Molting or something else?
Molting or something else?
We have a crab that was starting to dig so I moved him into an iso tank. He buried himself completely only to come up the next day. Then at night (last night) he buried himself again. Now tonight he has come up again. My concern is there is another crab that has been buried for about a month in this same tank. I'm worried The 2nd crab may disturb the crab already buried. Is there a reason he comes back up and should I be concerned about the crab that is already buried? Thanks
Re: Molting or something else?
A lot of crabs just bury to sleep.
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Re: Molting or something else?
Hi. There is no reason to isolate a molter unless it is surface molting. They should be allowed to bury themselves and then left alone. They will do what comes naturally 

Re: Molting or something else?
But when they come up from a molt don't they need some time before they can mix with the other crabs? That's what I was told and why they should be isolated. So no need for that?soilentgringa wrote:Hi. There is no reason to isolate a molter unless it is surface molting. They should be allowed to bury themselves and then left alone. They will do what comes naturally
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Re: Molting or something else?
Not if it was a healthy molt, no. Here is a link to the molting guide below:Thejohnay wrote:But when they come up from a molt don't they need some time before they can mix with the other crabs? That's what I was told and why they should be isolated. So no need for that?soilentgringa wrote:Hi. There is no reason to isolate a molter unless it is surface molting. They should be allowed to bury themselves and then left alone. They will do what comes naturally
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=92527
A lot of the ideas that people once had about keeping hermit crabs are evolving as we learn more. It used to be thought that they needed to be isolated to molt and that it was okay for them to surface molt.
It is taking some time but as more and more people learn and research and observe, we're able to spread more awareness about how to keep them in captivity.