HCA: Hermit Crab Association

After just over a month of molting, Sandy finally surfaced! I caught her last night in a new shell having a midnight snack. She was MIA this morning, but I think she's prone to digging just for fun because, when I first got her shortly before she started molting, she'd disappear for a day or so at a time.

Is there any special care I should give post-molt? Her first big meal was mealworms, peanut butter, wildflowers, and apple-squash-spinach-quinoa flavored baby food. In hindsight, I probably should've given her more calcium. She does have a cuttlebone, though.

I also didn't see her exo anywhere. Is it supposed to be on the surface? Do I need to do anything with it? I don't know where she was buried, and I can't dig for it anyway because my other crab is molting.

Should I dip her in dechlorinated fresh or salt water? Her shell looked pretty sandy on the outside, so I'd imagine it'd have some sand on the inside, too. Would rinsing her help? I know she's been checking out the shell shop because many of them are scattered about, turned over, and/or sandy, so I'm thinking she may be looking for a shell without sand in it. I'm going to rinse all the shells and buy more just in case!

ashleylovesyou wrote:After just over a month of molting, Sandy finally surfaced! I caught her last night in a new shell having a midnight snack. She was MIA this morning, but I think she's prone to digging just for fun because, when I first got her shortly before she started molting, she'd disappear for a day or so at a time.

Is there any special care I should give post-molt? Her first big meal was mealworms, peanut butter, wildflowers, and apple-squash-spinach-quinoa flavored baby food. In hindsight, I probably should've given her more calcium. She does have a cuttlebone, though.

I also didn't see her exo anywhere. Is it supposed to be on the surface? Do I need to do anything with it? I don't know where she was buried, and I can't dig for it anyway because my other crab is molting.

Should I dip her in dechlorinated fresh or salt water? Her shell looked pretty sandy on the outside, so I'd imagine it'd have some sand on the inside, too. Would rinsing her help? I know she's been checking out the shell shop because many of them are scattered about, turned over, and/or sandy, so I'm thinking she may be looking for a shell without sand in it. I'm going to rinse all the shells and buy more just in case!

Yay! They eat their exoskeleton. And I would say not to rinse her. It would just stress her. I would assume they always have sand in their shells. Lol.

You’re doing just fine. If a cuttlebone is available than they have a good calcium source.

Just leave them be. They know what they’re doing.


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Congratulations on their first molt! Be sure they have lots of calcium, egg shells and cuttlebone. Some of our crabs will spend hours at a time raiding the food and calcium dishes after molting!

Pretty much just give her the same care as you would normally, but others advice of offering a few mineral and protein rich is a good idea.

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