HCA: Hermit Crab Association

After a few unexpected deaths (a bad molt, and an unexplainable death), when I saw my beloved adopted crab, MadMan looking sickly, I moved him into a smaller tupperware bowl with some new, moist sand, hopeing I can keep him alive. I left to clean out a 10 gallon tank I have, and came back to check up on MadMan (With out bothering him, of course) and I found that he wasnt sick, he was MOLTING. I was able to watch the molt, sheding and all. And due to my brand new camera (about 500 bux worth of a camera) I was able to zoom in to get pictures while standing a good length away from the tank as to not bother him. So take a peak at this! They're not exactly in order, but I'm sure you all can figure it out

I know a few look a lot alike, but I did get a few different angles on some photos. And as you can tell, some of them didnt come out that great, since the crab was moving and my camera was moving also... I wasnt using a flash, so the movement from my hands made some of the pictures a little unclear, but I hope you all enjoy!

Update - Madman is a fast worker! He's got most of his exo gone now, and he's already up and about, moving and peaking out to say hi. I got a picture of him when he came out to get some tastey exo skeleton.



Hope you guys enjoy these pictures! Maybe they'll help you all understand a bit more what a hermit crab goes through when they molt.

Those are by far the BEST molting pics I have ever seen!!!! Way to go, and Congrats to you and your now famous crab!!! Those pics should be in crab care books!!! I myself have never seen a molt, only the after math, but I can totally see why people would mistake them for dead now! How awesome!! I am just amazed!!

Ok, now some questions....
How big is that crab...hard to tell from the pics. I am guessing medium? And, since you got to watch the whole thing, about how long did it take him to shed his exo? And then how many days before he began eating it? I know every crab is different but I am just curious!

Congrats again!!

CrabbyMommy wrote: Those are by far the BEST molting pics I have ever seen!!!! Way to go, and Congrats to you and your now famous crab!!! Those pics should be in crab care books!!! I myself have never seen a molt, only the after math, but I can totally see why people would mistake them for dead now! How awesome!! I am just amazed!!

Ok, now some questions....
How big is that crab...hard to tell from the pics. I am guessing medium? And, since you got to watch the whole thing, about how long did it take him to shed his exo? And then how many days before he began eating it? I know every crab is different but I am just curious!

Congrats again!!

Hey, Thanks! And here are my answers to your questions...

How big is the crab? He's about quarter size. Not very big, but not that small either.

How long did it take? I think that would depend on the crab, but I want to say it took Madman about 35 minutes to 45 minutes. I should have watched the clock!

How many days before he began eating the exo? Madman started eating the exo the very next day. He was completely up and running around on day 3, and even escaped the ISO i had made for him and got into the main tank.

Remember, every crab is different, so my molting experience is probably not going to be exactly like anyone elses, but they will be similar. I'm glad this became a sticky and everyone is able to see it and that it's helpful to so many people.

Here's the picture that was requested. It's not the greatest picture showing off his new exo, but as you can see, MadMan is back to living up his name!

Heres another view of exo...my Indo Speedy (RIP) molted a while back..its not what she died from. Here are some pics of her exo sitting on my hand.

Her Right side (little pincer side)


from the back..you can see into the shed exo


Her Left side (BP side)

Here's some pics of Patrick, my white ruggie, molting. I came home one evening to find her looking like a white statue. She had been buried for a couple of weeks. She was in a perfect position to photograph.



If I looked carefully, I could see some slow wiggling going on. By the next morning, the exo had fallen out.

She spent about a day hardening and slowly moving all her new body parts.


Finally, after about two whole days, she came out and ate her exo.

Notice in the last picture that she lost her inner left walking leg. [smilie=crybaby.gif] But she can walk ok. After another couple of days, I placed her on the freshwater sponge for a while, then onto the saltwater one. She then walked to the FW sponge, so I knew she can walk ok. I put her in front of the food dish and she ate right away. [smilie=hearts.gif] She climbed up to the second floor and has been resting there. (hope this isn't too many pictures.)