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surface molt

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:00 pm
by Mbailey
My hermit crab did a surface molt and I filled out an emergency form and figured out that it was most likely because I had the wrong kind of substrate. I didn't want to move him to replace the substrate until he had fully recovered from molting, but my other hermit crab kept crawling on top of him and bothering him so I put him in iso in a small container filled with play sand 4 inches deep, salt and fresh water, and food. He's been eating the exoskeleton but other than that he hasn't eaten or drank anything as far as I can tell. He's also been very lethargic, but I know that's normal for a molting crab. The thing that worries me is that he still hasn't buried himself in the sand or anything and I thought that molting crabs were supposed to do that. He just sits on the surface, sometimes even on his side with his legs exposed. He molted about a week ago and his condition hasn't changed. Should I be concerned about this?

Re: surface molt

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:31 pm
by JoeHermits
If he surface molted he won’t dig. Right now his exoskeleton is hardening and he is too weak to move, anyways. Keep him in iso until he’s walking around as normal.


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Re: surface molt

Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:59 pm
by Mbailey
Thank you!