Seaweed

This is Seaweed. (Click to biggify.)



He scared the pee-waddlins out of me last night.

He had a friend, Surf, who wasn't long for the world. He passed away just a few weeks after we got them. I found that out by picking him up and watching his legs fall off. Gross.

I had to get a paper towel, grasp him firmly, and pull his dead body out of his shell. Even grosser.

Because of this, we have been keeping a close watch on Seaweed. The habitat isn't exactly the best for these things. It needs to be a little warmer and a lot more humid. We keep some plastic over the top and spritz water three times a week. Plus we have a lid full of water in there to help.

But still, you never know.

Seaweed has been keeping a low profile for a while. The Boy asked me to spritz in there yesterday because he didn't remember to do it on Tuesday. I decided to check on the crab while I was spritzing.

I lifted up the half coconut shell that is used as their "Hut" and noticed a leg just kinda laying there beside him. Crap.

I put the shell back down and thought I would wait 'til The Boy got home from school and see how he wanted to proceed with the disposal.

Some tears were shed and he decided that we should just throw Seaweed away, shell and all.

I picked Seaweed up and there were some other legs laying there all nasty looking. I started walking down the hall and noticed the shell seemed to feel odd.

All of a sudden that little thing popped out! Jeebus!

I high-tailed it back to The Boy's room and exclaimed, "He's alive!"

Turned out, he was molting and the legs I saw were his exoskeleton.

I put him back down in his home, did a little shiver dance, and all is well again.