PP marking his shell with his body fluid??

[kuza]

Ok so my large PP has come up from his molt, and ever since then I keep catching him hanging half way out of his shell and using his back legs, the creepy worm like ones but not the gill cleaners, to rub liquid off his mouth/gills/side and rub it on the outer edge of his shell. Also, he's been hanging out in the shell shop when he does this, so maybe he's just marking it so he knows which shell to go back too?

It's really really creepy, lol. And I have a clear view of his whole body when he's doing this, the only part not out of the shell is the last half of his abdomen. When he does notice me watching he goes back into his shell and waits until I leave. I will catch this on film I'm sure I've seen him doing it like 3-4 times now in 2 days. Man I'm creeped out and amazed all at the same time. He's so big, he's like 3 times the size of bella my Medium E.

[Jackolope]

he is outside/naked his shell when he does this or inside his shell?

[kuza]

He's still in his shell, but he's out far enough to rub the whole outer edge of his shell opening with his back shell holding legs. There are what he's using to rub his body then the shell. And he does it in a pattern like he's painting it with this juice he's secreting.

[Happy Crabber]

Yeah. That's super creepy. But strangely fascinating...

[Jackolope]

it's not feces, right? The only fluid i've heard of crab secreting is when they are about to die from temperature stress, but this is more like a bile. sometimes they also secret a hormone to protect themselves in a molt, which also may explain why he is shell shopping:

"Ecdysone: MH, the molting hormone, is secreted from the Y organs located in the anterior part of the thorax. MIH, the molt inhibiting hormone, is produced in the eyestalk. Conditions such as darkness, solitude, warmth and moisture contribute to the secretion of the MH whereas, unfavorable conditions such as light, other crabs nearby, excessive cold or heat and dryness cause the MIH to be secreted in the hope that conditions will become favorable to molt."
http://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/My-Learn ... -a/153.htm

[kuza]

no he's just rubbing his body and then the shell. It almost looks liek the moisture is from him spitting on his wormy legs while he's doing this. He's already up from a 6 week molt and he's looking awesome, all hairy.

[Jackolope]

what is your temp in the tank, maybe he is too hot?

[kuza]

80/80, and he's not so much doing anything to himself as he's painting the rim of his shell. He seems pretty happy, and active, very active, all my crabs are active. 4 successful molts, including him. He digs, he climbs he eats, he drinks. But he for some reason is also rubbing spit or his scent on the outer rim of his shell. I haven't read anything about this behavior before, but there's a chance people just don't see it. I tend to see my crabs doing everything the way my tank is setup.

[Anorable]

Maybe he's modifying it? It sounds weird but my modified shells have a groove right where the eyestalks go.

[kuza]

he's not focusing on one spot though, it's he's like painting the whole outer rim without any paint. I'd like people to watching their PP's in the few days after coming up from a molt, and see if you can see this same thing.

[kuza]

Soo I'm now positive this action he does, and STILL does, is how the crabs modify their shells. I have new close up pictures of Hubert's shell, and all the spots he's been painting the most, are all smoothed down, and one section that had a tiny chip, is completely worn in now. I will post some before and after pics soon!!! I have some really close up ones of how the shell has changed too, it's awesome.

I've been able to watch him do it more closely now too. First he spits on his wormy feet, then rubs his gills and upper inside leg areas, then he wipes it on the outer rim of his shell. He comes out so far that he's doing this with both of his hind feet pairs, the wormy like feet they have, he does this with all 4 of them it seems since he can reach in different spots with the different pairs of legs. I'm hoping to catch it on video sometime but he only does it int he dark and if he sees me, he pops back into his shell. I have however watched him for about 2 hours worth of doing this now over several nights when I catch him doing it in the red light.

[kip.rogers357]

wow! that is amazing that you've been able to see that! finally an explanation as to how they modify their shells. I sure hope to see the pictures soon!

[kuza]

I'm sure the E's shells are much more modified because they are doing it right where they can put their mouth on the shell and chew it at the same time. Bug the spit explains why it's so smooth.. Maybe what they secrete is such a different Ph level it's like weak acid on the shell.

[Happy Crabber]

Yeah- I think I saw one of my small PPs doing this, and I thought about this thread. Weird.

[kuza]

I find this very interesting...

Is there a topic on this forum describing how crabs modify shells? I've rarely heard/read about that and would like to know more about it.

There's a few around and wode, I believe, posted some great pics of some E modified shells.