Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

So how do shrimp tell you that they aren't doing so well? Fish clamp their fins together or turn pale. I was wondering if shrimp do anything similar?

I noticed a shrimp on its back and kicking its feet. Would that be a distress sign or is it just molting? When snakes shed they need to rub around a lot.....

I have cherry reds in particular.

When shrimp are under stress they turn a milky washed out coloration (you can even see that in Red Cherries) and/or they just sit around and do nothing. Healthy algae eating shrimp pretty much pick around for food constantly, except when they are about to molt at which point they somewhat resemble sick shrimp (i.e. they sit around doing nothing and some species turn slightly milky, too).

I hope that your shrimp that was lying on its back came back up and walked away because all the shrimp that I have seen lying on their backs and kicking around were in the process of dying.

Mustafa