New Sexy Shrimp Molting (and some questions)

[rappo]

On Sunday I purchased two sexy shrimp. Today I noticed that one of them was especially bright in colors, and lo-and-behold I found his molted shell an inch away from him. I looked at my other one and his/her colors are very dull, it appears like this one will be molting soon too. Is this common for them to molt after being moved? How often should I expect this to happen and is there anything I can do to help with this process?

Is there a way to determine the sex of the shrimp? I have read that they don't usually like to hang out together, but these two shrimp are attached at the hip. Since sunday they found one tiny area of the tank and haven't deviated more than a few inches away from it for extended periods of time. This leads me to believe that they might be a mated pair... :smokin:

[Lev F.]

I purchased a pair of the same shrimp on sunday also! Molting should happen every 1-2 months. It is better to leave them be and not try to help them molt. Iodine causes premature molting, so don't use it. I don't know how to sex them, but I do think the ones with the slightly fatter abdomens are females. But i'm not sure. I don't know where you've read that they don't hang around each other, as they are very social!