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Earlier today I noticed that Blindie, my 6" Cherax Quadricarinatus Crayfish had been fairly inactive much of the day, and had stayed in the same corner all afternoon. Â
A while ago, Warren (b/f) was tank-watching and asked what was wrong with him, he was having a very difficult time just walking along the substrate - half a 48" tank away from his daytime corner. Â So I take a look, notice his color was very off, and I look in his corner to find an empty replica of him. Â
So Ah-Hah!  Mystery solved.  His difficulty walking was due to his size and the fact he's walking with a body that's as soft as warm butter - and i'm not exaggerating here.  I move to the other end of the tank to look at him head-on and notice that he's only got one claw  :(.  A ways behind him I see his new claw behind a rock which hid it from the front view.  I remove it (as it will only rot and foul the tank), gather up his old shell and put it in the opposite corner.  I had to herd little miss Instigator, and Macgyver (my other 2 Cherax Quads) to the other end, and construct new shelters for them all.  He barely fit under the old one there - it was Instigators place and she's much smaller than the guys.  Then off I go to find some lighting grid and make a divider to give him some space to grow without threat.  Nearly the whole time he's stressing and cramming himself into the corner.  Finally I finished and he made his way next to his old cave, legs flexing like cooked spaghetti as he tries to walk.  he stretches out a bit, seeming to relax.  I turned the lights out so he'd feel less "spotlighted". Â
I wonder how much he's going to grow with this molt? Â Last time it was a sizeable amount - at least an inch over a 3-day period. Â It's amazing to watch that. Â How he will fare with only one claw, I do not know - the others are fully equipped with all their limbs. Â They may have aided in the removal of his new claw, but it's likely that it just got caught against a rock or cave and in trying to extract it, it came off. Â When I pulled his new claw out of the tank, it was soooo soft. Â Nothing at all like it was a few months ago when he snapped at me, hard enough to draw blood then.
Only time will tell what kind of growth spurt he's gonna have this time - Should be interesting!
A while ago, Warren (b/f) was tank-watching and asked what was wrong with him, he was having a very difficult time just walking along the substrate - half a 48" tank away from his daytime corner. Â So I take a look, notice his color was very off, and I look in his corner to find an empty replica of him. Â
So Ah-Hah!  Mystery solved.  His difficulty walking was due to his size and the fact he's walking with a body that's as soft as warm butter - and i'm not exaggerating here.  I move to the other end of the tank to look at him head-on and notice that he's only got one claw  :(.  A ways behind him I see his new claw behind a rock which hid it from the front view.  I remove it (as it will only rot and foul the tank), gather up his old shell and put it in the opposite corner.  I had to herd little miss Instigator, and Macgyver (my other 2 Cherax Quads) to the other end, and construct new shelters for them all.  He barely fit under the old one there - it was Instigators place and she's much smaller than the guys.  Then off I go to find some lighting grid and make a divider to give him some space to grow without threat.  Nearly the whole time he's stressing and cramming himself into the corner.  Finally I finished and he made his way next to his old cave, legs flexing like cooked spaghetti as he tries to walk.  he stretches out a bit, seeming to relax.  I turned the lights out so he'd feel less "spotlighted". Â
I wonder how much he's going to grow with this molt? Â Last time it was a sizeable amount - at least an inch over a 3-day period. Â It's amazing to watch that. Â How he will fare with only one claw, I do not know - the others are fully equipped with all their limbs. Â They may have aided in the removal of his new claw, but it's likely that it just got caught against a rock or cave and in trying to extract it, it came off. Â When I pulled his new claw out of the tank, it was soooo soft. Â Nothing at all like it was a few months ago when he snapped at me, hard enough to draw blood then.
Only time will tell what kind of growth spurt he's gonna have this time - Should be interesting!
 
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