HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So I have had one successful molt and going through a second one right now, and I just had a question about how molting actually works. So I know that they shed their exo and eventually eat it, and this happens because they pull out of it and go back into the shell? Just curious to if they stay out of their shell the entire time during a molt, or if they eventually pull back into their shell completely and use their pincher claw to block the entrance like they do under normal circumstances. Wondering because I believe I saw my one molter's exoskeleton in front of it's shell if I looked at a certain angle since he is under a rock that is still visible, and I just checked today and I only see the substrate around the opening and no sign of the crab at all, so I am assuming he is tucked in his shell for part of the molt? Just do not know all the steps to the molting process and want to educate myself.

Hermit crabs don’t leave their shells to molt. Instead they can pull themselves out from their exoskeletons like a glove.

Molting is actually a brief process. Most of the time they spend underground is preparing for and recovering from their molt.


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