HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi, I am a new member and was glad to find this forum when I thought my crab had died. Of course, he was just molting, but having never heard of that, i buried his exo in the tank and placed a little plastic flower over it, lol. Then I had to dig it up and give it back to him.

I set up an iso using a plastic pie shaped container (about 6" diameter) with a plastic lid and put a hole about 1.5" across in the top of the lid. The second time my Eco molted, I thought why not leave the iso tank in the 10 gal tank as I just have the one other small to medium crab in there?

The next day, I find that the PP had somehow climbed up and gone through the "skylight" and kicked the Eco off of his exoskeleton "nest", scattered pieces of it around and apparently feasted on it. The PP turned beautiful rich shades of orange after that.

So I am wondering - is it unusual for a crab to go to such lengths to steal an exo? Is there something in the exo that we can get as an additive to their diet, since it seemed to do so much good for the PP? Is there something I can give to the Eco since he didn't get to eat all of his exo? He has come out of the molt fine, but I feel like he was shortchanged.

Thanks!

Congratulations on a successful molt.

You might wanna keep an isolation tank outside the main tat set up w/ conditions as close to the main tat as possible. The smell of a freshly molted crab can send everyone else into a frenzy. I've never had it happened to me personally, but I've heard horror stories about crabs being eaten.

My first molt happened in the tat & part of the exo was stolen. Everything turned out fine so I'm sure he'll be fine. I'm not sure about the additive to the food. I hope someone else can be more helpful.

Good suggestion to keep the iso out of the main tank. I had heard that other crabs are attracted to the smell, but can't believe the extent my other crab went to to get at the molting crabs exo!

From what I can gather, the old exo is mainly for calcium to help build a new exo, but I'm sure there are other nutrients in it, too.

to a crab, its not much of a problem, they can get anywhere. as for it changing colour, are you sure its not the molter? he may have a new shell on.

It was definately the OTHER crab that molted as the thief never buried or even "rested".

It's not unusual for crabs to steal another's exo after molt, especially if they're lacking calcium in their diets. To prevent this, make sure your crabs have access to calcium rich items at all times. Eggshells and cuttlebone crushed up and sprinkled over their food can help. Also you can have a separate dish and mix the cuttlebone or eggshell in with natural honey.

I've had no problems with crabs stealing other's exo since they have access to calcium at all times.