Molting of shrimps

**zongwei21** · 17th May 2009, 10:13

Recently this week i saw alot of empty shells in my tank and some of my shrimps are feeding on them.When shrimps molt do they shed the whole body or just a part of their body?i saw a shell with yellowish and black substance in it or are they the shells my shrimps molted or are they dead?

**fishking** · 17th May 2009, 10:49

Shrimps do molt when they grow. They need to get rid of the old shell because it has hardened and it will impede their growth if they do not molt and "throw" away old shell. They eat back their shell for protein and calcium if they have no other foods to eat.

When they molt, it is every part of their body that molts...including the feelers, small legs, eyes etc....

**theanswerseeker** · 17th May 2009, 16:41

ya.. you'll probably see a nice perfect looking empty shell sometimes.

**michaelmah** · 18th May 2009, 00:39

they are not dead, after molt they will hide them self for protection during weak time.

when you skip to feed them a day, tomorrow they will jump out from the hole for the food.

**anakkucing** · 2nd Jul 2009, 16:46

Has anyone seen crs only molted half of its body successfully? Meaning it cant get rid the other half of the skin from its body? mine died after few days because of it...