HCA: Hermit Crab Association

We've had our crabs a month. 1 went under after a week, another after 2 weeks, and the 3rd just went under a few days ago. None have resurfaced. There's no bad smell. Does this sound within the realm of normal?? I'm hoping for the best...

I’ll pop on to say that it sounds absolutely normal. Welcome! We never know quite what our little friends have gone through to make it all the way to us. Temp changes, jostling, food concerns, being packed together etc etc ....
point bing, there is something called PPS, post-purchase syndrome. I don’t know quite enough about it to explain other than to say it’s their adjustment period. This is where they begin to destress and try to normalize themselves again. Stress is just very hard on them, so they do tend to dig down and distress after purchase. Sometimes it’s to destress, sometimes it’s to molt because they’ve been having to wait to do so due to previous conditions. But either way, it is totally normal. Most crabs with PPS do fine, and come back around. Sounds like yours were in pretty good shape so far though!
Don’t dig them up, just wait, even tho it is hard having pet sand!! Keep the food fresh in case they’re being tricky only coming out at night, etc. They are doing what they do, and should be back soon, (or maybe not) but crabs are all different!
Some will take days to molt, others take months!! They will keep you guessing, but go ahead and read the care guide on here if you haven’t already, the dos and donts, food guide- they’re all a wealth of info that is so good to know. Happy crabbing!


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To get a sense of how long they'll be under, you have to consider the following things.

How big they are
If they've lost any limbs
Low tempatures

A bigger crab generally takes longer to molt, though it varies a lot sometimes. If they've lost limbs, it will definitely take longer, as they are growing a limb back. And in general all animals have less energy when it is cold. If you need to raise your temperature, do it slowly.

Depending on how deep the substrate is, and what kind you use, you may not actually smell the crab. Sometimes substrate needs to be dug up a bit for you to smell anything THIS DOES NOT MEAN GO DIGGING. (sorry, bold wasn't available lol)

Thank you for your responses. Today I removed my moss pit to rinse the moss and found one of the crabs in the moss!!! It was the last one to disappear and has been in there for 3-4 days. I suppose it could be coming out at night and I just didn't realize it. I put it back into the crabitat in the log where they like to hide. Would they ever try to molt in moss?

The first crab to go under about a month ago resurfaced today! My kids and I were all so surprised and happy to see it is still alive! It is very active, but it looks pale and gray so I'm thinking maybe it didn't molt. Is it normal for a crab to stay under that long and not be molting? This keeping of hermit crabs is certainly very interesting!

It is. It is always a relief when they come back up

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Thank you!

Your welcome

Now, someone correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I have read so far, crabs who start to appear as if they have milky eyes can be just prior to molting?

I’m glad he came back up for you- it is definitely a little nerve wracking never knowing what is going on down underneath! Perhaps he is ready to now but needed a boost of something to be ready to go through with it? Honey, calcium, etc.


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Overmountain1 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 21, 2019 12:25 pm

Now, someone correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I have read so far, crabs who start to appear as if they have milky eyes can be just prior to molting?

I’m glad he came back up for you- it is definitely a little nerve wracking never knowing what is going on down underneath! Perhaps he is ready to now but needed a boost of something to be ready to go through with it? Honey, calcium, etc.


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Yes from what read and noticed myself a time or to that seems to be correct.