How Long do Lobsters Live for and How Long does it Take for a Lobster to Grow to Full Size?

Lobsters are a little different from humans and mammals, being that they’re crustaceans n all.

rare blue lobster

Many lobsters live up to 50 years and even more in some cases. Some scientists have even claimed that they could effectively live indefinitely.

They start out looking like tiny bugs, smaller than crickets, and they grow and molt all their life.

When they get too big for their shells, they shed them completely, like snakes shed their skins. While they are in between shells, they grow quickly by absorbing a lot of water.

The lobsters shed their shells 25 to 30 times in the first 5 to 7 years of their lives, gaining about 15 percent in length and 40 percent in weight each time.

At the end of that time, they weigh about a pound, and the interval between molts gradually lengthens to about once a year. This process goes on for the rest of their lives.

A hundred-year-old lobster can be three feet long or longer.