Exposed Gills

My crayfish just recently molted and looks like its gills are now exposed and his shape is a little off. I have searched the site for solutions but wasn't successful. If anyone can help me that would be great.

1

• jfeid6
• Aug 24, 2018

2

• jfeid6
• Aug 24, 2018

3

• jfeid6
• Aug 24, 2018

4

• jfeid6
• Aug 24, 2018

5

• jfeid6
• Aug 24, 2018

 

Go to top of page and in the search box type in blue crayfish with bad moult. I just found it and may hold some information for you. It's almost as if she hasn't moulded properly, I hope you have some luck,

 

This looks like a bad molt to me. This can be caused by a number of reasons like poor water quality, extremely soft (<3 gh) or hard water (>15gh), extremely high ph (>8), or low tds (<100). The gh and tds areprobably the most important to inverts in my experience, though any of these factors can be unhealthy. General recommendations for a blue crayfish are 70-75F, 3-10gh, 6.5-7.5 ph, and 100-300 tds. Personally, I use RO water and a remineralizer to get my gh and kh to ~5/2 respectively. pH sits around 7.5 and I keep the temp at 74F. I've never had any molting problems, and they occur about every three months. Do you have a water testing kit to see what your parameters are?

The best thing you can do is keep the water as clean as possible until the next molt.

 

The impression I get Enferno8 is the carapace showing is the old one which as faild to come off.
What's your thought? If it is is there a possibility it could be removed or would it kill the poor thing

 

Under NO circumstances should you attempt to remove the shell by yourself. This would likely just cause more damage. What I meant by bad molt is that the new/current shell is not healthy and therefore deformed. Check your water parameters (or get them checked at a LFS or Petsmart/Petco, all free) and let us know the results. This will help us diagnose whether or not this was just a bad molt.

It likely is, and the only thing you can do is keep your water as clean as possible until the next molt. The cray will molt and the shell will likely be healthy again if your water is kept in good condition.