HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi crab lovers! I’ve had 2 crabbies down for 2 weeks, Sebastian & Shelby. Yesterday I saw Sebastian roaming around. He’s been my most active. I was up super early and I sat by the tat and watched him change shells. He’s done that twice where he changes shells but goes right back into the one he’s been using. Anyway I assumed he was molting but I don’t see any exoskeleton so was he molting or just hanging out under ground? Shelby is currently under ground still. The other crab and my smallest is Steve and he hasn’t changed shells or anything yet. He roams around and I’m sure is happier since his buddy is back but I’ve got several shells in there but he hadn’t wanted to change. I’ve had all my crabbies since the beginning of February. In a another tat I’ve got a crabbie that’s been down now for over 2 mos. There doesn’t seem to be an odor of a dead crab and I’ve continued putting food in with fresh water, and I know it could take a few months but how long should I wait before looking for him? Do you think Sebastian was molting if so when does the exoskeleton come off? I will say he does appear a big bigger and brighter in color. Is all this just a guessing game? Do most crab owners just wait to see what their crabs are gonna do? I’ve pretty much decided to let them just be crabs , I keep temps good and feed them well but I’m trying to not stress out over them so much because I feel like their gonna do what their gonna do lol.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, often it's a guessing game, LOL Crabs being crabs is what they do, so it's good to trust that they know how, hahaha!
When a crab goes under to molt, they will shed their exo and then eat it. That process doesn't take all that long, but then they stay under and hang out until their new exo hardens. Your sub should be at least 6 inches deep, or three times as deep as your largest crab, so you usually won't see any exo. They do a pretty good job of eating all of it, and any little bits that might be left over will be under the sub somewhere. Depending on the size of the crab, it can take a couple of weeks to many months from the time they go down until they come up. They do also dig to de-stress or just for fun, so sometimes it's hard to know what they did while they were under. Often a crab will have more hair on their legs, and new little black toenails at the very end of their legs when they come back up.
You are doing the right thing keeping the tank conditions correct and waiting for your other one to come back up.

Thank you! So do you think my crab that came back up after 2 weeks was molting? Any suggestions abt the one that’s been down for over 2 mos?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Depending on their size, I would say the two week disappearance probably wasn't a molt. But the one who has been down for over two months probably is molting.

Thank you curlysister I will continue to wait it out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't usually keep track of when my crabs go down and come up. But last year I did for some reason, maybe because it was one of the few times in the 9+ years I have had them that they were both under at the same time. Cher (medium) went down in early May, and Sonny (large) the third week of May. Cher came up for literally 3 hours one evening in August, and if I hadn't happened to have checked the tank in that time, I never would have known she had come up. She went down and did not re-surface until October. So if I had missed that few hours, I would have thought she was under from May to October, 5 months! Sonny came back up at the start of September. He has always been larger than her, and has never stayed down as long.

Ok wow ok well I will just be patient and until it smells like dead crab I won’t do anything . I like it much better when they are up and active lol I miss them when they go down


KimberlyS
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kimberly wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 20, 2020 11:18 am

Ok wow ok well I will just be patient and until it smells like dead crab I won’t do anything . I like it much better when they are up and active lol I miss them when they go down


KimberlyS
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's why many of us have cameras in our tanks to watch their nighttime antics.

That’s a great idea thanks!


KimberlyS
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk