HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I've written here about Shiny our first-ever crab whom we got in early January. He showed his face for about a week and then disappeared, never to be seen again. I've been stressing about whether or not he was molting or just starving under the sand, though trusted the 'smell test' that y'all talk about to determine if he was dead or not. Eventually, if I lifted the water dish that he tunneled under, he would waggle his antennae at me and I would re-cover him.

Well, a couple days ago I checked in on him and to my horror, there he was, out of his shell and not moving. His shell was empty. But, thanks to the people on this website I knew there was a chance that what looked very much like a solid crab was actually an exoskeleton. Although he looked like he wasn't in his shell, on the small chance that he might be, I opted not to pick it up but rather wait and see if the tank started to stink. Today I peeked in on him and the "body" is half gone -- it was an exoskeleton!!! And sure enough I saw a fleeting claw disappear into the depths of his shell. He's alive and well and he did the molt and has been eating. I feel like such a proud Mama!!! I can't wait for him to come out and get to be in the big tank.

peace,
ci

Congrats!

The waiting sucks, but wait till you see his sharp little toenails and hairy little legs!

Congrats on the wonderful molt!! Be sure to offer some honey and cuttlebone and keep the conditions in the right range!! What a great day for you.

Congrats on your first successful molt!!!!

Honey and cuttlebone...ok, I've got the honey but where do I get cuttlebone and what form does it come in? Like a powder? Or like a real bone?

ci

Bravo, what self restraint you have!!!!!


You're doing a great job!

ci_smith wrote:Honey and cuttlebone...ok, I've got the honey but where do I get cuttlebone and what form does it come in? Like a powder? Or like a real bone?

ci

Cuttle bone is the pen of a cuttlefish. (It's a molusc in the same class as octopii and squid.) The pen is internal and is the remnants of a moluscan shell lost through evolutionary means (entirely abscent in octopii).

You actually find it in the bird section of pet stores. It's the white oval shaped thing you place along the bars of the cage for the bird to grind his beak and get calcium from.

I personally break it into several small chunks and put it in a coffee grinder and powder it and then add a little spirulina. Mix this up with a little organic honey and it will help newly molted crabs with energy and adding calcium to their hardening exo... And they think it's yummy.

I don't have a coffee grinder so I use a cheese grater-the small side. Cuttlebone is soft so it's easy to get it to a powdered form. I mix mine in equal parts of crushed eggshell and crushed oyster I got from El's.

Congrats on the molt!