Horseshoe crab stuck?

[traveler911]

Hello all
I have had a horseshoe crab for several months, and I and the wife just love watching him pop up and scurry around the tank.

Today when I came downstairs I found him lying on his back with his legs fluttering. Upon closer inspection I found that his tail is wedged into a hole in the live rock. I was afraid he was in danger so I grabbed a pair of hemostats and applied slight gentle, but firm pressure to the middle of his tail in an attempt to effect a rescue. I did this twice without success.
I them began to think he might be attempting to molt. He has molted once before but I was not home for it. I only found his empty shell floating around the tank.

The question is: Is he really stuck or is he attempting to molt.
If he is stuck do I let him attempt to free himself, as so far he has not had any success(over 3 hours).
Will he molt to free himself if he is really stuck.

I know amazing thing happen in nature, but I don't like being a guena pig on my tank. Molting is a natural thing, but I know they usually do it when they have reached a certain size, and then there is a need. Will they molt if trapped or stuck?

Thanks
Kent

[reefworm]

how big is your tank? You do realize he'll outgrow it unless you have a really HUGE tank. They will molt, of course, but I've no experience with horseshoe crabs. I've just seen them in the wild and know they can get very, very large. Defensively they can be dangerous as well - you were wise to use hemostats. Is this one you picked up yourself, or is there an lfs somewhere we need to talk to?

[traveler911]

It is currently a 55, but I will be expanding to 100-110 gallon in the next couple of months.

I did pick this guy up at a lfs, but it is truly a great store. They don't care about the sale as much as the care for the creatures. I do know that they grow like crazy. Well I should say that he will eventually out grow what ever I have him in. The store said they would buy him back when he out grew what ever tank I have at the time. There is a guy that a full length wall tank. He doesn't want the little guys, he just gets the big ones when they out grows all the other tanks.

From what I have read I should be able to have him for many months before I should even have to start to worry about him out growing the current tank.


He is starting to bury himself in the sand while he is still stuck. I'm just hoping that is a sign of an upcoming molt.


Thanks for the quick reply.

[ladyfsu]

I'm thinking he's really stuck. Mine doesn't do that when he's molting. Maybe give him a day or 2 and then try an alternate way to pull him free. This is just an opinion.

[traveler911]

He's out and moving around fine.

I pushed some sand up by him, and he started to pull without success.
He then started to half bury himself, but he wasn't able to to do completely due to the position of his tail so high up. I think the extra sand the pushed up against the rock in the attempt to bury himself gave him the leverage to free himself later on.

All I know is, he is alive and free, and appears to be happy.

Thanks for all the help.

Kent

[Tang Salad]

Don't they do best in tanks with all sand and minimal live rock?