Crayfish in need

[jacobf21]

My crayfish has been molting for 2-3 weeks now and she is alive but I don’t know what is going on with her I don’t know what to do

 

[Perthegallon]

Bump

 

[Perthegallon]

I spoke to him he’s running a freshwater tank and has all his levels in check a cycled tank. He has been suggested to do a iodine dip but suggested him not to since it may cause to much stress

 

[fish farmer]

Has it completely molted or stuck in molt? Young crayfish or old?

I used to keep locally caught crayfish years ago. I would get them when they were young, they would molt like every month until they were about 2 inches long and then slow down. It seemed once they reached maturity the last molt would be really hard on them and sometimes they would die from it or lose a claw, etc. I had a really old crayfish that a collected which was about 5 inches long. When it molted in my tank the molt went wrong.....it's gills were on the outside of the body cavity.

 

[Tired]

A crayfish that's been stuck in a molt for that long seems like a crayfish that should be euthanized. I doubt it's going to recover, and it can reasonably be assumed to be in some level of distress.

 

[Perthegallon]

A crayfish that's been stuck in a molt for that long seems like a crayfish that should be euthanized. I doubt it's going to recover, and it can reasonably be assumed to be in some level of distress.

He bought it about a month ago

 

[jacobf21]

Has it completely molted or stuck in molt? Young crayfish or old?

I used to keep locally caught crayfish years ago. I would get them when they were young, they would molt like every month until they were about 2 inches long and then slow down. It seemed once they reached maturity the last molt would be really hard on them and sometimes they would die from it or lose a claw, etc. I had a really old crayfish that a collected which was about 5 inches long. When it molted in my tank the molt went wrong.....it's gills were on the outside of the body cavity.

It is very young this is its first molt sense I got it. It is only the size of the tip of my thumb.

 

[jacobf21]

It is very young this is its first molt sense I got it. It is only the size of the tip of my thumb.

It also looks like it is stuck in the molt I saw a piece of it’s tail come off but the rest of the shell didn’t

 

[Tired]

Describe what's going on. Is it lying on its side stuck halfway in the molt? Does it just look like the exoskeleton is loose, but it can still move freely?

If it can't really move, I would strongly recommend euthanization with clove oil. 2-3 weeks completely stuck in a molt would make me think it's not getting out.

If it can move, I would think something else is possibly going on.

Pictures?

 

[jacobf21]

He just lays on his back or side moving his legs and claws around he occasionally moves from place to place in the tank

 

[jacobf21]

Here is a picture

 

[jacobf21]

Also I can now see what looks like an air bubble Underneath the shell

 

[Tired]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I don't know if there's any way to help. The claws are positioned oddly, and I'm sure the new shell underneath has hardened by now. That may be the problem. That's not an animal that has any hope I can think of.

I would strongly advise you to get some clove oil (it's at any health food store and many grocery stores) and euthanize this animal. It's safe to say that it's in some level of distress, and quite possibly in pain, as there's some evidence crustaceans feel pain. Clove oil is a humane euthanization method effective on most aquatic animals.
What you do is you put the animal in a container of tank water. You put a bit more tank water in a bottle with a lid, add a couple drops of clove oil, and shake the bottle vigorously until the clove oil is no longer visibly separate from the water. Add a small amount of that water at a time to the container with the animal, to slowly add the clove oil. You should see it slow its movements down considerably, and eventually stop. After it's stopped, mix another bottle of clove oil water, add the whole thing at once, and leave it for a few hours. It's an anesthetic overdose, so the animal just goes to sleep and doesn't wake up. Very humane, more so than leaving something to suffer.

 

[jacobf21]

Alright well thank you for your help. Does this happen sometimes or did I just do something wrong

 

[Tired]

This just happens sometimes, yes. Shedding an entire exoskeleton is a very tricky thing, that even in the best of care can go wrong. Sorry about your crayfish.