HCA: Hermit Crab Association

One of my 2 crabs, ferry, has appeared to have gone under for a molt! When I got her she was missing a leg and recently I noticed there was a clearish nub growing from where her leg should be! I read that that means she is getting ready to molt.. I have never had a crab molt before so tips and hints would be appreciated! Thanks!


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Sadly i have no advice as two of my four crabs have gone under ground for the first time too. One i can see is in [im assuming] a new shell under some light sand.

This is so stressful. Lol.

Im just trying to monitor my tanks conditions and making sure my two medium size crabs dont become interested in the spots my posible molters are.

Best of luck!

Congratulations on your first molt. Now is the waiting time. They will probably be down for several weeks, and with any luck they'll pop up with a new leg! It's hard to get used to at first, and you still worry about them, but as time goes by you'll get used to it. Happy crabbing.

Something I do to alleviate some stress is do the continuously recommended chopstick method. What you do is take a chopstick (I used a crochet hook because we don't own any spare chopsticks,) and poke it into the corner of the substrate up against the glass. Then pull it out, and if the sand holds its shape then it means that the substrate can hold tunnels, and there shouldn't be much to worry about. It helps calm my mind when I start worrying about the molting hermits.

PinchersAndShells wrote:Something I do to alleviate some stress is do the continuously recommended chopstick method. What you do is take a chopstick (I used a crochet hook because we don't own any spare chopsticks,) and poke it into the corner of the substrate up against the glass. Then pull it out, and if the sand holds its shape then it means that the substrate can hold tunnels, and there shouldn't be much to worry about. It helps calm my mind when I start worrying about the molting hermits.

Thanks! I'll definitely try that I'm pretty worried.. I'm sure she will be fine they have become more active lately.. maybe it's because of the hurricane? They can probably sense it :3


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