Molting question: Under too long?
Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2014 12:38 pm
It's hard for me to tell how big my hermit crab was before going underground to molt, so I'm having trouble judging whether he is still molting or whether something has gone wrong. When I found him abandoned outside my apartment building, he was in a painted shell--presumably he was bought at a pet store or beachside stand. I believe he was too large for his shell, as he could not go fully inside it. He was curious about switching shells--he had lots of shapes and sizes to choose from, but never fully left his shell. I'm worried that his body was fused to the shell because he never switched shells. His shell, which, again, I think was slightly too small for him, was about 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches in diameter.
He went underground on September 1. He is the only crab in the tank. I'm not sure exactly where in the tank he is, but I have a pretty good idea where he went under (through a tunnel under the shell shop). I have removed all the stuff that was on the surface of the substrate and smoothed out the sand on the surface so I can see his little claw prints if he has woken up and has come out at night. He has not yet.
Does anyone have any tips/advice for me as I'm approaching the three month mark?
He went underground on September 1. He is the only crab in the tank. I'm not sure exactly where in the tank he is, but I have a pretty good idea where he went under (through a tunnel under the shell shop). I have removed all the stuff that was on the surface of the substrate and smoothed out the sand on the surface so I can see his little claw prints if he has woken up and has come out at night. He has not yet.
Does anyone have any tips/advice for me as I'm approaching the three month mark?
how horrible! I'm glad you found him and took him in! My first crab came home in a painted shell that was way too small for him and I too thought he may have been glued in (this is sometimes a practice used to keep hermits in painted shells 
). Bob (the crab I'm talking about) is also kind of big, he's now in a 1 1/8 shell and it took him 3 months to finally switch. He checked a lot of shells out but just wouldn't change. I think that once they get bigger they get pickier about shells. I'm not completely sure about this but Bob has definitely been picky and I think I read it somewhere on here too. If he's in a shell with a 1 1/2-1 3/4 shell he's a rather large crab. I'd probably try and offer lots of shells 1 3/4-2" when he comes back up. Since he's so big he will probably also take a few months to molt as well. It's not set in stone but the pattern goes that the bigger they get the longer the periods are between molts, and the longer the molts are themselves. 3 months is still within a normal range for a molt.
once he does maybe he can have a buddy or two. They love having friends!
