HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I have a single crab in a 10 gal temporarily due to the fact that he’s supposed to molt soon and I don’t want to introduce him to the other crab until he’s done. He’s a newer crab and was in isolation for a few months to make sure he was thriving, but he’s been showing signs that he’s about to molt recently so I’ve been keeping a closer eye on him.

10 gallon is monitored, proper heat and humidity. Fresh food and water, enrichment, proper substrate (sand and eco earth), food variety, etc.

For about three weeks my crab has been sitting in the same corner, not moving nor eating. He went and drank water once a week ago (he looked very pale too) but hasn’t moved since. I assumed he was about to surface molt, so I took away the daylight lamp and covered half of the tank with a blanket so he wouldn’t be disturbed by me moving around my room. A small portion of the tank has some natural light from my window coming in but he doesn’t go near it.

He is still in his shell. This doesn’t seem like an emergency, but I want to see if anyone has any insights as to what’s going on. Should I keep waiting for him to molt, or does this require some extra care? Is everything fine and he’s just bored?

Thoughts?


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Hi, here are my thoughts...

Your crab may be eating and drinking at night while your asleep. He could be depressed because he doesn’t currently have a friend with him. I have had something similar happen to my biggest crab before I introduced him to my other three. He just saw the other crabs and wanted to be with them that and he was very stressed out. Hopefully someone else will see this as I’m a fairly new crabber, but I’m pretty sure that this could be the case. Good Luck! Hope this helps!

I had my very first crab do this and I was so worried about her. She just sat in the same spot for weeks and I never saw her eat or drink. Then one day, she wasn’t there...she had finally dug down. I was worried she wouldn’t survive the molt, but she came up after about 2 months and was healthy and happy! She is beautiful and thriving and I love watching her! Hoping for the same for your little one!


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