HCA: Hermit Crab Association

This is going to sound so insanely stupid, but I have a crab, Reese, and he was in this painted shell last night and missing a leg, well part of one. I got home this afternoon and see this new shell on top of a log, I go to pick it up and there is a crab inside it. Alright not so weird, I did inventory because all but my largest crab are missing legs or pieces of legs, and this guy isnt. Well all crabs in shells except Reese. So assuming they all didnt like flip around overnight this is Reese. Well could he have molted in less than 24 hours? Is that possible. He's hard and all but he's pinker than usual and hairier... what happened? Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, he's like quarter sized and he had gone under ground for like 3 days after I moved him to the new aquarium but that was over a week ago.

Yes, crabs can molt really quickly if the exo cooperates, which it usually does not. Maybe another crab that was down for longer molted and you think its him?

All crabs were on the surface when I left to spend some time at my mothers yesterday at like 2 pm and then I got home today at like 3 pm and saw him probably like 330... everyone was accounted for and I matched pictures of them all just to be sure.

I have had an overnight molt before. However, the hermit showed signs of molt for 2 weeks before the actual "surface" molt. And spent a week afterwards recovering. Had he been under, I might not have known that the moult only took overnight. I think it happens more often than people think... we just don't get the chance to see it

Okay thank you... he's been digging a lot and kinda sluggish up til yesterday... he had dug a hole and stayed in the hole for almost a week and a half... then finally I added more crabs and poof he's social... and now he has little black tips on his fingers, is pinker than usual, and has more limbs than he did... I'll consider it a molt and a definite success... after losing one crab last night this is reassuring that i am doing something right.

I feel certain that my Bandit did a surface molt without my noticing. She spent 99% of her time face down in a hole and there were a few days that she didn't even leave any tracks at the food and water dish. Just a few days ago, I noticed she had moved into a MUCH bigger shell (too big) and when I got to looking, she had very hairy legs and black pointy toenails. I was very shocked, since I thought she was just nervous from being new. She's a little beauty now when I can catch her poking out of her shell.