HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Kathy I was tooling LHC's archives and found a thread with a question of what causes molts to go wrong that you'd responded to. One of the causes you mentioned was an under or over active molt hormone. I didn't know there was such a thing and always attributed infrequent molts to poor diet or something lacking in the environment and frequent molts to good health.

The reason I question it is that I had a gorgeous crab named 8-Ball, a baseball sized chocolate brown hermie that I just adored. He did everything with gusto and was such fun to have around and watch. In 18 months he pulled off 4 molts and passed on the fifth. I found him below ground, his exo before him uneaten. It killed me to lose him and I couldn't imagine what I'd done wrong to lose one so healthy but I figured despite his large size, his appetite fueled his growth which fueled the need to molt. How do we know this wouldn't be the case? Could it be?

I'm sorry you lost him!!! [smilie=comfort.gif]

I am convinced that Tammy's theory is right about the molt hormone thing. She also believes that some exotic species like Indos & Straws, cannot molt properly if they have been deprived salt water for a long period of time.

A jumbo should NEVER molt 4 times in a year! A jumbo should only molt once a year or 18 months, in most cases. My jumbo just completed her first molt with me & I have had her for about a year.

I have had crabs that have seemed to put off molting for a long period of time, and then suddenly, they can't seem to stop molting. Every time this has happened, I eventually lost the crab to a molt.

It is nothing you did wrong! There is no way to stop a determined crab from molting. But, unfortunately, when they molt too frequently, they seem to get weaker & weaker with each molt, until they finally expire.

Again.....I am sorry!

That's my boy. It's been a few months and I still miss his presence in my tank.

That's distressing to know. I was actually pleased that he molted so frequently, took it as a sign of great health and conditions. Feel kinda like a novice now and I've been crabbing more than 3 years!

Thanks for the info Kath.[/url]

CrabbyAbby wrote: That's my boy. It's been a few months and I still miss his presence in my tank.

That's distressing to know. I was actually pleased that he molted so frequently, took it as a sign of great health and conditions. Feel kinda like a novice now and I've been crabbing more than 3 years!

Thanks for the info Kath.[/url]

That is a BEAUTIFUL crab....and I can feel your pain. I had "King" a PP about the size you have pictured, that I had for 3 years, he had molted about every year for me....then, he molted in 6 months and he came up w/o his shell. I seen him eating his exo, and thought he would be ok. I had his shell sitting there w/ him, but he refused to go in it....within a week, he passed. I cried my eyes out about that crab....I get EXTREMELY
attached....

Thanks for sharing your story....

Thank you Angela. My sympathy for King's passing too. Maybe they're romping together tearing up heavenly turf.

CrabbyAbby wrote:That's distressing to know. I was actually pleased that he molted so frequently, took it as a sign of great health and conditions. Feel kinda like a novice now and I've been crabbing more than 3 years!

Thanks for the info Kath.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

If it makes you feel any better, I've been an on-and-off- (and on-and-off-) novice since 1985 (but frankly been doing way better since, say about Oct. 2007, I think.......I guess...)

It doesn't matter how long we've been crabbing, something always comes up to surprise or shock us. You are hardly a novice! It just makes us feel that way when we run across something we don't understand.

Abby, I had a crab that just would not STOP molting. Jethro would be up only a week or two before he'd go back down and molt again. It was so hard to watch him do this over and over and over again, so I feel your pain.

I'm so very sorry for your loss. I know how hard it is to lose a fave.

((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))

I've had this problem too. Clancy ( a jumbo) came from a terrible environment, I do believe that he was starved and certainly did not molt while he was there.

He molted a few weeks after I got him and for the next year and a half he molted every 5 weeks. It took him approximately 2 weeks to molt and then he would eat for 3. I have lots of pictures of him eating and molting and the last 2 or 3 his exo became more and more mottled looking. Finally he passed away.

It was one of my saddest losses.

Holy smokes, every five weeks? That's insane. Poor baby. I'm surprised he even made it a year and a half as that leaves no recovery time. I'm sorry for your loss Lola.

I posted this on Coenobita.org as well looking for more info. I'll share whatever reply I get.