Blue Crayfish Problem!

So I have had this blue cray for about 3-4 weeks now he is a P. Alleni. He loves his tank roams around a lot but lately he found this spot in a log he likes and he hasn't come out. This afternoon I looked in the log and he was laying on his side like he was sleeping like human it didn't worry me much but then later this evening I looked again and he was laying completely upside down with his legs straight in the air sometimes he waved them back and forth slowly. I panicked and watched for about 30min to see if he was dead but eventually he just flipped himself over and went about roaming the tank. He flips over quite often but only in his log. Also he waves his arms back and forth when he sits still upright. I know quite a bit about crayfish, it all seemed very much like molting behavior until he laid on his back for quite sometime that's what worried me. Has anyone else had this problem? what do I do and what's wrong?

 

Someone else on here had the same problem. They had a blue crayfish who kept flipping on their back. It acted like molting behavior. A crack in the shell was visible. One of the ideas was that it was a molt that had gone wrong. But I haven't seen the thread to see if they ever updated it, sorry.

But I HAVE seen someone else report the same behavior with theirs.

 

this article says that crayfish may have problems molting if the water is too soft. Maybe you could add some crushed coral to your water if it lacks minerals. He needs calcium in the water to properly molt.

 

Thanks for the help I talked to my parents about our water and apparently our water softener also takes out all calcium and iodine which is important for crayfish so I'm buying an iodine and calcium test kit and adding both of those to my tank immediately.

 

I have 2 of these bad boys that now molt only once every 2-3 months. They are a few years old. When they were babies 1 did in fact lay on his back often. Upon further research it was in fact him trying to break the shell. After playing in a big sharp red rock I found it easier for them to molt & 9 times out of 10 then shell was within one of the holes (I actually think I have a picture in my profile but will edit this post after with it.). Since then they had 0 issues. Florida naturally has hard water & we did not use a water softener for the faucet that I use to fill the lobster tank.

Edit: Found my post! Blue lobster enjoying his new rock

 

That's great to know what he was finally doing, flipping over now I know I can fix it and its not just weird behavior, thank you!

 

That's great to know what he was finally doing, flipping over now I know I can fix it and its not just weird behavior, thank you!

It's not "weird" but I also don't know the health risks behind it. I often flipped mine over & he scooted back like a maniac. Do you often see him rubbing his lets with his other legs as if he is itchy? What about any cracks in the tops or under belly?

 

I don't see any cracks but he rubs his legs quite often almost constantly.

 

I've had a blue cray for 10mo. now and earlier on he did things like you have described and it had worried me. No longer does mine lie face up but does even stranger things like hanging face down up in a fake plant for a day or two or performing crazy looking dance routines for long periods of time etc... I've come to ignore his odd ball behavior and rather enjoy it now. I figure as long as he ignores the fish for the most part I'm happy. They are very strange critters and very hearty if the water parameters are good and they are well fed. Take care of the calcium and iodine and all we be well.

 

Thanks for your help everyone I appreciate all the responses I think I need to look into my calcium and iodine levels I don't know what they are.