crayfish molted what do i do with the skin?
- Thread starter stunt 101
- Start date
I always take the old shell out. I dont know if they will eat them or not, but it doesnt look too digestable to me...
monster eats his ...all of it
this last time we didn' think that he would cause he buried it but he dug it up and ate it all
this last time we didn' think that he would cause he buried it but he dug it up and ate it all
Definitely DO NOT REMOVE THE SHELL. He'll eat it to help build his new shell faster. This is doubly important if he's in a tank with other crayfish or larger fish... a newly molted crayfish is an easy meal for a lot of things.
I'm w/misymoo & WhippitGuud - that is a valuable mineral resource which the critter cannot eat instantly as the new shell and mouthparts are too soft the first hours, but that is metabolically too hard to replace compared to re-cycling. Leave it in at least days.
I had a crawfish for some time, and they always eat the shells. They reclaim all the minerals that are contained inside it. ALL crustaceans should eat their own shells after molting.