt I saw him walking around a bit and he looked fine. The shell was complete and healthy looking. It's quite the climb to get ontop the filter so I assume it was a good molt.

When researching crabs before I bought them I came across someone who said one of their crabs got cooked by the lights after molting.

[opqr307]

Northwestward Hongmen core, is our pleasance, Ha ha ha ... ..." Any instrument and nodded, eyes a transport to see before and after the telephone to fend excursus Zhang Habitation.

[gwcana]

when I don't have time, I fish out dead shrimp or crayfish into containers to throw them out later. I find that they are firm at first and "desolve" after awhile. So maybe it had been dead for awhile.