Purple Reef Lobster

[Jason25]

This morning Theresa yells to me honey come here so I come into the fish room and she tells me that my lobster is stuck on his back on top of my LR. So I look in the tank and I see little legs flailing trying to right himself. So I stick in my net and try to flip him over with no luck. So I go to get a chair to stand on and when I come back she tells me he is dead becasue his insides are gone.LOL, then it dawns on me he is not dead he molted over night. So I take a closer look and notice the flailing legs are in direct line with my power head. LOL, did I feel stupid then.

 

[ragvette]

:smck: funny story. Thanks for sharing.

 

[cioutlaw]

Dont feel bad, My wife thought one of my shrimp had died when she saw a shed too.

 

[BigAl07]

It happens ALL the time. The molt looks like a full critter especially if it's upright!! Funny story that I think we ALL have one like it.

 

[Dentoid]

 

[Cal Native]

everyone has fallen for that, you are one of the many

 

[Melanie]

I'm guilty as well of finding a "dead" hermit crab. But your story was much better.

 

[Fionn_Matt325]

I'm guilty as well of finding a "dead" hermit crab. But your story was much better.

:away: same here, but it didn't occur to me for quite some time. i kept finding red hermit legs scattered throughout the tank, so i got replacements. then i noticed that my red pop. had doubled "somehow"

 

[MrB]

lol funny thank goodness ive read about this now so i dont become part of that club hehe

 

[BigAl07]

I had just the opposite happen yesterday. My wife called me into the living room and said, "Your cleaner shrimp looks to be DOA!"

Of course me being the All Knowing One stated, " Now you know better than that. It's just the shrimp's molt you're seeing. He's probably in a cave resting while his new shell hardens. No need to even give it another thought."

She replies, "Why would the MOLT still have all the meet in it then smartie pants?"

She was right. It was indeed the shrimp itself. Grrrrr so always pay attention to the "contents" of the molt just in case.

 

[sspranzo]

I too was tricked into thinking my lobster was dead. I removed and flushed his body eventually switched tanks while leaving the rock and water in my old tank. Here is is 2 months later and I went to clean out my old tank and pulled up a rock only to find my lobster! More surprising is that he managed to live for 2 months in a 20g tank at 64 degrees with no food and about 4 gallons of water missing, who knows what the specific gravity. He is a champ in my book for sure.

 

[flashpanther]

I hear they purposely molt their exoskeleton on clear show as a decoy whilst their new exoskeleton hardens in hiding. If that's true for all inverts they even have us humans fooled. Each of my electric blue hermits have tricked me so far lmao.

 

[reef dummy]

Bringing up three year old posts?

 

[partypalooza5]

Oh, there IS a date there...

 

[flashpanther]

Sorry.... didn't realise this forum is ruled by dates. So so Sorry!!!!!!!