HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So I'm adding a bigger pool to my crabitate and I had to move my big guy to take the pool out and hes been sitting in the same place for a day but I thought he was just distressing but when I moved him I found lost legs

Is this his molted legs? I dont know if they cant molt above ground or not. Hes moving now and looks pale so it might be but I really dont know I've never had a molter before..

I started crabbing pretty recently, so I may be wrong. I think you should isolate him, and feed him stuff with high calcium.

If the crab is in the shell and very pale and soft, it just molted. Don’t touch the body if it is soft, but pick it up gently by the shell and pick up the exoskeleton and isolate the crab with the exo.

You can even put a 2 liter soda bottle over it inside the tank to keep it safe, just cut it in half and press it own into to the substrate over the crab and exo.

It needs to eat the exo to regain nutrients it needs.


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I may have thrown out the exo when I took out the old pool but he is very active now.. Do I still need to isolate him? What foods would you recommend that are high calcium. Right now I have egg shells meal worm and some fruit/nut mixture

Yes, I would still isolate him, unless he is the only crab. If he is freshly molted, he will be vulnerable to the other crabs. Crabs *can* molt on the surface, but they *shouldn't*. A surface molt often means the crab doesn't have proper conditions to molt. Sorry if you've answered somewhere else, but what kind and how much substrate do you have? What are your temp and humidity?

Here is a link to the nutrition guide:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 25&t=92554

I have 7 inches of substrate. Its eco earth and pool filter sand mixed together and it holds it shape

Since I added my new pool my humidity is in the 80s and temp is around 75

IMO, you should still isolate him. Provide him with calcium (eggshells, cuttlebone, coral, oyster shell, exoskeleton), Protein: (bugs, meats), honey.

Surface molts happen for a lot of reasons. If you fill out the emergency template we can help you figure out why.