New to crabs molting!

BG21 · Post by **BG21** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 2:10 pm

Hey all! We are new to hermit crabs. We adopted one from a friend a couple of weeks ago and just yesterday we bought 3 more that we plan to introduce to the other one once they're adjusted to our house. Upon checking on our 3 new ones this morning I noticed a crab leg in the tank and one crab missing. He decided to bury himself, I am assuming to molt. He left his shell and all LOL. Is it normal they lose legs? Edited** i guess he does have a shell, i didnt see it but my husband did. Anyways, we made sure yesterday when setting their tank up that their sand was sand castle consistency but I've read about tunnels collapsing on them during molting. How do I ensure he stays safe down there and the sand stays moist enough? Thanks!

Post by **JoeHermits** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 3:22 pm

Losing legs is a response to injury, disease, or stress and is common in new crabs. Keep an eye on the crabs but there’s not much you can do except maintain good temperature and humidity and provide protein and calcium so they can regrow any lost limbs

To keep the substrate at the proper moisture level you can simply spray it with water when it dries out on the surface

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BG21 · Post by **BG21** » Mon Dec 23, 2024 6:39 pm

Thank you! Oh man, out of all of those I really hope it's just stress

we plan to keep them separate from our other one for a couple of weeks. Do you think that's long enough, in case they do have a disease?

Good to know about keeping the substrate moist on the surface. When I read that about tunnels collapsing as the crabs are molting, I was worried.

Post by **JoeHermits** » Tue Dec 24, 2024 12:27 am

Yeah, that’s more than enough time to notice anything amiss

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myhermiesnoopy · Post by **myhermiesnoopy** » Thu Dec 26, 2024 3:27 pm

BG21 wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 23, 2024 2:10 pm
Hey all! We are new to hermit crabs. We adopted one from a friend a couple of weeks ago and just yesterday we bought 3 more that we plan to introduce to the other one once they're adjusted to our house. Upon checking on our 3 new ones this morning I noticed a crab leg in the tank and one crab missing. He decided to bury himself, I am assuming to molt. He left his shell and all LOL. Is it normal they lose legs? Edited** i guess he does have a shell, i didnt see it but my husband did. Anyways, we made sure yesterday when setting their tank up that their sand was sand castle consistency but I've read about tunnels collapsing on them during molting. How do I ensure he stays safe down there and the sand stays moist enough? Thanks!

A common cause for hermit crabs losing legs is being cold! Make sure that your heat in the tank is 75-81 degrees. Hermit crabs are cold blooded and body temp is whatever temp they live in.

HCA: Hermit Crab Association