urchin spines broken

[yaksplat]

It looks like my longspine urchin got stuck between the glass and a rock in my tank. Just about all of his spines have broken down to about a 1" length. Is this bad? He still has all of his spines, but they're just short.
Jim

 

[ophiura]

If they were just broken, that is not too much of an issue.
If they are falling off - that is a problem.

 

[yaksplat]

Yeah, they're all just broken. He almost looks pickupable now. I actually may try to unjam him. I'm going to have to remember not to dig around in that area of the sand. Do the spines ever dissolve?
Thanks
Jim

 

[xnikki118x]

Ophiura, my urchin loses some spines every now and then...if you look in my tank you can see maybe like 10 or so scattered around the crushed coral base.
Is this bad? He's pretty active, likes to graze, and hasn't really acted any different since I got him.
Should I remove the spines that have fallen off of him?
Or maybe they are just broken? A few are shorter which would make me think they broke off, but a lot are as long as the ones on his body and don't look like they were broken.
I hope he's not in trouble!!

 

[ophiura]

Losing a spine now and then (which probably won't dissolve incredibly soon) is not a major concern. When they look droopy and fall off in large numbers, that is a concern.

 

[little]

My guy brakes his all the time. They grow back ina few weeks and when I clean the tank he sticks m e in the finger and brakes off!!! It sucks butt yes he will growe back. . .
THanks
Little

 

[dburr]

I actually may try to unjam him. I'm going to have to remember not to dig around in that area of the sand.
Don't un-jam him. It may do more harm than good. They will jam themselves in the wild between rocks for protection. They are so strong, they can move rocks when they do this. He will come out in his own time.
HTH