HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My little hermit crab started to molt and it's in a 50 gallon tank with 4 other hermit crabs my question is do I need to take all of my hermit crabs out or can I just leave them in there and also secondly he started to molt under the food dish I was wondering if it's alright if I leave all of my hermits in there and leave the food dish over the molting hermit crab and only lift up the dish to put more food in it... would it affect my hermit molting by me lifting the food dish every night to put more food on and put it back where it is would it get ruin by other hermit crabs walking on it too?

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Is he molting just under the top layer of substrate? Or is that where the cave opening is? How deep is your substrate? How long have you had them?

If he is molting you should try to disturb him as little as possable. Maybe place something else over that spot and move the food to another area? I dont think i can answer the other part of your question without a little more info.

He should be okay to leave alone where he is, but I'd suggest using something else as a temporary food dish. Constantly disturbing him can be dangerous if he's refusing to move. I'm also curious as to how deep your susbtrate is and if it's moist enough. Sometimes crabs want a hard ceiling because it's what they like, but sometimes it's out of necessity because they don't have the conditions to dig in like they need to.

IamSam wrote:Is he molting just under the top layer of substrate? Or is that where the cave opening is? How deep is your substrate? How long have you had them?

If he is molting you should try to disturb him as little as possable. Maybe place something else over that spot and move the food to another area? I dont think i can answer the other part of your question without a little more info.

I figured out that situation now I have another I got this hermit from a friend and he was not taken good care of he started surface molting and I never had a crab surface molt and he shedded his exo skeleton like 3 days ago and I threw away his exo skeleton and then I did more research and found out that It needs it and my hermit crab is hanging half way out his shell moving his claws around kinda like scrapping around and he definitely didn't eat most of his exo skeleton he barely eat any before I threw it away because I didn't know but tonight I found out that he needs it and I put egg shells for him right in front of him.. what should I do will he survive still?? When he scraps there's twitching in his movement and i don't know what to do will he survive without his exo Skelton


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gaugerhadans27 wrote:I figured out that situation now I have another I got this hermit from a friend and he was not taken good care of he started surface molting and I never had a crab surface molt and he shedded his exo skeleton like 3 days ago and I threw away his exo skeleton and then I did more research and found out that It needs it and my hermit crab is hanging half way out his shell moving his claws around kinda like scrapping around and he definitely didn't eat most of his exo skeleton he barely eat any before I threw it away because I didn't know but tonight I found out that he needs it and I put egg shells for him right in front of him.. what should I do will he survive still?? When he scraps there's twitching in his movement and i don't know what to do will he survive without his exo Skelton


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But my hermit crab is not eating the shells he is scraping them away and while he is doing that he has like a very very slight twitch... I feel like he's looking for his exo and refusing to eat the egg shells if he doesn't eat the egg shells will he even survive???????????????

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gaugerhadans27 wrote:But my hermit crab is not eating the shells he is scraping them away and while he is doing that he has like a very very slight twitch... I feel like he's looking for his exo and refusing to eat the egg shells if he doesn't eat the egg shells will he even survive???????????????

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I just gave him some honey too in a bottle cap ND it looks like he's enjoying it he doesn't look bad like he goes straight back in his shell when I put my hand over him like he has the energy and power to still do that I just need a word from someone like you that knows more than me so I can feel more comfortable with my hermit journeys


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You can try going straight to normal foods, but I'd try to stick with calcium rich options like shrimp tails, whole dried insects or plankton, cuttlebone, crushed coral, etc. Anything that can mimic a crab exoskeleton. They can still form new skin without having their old to eat, but they'll be at a mineral deficit and their next molt can be dangerous. Many times they won't want to eat at the start because they're hardwired to only have that exoskeleton at first, and normal food only comes afterthey're e done and above ground again, but every crab is different and surface molters tend to move through the molting process quickly.

My big hermit crab is hanging half way out of its shell and not responding to me I bought it like 2 weeks ago and how do I know if it's dead or molting I have plenty enough sand for him too I just don't understand he fell yesterday from about12 inches and landed backwards on its shell and stood there so I helped him up and after that he was moving fairly good and at night I put him on his water dish and he stayed in the same exact spot all night and I moved him and I can touch him and stuff but he doesn't give me a response then outta no where I put him on apiece of wood and he spreaded all of his legs out and I was looking at him to see if he was alright then and I picked him up and he's all loose but not falling out of his shell and so I maybe thought it was a surface molt so Today I put him in a different tank and now he's like this I have a coconut shell over him I just moved it to take a picture


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gaugerhadans27 wrote:My big hermit crab is hanging half way out of its shell and not responding to me I bought it like 2 weeks ago and how do I know if it's dead or molting I have plenty enough sand for him too I just don't understand he fell yesterday from about12 inches and landed backwards on its shell and stood there so I helped him up and after that he was moving fairly good and at night I put him on his water dish and he stayed in the same exact spot all night and I moved him and I can touch him and stuff but he doesn't give me a response then outta no where I put him on apiece of wood and he spreaded all of his legs out and I was looking at him to see if he was alright then and I picked him up and he's all loose but not falling out of his shell and so I maybe thought it was a surface molt so Today I put him in a different tank and now he's like this I have a coconut shell over him I just moved it to take a picture


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I have no clue what type of crab he is but Heather type that can't go in his shell all the way his claws and stuff all stick out and thts why it's hard for me to tell if it's dead because it's not aways like this but it can't go all the way in its shell and I have tons of shells for him but he stays in that ones think that's just what type he is I don't know if all hermit crabs hide inside there shell I think maybe sum can't go all the way I have no clue but I just wanted to say this

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The shell is undersized but that's normal for wild crabs of this size, he's a purple pincher. As far as telling if it died the only way is going to be to wait and see if there's a smell, dead and molting crabs can look and act very similar at first and waiting is always recommended just to be safe. Usually they can take impacts with no trouble so I would be surprised if the drop did any major damage, I'd think it's more likely that he's still new and suffering from post purchase syndrome.