Blue Crayfish Molting Timeline

[freshwaterz]

Yeah, it would have been hard not to notice the size difference after mine molts. So far she has gotten at least 1/3 bigger after every molt....2X bigger for the first three or so. Maybe your water is too cold...I've heard that can cause problems with shedding. It really depends on what species you have though. Do you know what kind it is??

its a HAMMERS COBALT BLUE LOBSTER. i keep the tank between 76-78 degrees. i just dont know. do they ever stop molting. maybe mine is fully mature. i just dont know that much about'em. he was my cpur of the moment buy, because i just had to have something that color in my tank.

 

[BTB0923]

its a HAMMERS COBALT BLUE LOBSTER. i keep the tank between 76-78 degrees. i just dont know. do they ever stop molting. maybe mine is fully mature. i just dont know that much about'em. he was my cpur of the moment buy, because i just had to have something that color in my tank.

Well its definitely not too cold in your tank. I don't think they ever stop molting altogether so maybe he is just older and only sheds once in a blue moon. I just read that particular species usually grows to a max length of about 5".

I bought my cray for pretty much the same reason. At the time I didn't know blue crayfish even existed and I thought it was cool, so i bought her. I got lucky IMO though cuz she turned out to be an Australian cray that gets really big.

 

[freshwaterz]

thats where he's at, 5"

 

[BTB0923]

thats where he's at, 5"

cool, got any pics?

 

[freshwaterz]

cool, got any pics?

sorry, havent been on in awhile. had lifes issues to deal with. here's a couple pics
blue lobster 007.JPG
blue lobster 005.JPG
blue lobster 006.JPG
blue lobster 001.JPG
blue lobster 002.JPG

 

[moosipher]

Any updates on this time line? This could actually be a fairly good way to age a cray, see how long it takes between moults...

 

[BTB0923]

My cray molted again. Here is the updated timeline and some pics....

 

[cymrufem]

Awww she's so pretty!

 

[BTB0923]

My C. Quad hasn't moted again yet but I did notice something different about her last night. She's guarding a whole clutch of eggs under her tail. I've had her since she was only about two inches long or so and her only tankmates have been feeders and a bgk, so no mating has occurred for sure. Is it normal for them to produce unfertilized eggs?

 

[TwistedPenguin]

BTB, I know this thread started awhile back but I've enjoyed reading it. I've got 7 Crays now and have a list tacked to the wall with each of their names and the dates they moult. I love peering into each tank every morning to see if there was any midnight moulting going on while I was asleep I've got a male C. quad about 6"-7" (without claws) I've had him a couple months, he's only moulted once so far.
I don't know if it's normal for them to produce eggs without a male present but I'd guess it is. Fish can lay eggs even if there's only female fish in there.