Emerald crab dead or molt?

ok so i moved my tank into a larger tank and after i lifted my last peice of LR i seen my Emerald crab just laying lifless on the sand bed picked it up and pinchers legs and all are dangling with no intent of movment or resistance and the belly is not opened what i was wondering if i should wait a night or so to see if hes still inside but i dont really know the signs of what he should look like still in the molting process or if he just just dead and help plz?

 

most likely it is a molt. keepvit in there, as the crab will eat its own molt. same way with shrimp. just to confirm...was this dead crab/molt..was it its regular color or was it a somewhat translucent, paler color?

 

well the pinchers are still the same color the body and legs are pale white but not translucent how long do their molts normaly take til they are out?

 

usually only a couple of days, at most, but that all depends you your clean up crew and other fish. Sometimes it can be hard to tell the difference, especially if this is the first time you have seen a molt.

 

Check to see if the eye sockets are empty. If the eyes are there, it doesn't look good.

 

IME, handling a crustacean that's in the molting process or just finished shedding kills it. Good luck, hoping for the best.

 

Personally, I have a very difficult time telling the difference between a molt and a dead crab...shrimp are a lot easier...

Yes the molt is paler in color. And, should you pick up the body/molt, it is very, very soft and floppy. Since a freshly molted crab is vulnerable, they will hide for a couple of days...thus giving you more concern...

 

Okay so here are 3 pix of the crab when i got home today i thought i saw the bottom of the crab moving but i fliped him over and did not notice anything and fliped him back and took some pix what do you guys think?

 

:-/ That looks pretty solid(as, the real thing) to me..

 

agree with Seano, sorry to hear