HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello,
I have several crabs (4 PP, and 1 E). They seem to be in constant molt! We have had them for over a year. They appaer on the surfasce for several days then down they go to molt again. They have grown (almost doubled in size since we got them), like crazy. Is this a normal amount of moting? It makes keeping their house clean a real problem as there are constantly several crabs down. Is this due to a lacl of molting after capture? Will this eventually lesssen? Am I doing something wrong??? Please, any advice would be appreciated!

First of all, welcome to the Hermit Crab Association!

It would be helpful to know how large they are. Micro and tiny sized crabs can easily molt several times a year, and grow at a pretty fast rate too. As they grow larger the molting will slow down, the growing process seems to slow a bit.

They might also not be molting every time they go down, sometimes hermies just need a good dig.

Also, if the temperature is extremely high, they might be going down to escape the heat. Most PPs like a temperature of about 75 to 80, and I've heard Es like it 85 to 90. But there should be a warmer and cooler side of the crabitat so the crabs can be in the area they want to. You probably already know this, but as a crabber I feel you can never hear it to often. Temp should NEVER be lower then 70 but never higher then 90, preferably 85.

Most likely they are just plain growing, but hopefully at least one of these explanations is helpful, good luck!

Hello Kirstin,

How often a hermit crab molts is all dependent on the individual crab, as each crab is different. It does tend to be that the smaller a hermit crab is, the more often it will molt, and the larger the crab, the less often he will molt. Some smaller crabs will keep on molting with about a week or two in between to recover from the last. Some larger ones tend to molt about once every six months, a year, maybe longer, but it all depends on the needs of the crabs. As long as the conditions are where they need to be and the molts are successful, molting is a good thing for your crabs. A lack of molting for a smaller crab could be a cause for concern.

I also want to mention that some crabs like being underground, like E's tend to like to tunnel around just for fun. Mine does, he goes back and forth between being above ground and under, so it is harder for me to tell than with my PP's.

It is hard to tell if something is wrong without giving us more information about your setup; however, if you go to the links below, and your setup matches everything in these care sheets (where the links will take you), there shouldn't be anything wrong.

http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 51&t=92452
http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 51&t=92454

Sincerely,
Ashley