HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi guys,
I currently have two hermit crabs, and they have been with me for four months. They have not molted, and I am concerned that they should have done that by now. They both are PPs and inhabit shells with a 3/4 -1 1/4 inch opening. I have a substrate that is half EE and half playsand, but it is only 5ish inches (planning on adding two inches in a few days). I am getting a third crab in a few days, and really want to clear everything up before then. I have 3 small cholla wood logs in there, but a few are accumulating small spots of mold. What is the best way to clean them (I can't boil them)? I don't think the surface of the substrate is too crowded either, but I am planning on upgrading to a 20 gallon tank in the spring/summer. I am going to try to convince my parents to let me get a second small heating pad to see if temeperature could be an issue, and rewet their moss. I will also rewet the substrate and I am planning on ordering a larger dish for the saltwater. Is there anything else I can do to encourage them? I want to make sure that if they need to molt they are able to do so.

Horsegirl297 wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 10, 2020 10:39 pm

Hi guys,
I currently have two hermit crabs, and they have been with me for four months. They have not molted, and I am concerned that they should have done that by now. They both are PPs and inhabit shells with a 3/4 -1 1/4 inch opening. I have a substrate that is half EE and half playsand, but it is only 5ish inches (planning on adding two inches in a few days). I am getting a third crab in a few days, and really want to clear everything up before then. I have 3 small cholla wood logs in there, but a few are accumulating small spots of mold. What is the best way to clean them (I can't boil them)? I don't think the surface of the substrate is too crowded either, but I am planning on upgrading to a 20 gallon tank in the spring/summer. I am going to try to convince my parents to let me get a second small heating pad to see if temeperature could be an issue, and rewet their moss. I will also rewet the substrate and I am planning on ordering a larger dish for the saltwater. Is there anything else I can do to encourage them? I want to make sure that if they need to molt they are able to do so.

Congrats on getting into hermit crabs! I'll try to break your questions down. Let me know if I get them all.

Crabs will molt when they are ready and feel that it's safe to do so. Some of the crabs I adopted didn't molt for more than 4 months, but he was on the bigger side, some of my smaller ones, I don't see often so I assume they're digging around, molting or just plain hiding.

Do you have something to monitor the temperature and humidity? Temperature needs to be minimum 80F. If you hit that already, then you don't need to get another heating pad. Humidity needs to be minimum 75%. Keeping moss wet is one of the ways to keep humidity up. Once things start to get dry, the substrate tends to zap the humidity.

Is your substrate moist enough to be sand castle consistency? It'll allow them to dig and find a spot to molt.

You could soak your cholla in dechlor saltwater. Salt inhibits anything from growing, including mold.

How large are your fresh and saltwater pools? It needs to be deep enough so they can fully submerge, and also have a way for them to climb out safely.

What do you feed them? Crabs will eat a lot before they molt, so it's important to keep them well supplied with a variety.