HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Over the past little while I've been posting about one of my crabs surface molting, I'm happy to say it is moving around better now despite it's missing BP. I'm so glad it survived this stressful ordeal, however there is still a piece of leftover shell stuck ti it where the BP came off. so here are my questions:
1- should i worry about this piece of left over shell on whats left of its amputated stump?
2- if over time the BP will regenerate will it regenerate fully or will it always have a small deformed |BP?
3- should I leave it in ISO and if so how long? until several molts pass and it starts to regenerate?
and 4- this crab has a shell that is about 5/8" wide how often does a crab of this size molt?

Your hermit crab's BP will grow back after the first molt,
and it will take 2 or 3 molts for the BP to go back to normal.

Thanks a bunch StarWarsHermitCrab, should I worry about the piece of shell still stuck to it? Aslo should I keep it in isolation untill the BP grows back?

Can you get a pic of the stuck piece of exo? I wouldn't worry about it too much since there isn't much you can do. If he's moving around okay and has a good appetite, his missing BP won't slow him down much. I recently adopted 2 that were missing their BPs, and after a couple of days of running around like crazy they dug down to molt.

As far as molting frequency, a small crab typically molts every 1-3 months and it takes a few weeks. If they're injured/missing limbs, they usually molt more frequently to repair the damage and regrow the missing parts.

The BP is used for defense and attack.
Without the BP your hermit crab is defenseless against attacks,
so isolation would be advised.

I'm gonna try to get a pic to post. I don't have a small isolation tank and hes in a Tupperware with air holes and coco fiber/sand mix & food. If it need to be kept in ISO can I upgrade to a larger container? I'm not ready to set up my 30g yet because there is still a cram missing (buried?) in the 15 gallon with my one other crab so I cant use that one.

Here is a pic, sorry i don't know how to post it on here directly....it's not the best quality cause its with my crappy phone camera. My real camera is broken and old too
you can see the piece of unshed exo on his left leg. it came out right away so I know it must not be feeling that bad...this little guy is usually my most social.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... bb4999a628

I see what you're talking about. Well, as long as it doesn't slow him down or anything, he'll most likely fix it with his next molt. It's a good sign that he came right out for you.

Honestly, I don't think he needs to be isolated if he's acting okay. Just watch and make sure no one is harassing him - no reason for you to have a problem if you have lots of shells, food, and space for them to hang out. My 2 that are missing their BPs are currently buried somewhere in the 55, and no one bugged them prior to them digging down. If you want to keep him isolated, he'll need to be in enough sand to bury in. In the past, I used a large Kritter Keeper with 4ish inches of sand, deep enough for a smaller crab to molt. Unfortunately, it was difficult to maintain heat since it's plastic and I couldn't use a heat bulb. Now I have a 2.5 gallon glass aquarium with a screen lid that I use a heat lamp on.

I think I'll put it back in the regular tank as you suggested, and keep an extra close eye on it for a while just in case. the largest of my 3 crabs (7/8" shell opening) is the one still out and about & It seems the be the more shy one as well. Perhaps it wont bug the injured one if its just the 2 in the 15g since the smallest one is buried. It went under the day after I changed the tank and added more sand/ coco fiber. Maybe the injured one will mold again sooner with its new tank conditions too.

staticfurball wrote:Maybe the injured one will mold again
sooner with its new tank conditions too.

I don't think you want your hermit crab to mold.

StarWarsHermitCrab wrote: I don't think you want your hermit crab to mold.

oups lol no definitely not!! I mean molt