Ted captured a great little video clip of one of our awesome blue crays, Ace, flipping…literally!
Adult crayfish molt their shell a few times a year (that’s what the second, only slightly more translucent, blue thing is in the tank when you watch the video), and after they molt, their new shell isn’t quite hard yet (until they eat either old molted shell, which is full of calcium that hardens their new shell). While their new shell is still hardening, crays are extra vulnerable to attack from predators, so they’re on high alert for a few days (and total garbage disposals too…Ace will eat anything, and lots of it, after she molts). Even though Ace’s tank is her own and there’s not a predator in sight, just the reflection of Ted walking by her tank sent her into a panic. And this zipping-around-the-tank maneuver is what happens when crays panic…(or get a random burst of energy). I love her little claws wide open and ready to snip at the very end!
Ace and Gigi are the greatest :)
