HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I believe one of the concerns with digging up crabs is that you're collapsing the crab's cave and the animal is not going to have the strength to fix it if it is freshly molted and re-burying it could end up killing it. A lot of experienced crabbers believe digging up your crabs is not necessary. I think it has been proven that crabs have healthier molts if they're allowed to bury and resurface when they're done compared to crabs who are constantly dug up. Crabs who are constantly dug up are going to stress out which could cause them to drop limbs and they may not bounce back. This is a problem with the way they are marketed: cheap, easy to care for, great first pets, great for handling and disposable. I have had to learn through trial and error how important it is to leave your crab alone once it has gone down to molt. I also leave my crabs alone if they're showing signs of an impending molt. A lot of people have read the article on the Hermit Crab Patch called 'My Learning Curve' and this is a highly recommended article for those are who are new to owning crabs.

Now if the entire tank has a flood, a bacterial bloom or ants, that's considered an emergency and molting crabs shouldn't be left in the tank. They can be dug up in this situation and placed in ISO along with their exoskeleton if they have shed.

I have a crab that just dug down yesterday. He should be allowed to molt safely in the peace and privacy of his cave. If everything goes smoothly, he should re-surface in 4-6 weeks.

You got it! I have had my crabs for 7 1/2 years, and the only time I dug one up was when there was a flood in the tank. An iso can also be made within the main tank, if you have room, using a container or pop bottle cut down.

You're also potentially destroying any established tunnels when digging for your crabs. If the sub is left undisturbed, the crab can find its way back to the surface once it is done molting. The crab could even molt in the same cave using an established tunnel if it wanted to.

When I first had crabs (like a month in, I would NEVER do this now), I accidentally dug up my molter when I tried to put in a toy for them. Luckily, they were already done molting, and they just dug back down to harden.

I had a small crab that I believe was molting but my other crabs must have eaten him as I found his shell empty and I couldn’t find him anywhere. My concern is how to prevent this from happening? Then again, I didnt even know where he went down so I couldn’t have dug him up even I wanted to... Not that I would!

wrswrs2 wrote:I had a small crab that I believe was molting but my other crabs must have eaten him as I found his shell empty and I couldn’t find him anywhere. My concern is how to prevent this from happening? Then again, I didnt even know where he went down so I couldn’t have dug him up even I wanted to... Not that I would!

I'm sorry that happened. Always make sure you are feeding them a lot of protein, calcium. Also have a good amount of shells for them to choose from. And make sure you have a minimum of 6 inches of sub, or 3 times the height of your largest crab, whichever is deeper. There may be more things and I'm sure others will add to this.

A crab that dies during a molt breaks down into nothing very quickly. Even if they were the only crab in a tank, it is very common to find just a shell with no sign of anything being in it after just a few weeks. I know it's easy to assume another crab cleaned up any evidence, but it could have passed for many reasons!