HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hey guys, long time no see!

I’ve had my crabs coconut and bug since nov. of last year and hotpocket since around February. When I got Bug he didn’t have his largest claw and he still doesn’t. He’s also shown no signs of regrowth. I’m not even 100% sure he’s molted (mainly due to the lack of regrowth) but he surfaced today showing other signs of a molt after being down about a month and a half/two months (he had the little nails and his legs were rather hairy, hes medium sized for reference). it’s a rather short time for a crab of his size to molt, and on top of that there are no signs of him regrowing his large claw. Is it possible he still hasn’t molted (he’s only been down for two months at a time twice the entire time I’ve had him) or is there a chance he might not regrow his big claw?

I’ve had at least one successful molt with coconut. Hotpocket was down almost the exact same timeframe as bug and came up with more color so I believe there’s a chance he’s molted at this point but I’m not 100% sure. Bug is the only one I’m having concerns about at this time.

Thank you in advance!


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Medium crabs do molt in about 60 days or less. So the timeframe of him being down fits perfectly.

It's odd that he hasn't repaired his claw yet, but there is a decent chance that something went wrong while molting and he dropped it again before surfacing. Since you aren't sure why he dropped it, there could be issues with the way it's growing in, or even in the way his shell fits causing it to deform and be uncomfortable. He may have been messed with underground by another crab, oftentimes an accident but somebcrabs can be repeat jerks. I wouldn't be super worried at this point, but I would keep an eye on him. Honestly, if he were mine, I'd probably pop him in an iso for his next supposed molt just to see what happens.

Him being messed with actually really adds up- bug and hotpocket went down within about a day of each other and then bug resurfaced about 2/3 days after hotpocket, so there could have easily been a run in between them. Thank you so much, I’m definitely gonna keep an eye on him!


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