HCA: Hermit Crab Association

In my last post I told you guys that my crab Bandit was digging. Her "hole"was still more than an inch deep this morning, and she left her "hole." This afternoon, I came over to the tank to find Bandit's legs and fragments of exo in a pile next to her seemingly empty she'll, with my big crab Ryan sitting an inch away. I panicked and looked inside the shell and there she was, curled up and naked. Molting! I quickly removed the other two crabs, put together an ISO, and put Bandit, her exo, a wet sponge for water and some food in there. I then put an extra hut I had over Bandit and the experience to make it a little darker. Does this setup sound OK? The ISO is pretty small so I put it inside the main tank so she can be warm.

Also, and ideas why she decided to surface molt? I have 6+ inches of wet playsand, and she started digging but never got past 1 inch down.

Lastly, about how long do you think the molting process will take? She's a PP currently in a she'll a little smaller than a golf ball with a 1 1/4 inch opening.

The setup sounds good, but chuck the sponge. You can use recycled trash, yogurt cup lids, to hold a bit of water for Bandit, in case she needs water for a vital reason. She really won't need food, just her exo and DARKNESS. Placing the hide over her was a great idea.
She could have surface molted for any reason. Maybe she felt safer up than down. Have you triple checked your conditions using the help request template?
Since this isn't really a normal molt it is hard to say how long it will take. It should take under an hour for her exo to come off, and the rest of the time is spent eating exo, hardening, and getting her groove back. But it sounds like she's molting in pieces, which might be a sign of difficulty. There might have been a mid molt struggle right before you came to her struggle. Just keep her dark and peaceful and keep a watch out for her to be active. Let us know if anything changes!!


Crabbers unite!!!

I can't remember how long you've had your crabs, but if it hasn't been super long she may have surface molted because she was too weak to dig down.

I had an issue with my tank and had to go digging, and dug up a crab similar in size that was freshly molted. I put him in iso with his exo, and I think it was around 7-10 days later when he was back in the main tank. Not quite the same as a surface molter, but close.

I agree with YYWW on chucking the sponge. Just keep her in the dark with her exo and water, and keep us updated!

I've had her less than a month and her former conditions weren't so great, so that may be why she didn't go down. Thanks for the help guys, I'll keep you updated.

So far all is well, I have another question though. I'm going to post it seperatly so people see it.