HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Ok- I have a crab doing a surface molt. He changed shells one night and then popped right out of his exo the next morning. I have him isolated with a plastic cup that I cut off the bottom and put the wide top down so he has air and is isolated with his exo. My question is how do I know when to take the cup off so he can get to other food/water sources? Do I wait until he is done eating his exo? He is real pink right now and kind of hanging out of his shell quite a ways- so I assume he is drying out and hardening his new exo. He is moving around and stuff, and seems to be fine. I just want to be prepared to know when to let the guy back into the general population.

Thanks!

Wait until he is done his exo--and seems to be alert. mostly likely 1-2 weeks. you can mist the sand a smidge thru the opening to keep moist if need be

Surface molts are fun to watch, just cuz you can see the whole process up close. I had 2 surface molts before I got my conditions right. I let them go back to the tank once they finished their exo and began running around, acting curious again. I think it was a week for one and only a few days more than that for the other, but they're both small.