HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello:

I am brand new to this forum and crab ownership (I had some hermit crabs as a child but they were kept in a fish bowl with gravel and no source of heat; obviously my family and I had no idea how to care for hermit crabs). So far I adore my hermies! I have had so much fun researching their proper care and setting up their 10-gallon crabitat. I adopted them from my uncle, who had bought them for someone who ended up not wanting them. There are two of them and their names are Jareth and Jadis.

Jareth (who is a large medium) has gone down for a molt I guess. He dug down on Saturday, came back up on Sunday, and went back down on Monday. He's been buried ever since. I was happy at first because molting is good and I'm glad I've provided an environment to facilitate such. I am also a little worried, however, because I noticed while reading the memorial section that almost all crab deaths are related to a crab burying itself and dying. Are there reasons crabs bury themselves for extended periods other than molting?

He has about 6" of moist play sand and eco bedding. Before going down, he ate quite a bit and seemed extremely active. He especially ate a lot of grapes. I have been spraying the spot where he buried himself with fresh water about once or twice a day. Is there anything else I can do to ensure he stays alive during this process? How often do crabs "make it" through a molt, versus how often they die during an attempt?

actually, if you've taken a crab from bad conditions, its a very good sign that it digs down. i rescue PPs from bad conditions, and the ones that dig down almost always make it.

crabs dig down to molt, but they also dig down to destress and just to have fun tunneling. so i wouldn't worry.

its true, a lot of crab deaths for experienced crabbers have to do with molts. most of my molts have to do with molts (other than my rescues). but with good conditions, for every fatal molt there are a dozen or more healthy ones.

as for how often molts are fatal....i would say that depends on the species and the conditions. PPs, in my experience, have by far the easiest molts. i have found straws to have the most difficult molts. it would depend on the conditions he was in before, what the temp/humidity is now, how he has been fed, etc. but if he is a PP, which is the most common species sold in the US, his chances are good.

the best thing you can do to help him stay alive is not dig him up or poke around him. this (if he is molting) is a natural process that he has undoubtedly done many times before. he knows what to do.

welcome to the forum! and best of luck to Jareth....i think he should be fine.

annopia

I don't think you should take the memorial section as a representative indication of crab deaths, so don't worry about that.

There is nothing you can do, other than maintaining proper temperature, humidity, and air flow in the tank, and continuing to offer fresh supplies of fresh and marine salt water, and good healthy food choices with good sources of protein and chitin (shrimp tails, freeze dried shrimp or insects, natural sponges, peanut butter). And let nature take its course. If they don't make it, it could be because they just suffered too much abuse between being taken from their wild home and sold into captivity (where often conditions are poor), and then (it sounds like) maybe kept for awhile by somebody who didn't really want them and so probably didn't keep them in optimal conditions. And unfortunately, there is no way to predict which crabs will make it or which won't, although some of the long-time crabbers on here do say that when crabs have the strength to dig under for a molt, they are much more likely to survive it than those that do not--so Jareth has that much going for him, anyway.

As for other reasons to bury themselves, they will sometimes bury for a few days to de-stress, or "just because." And since he's only been down a few days at this time, it is hard to tell whether he is molting or just "chillin'" under there. At his size, he may take several weeks or even a couple of months to molt (especially if he had been prevented from molting previously, due to improper conditions). So there's no need to worry if you don't see him for quite a while.

In the meantime, welcome to the strange world of crabbing. . . where lesson number one is:

PATIENCE.

Haha, patience is something I have often struggled with Dragonsfly! Maybe hermies will help me learn. Not long after my original post, Jareth came back up from under the substrate again. (Maybe he is just de-stressing, not molting). He and Jadis have been enjoying the choya wood I added to their crabitat a day or two ago. Jareth appears to have a very imposing and enthusiastic personality; he's been eating up a storm since I got him.

Yes, I am almost 100% sure my guys (or ladies, I have not had an opportunity to sex them) are purple pinchers. I am new to species identification, but now that I have seen tons of pictures of the different species, I am pretty certain mine are PPs. I'm glad this is the case as I have heard they are a little more flexible with conditions, and although I am trying my hardest to keep heat, humidity, and food conditions at top quality I AM less than a month experienced.

Glad to have found this forum! Seems like a lot of helpful, friendly, intelligent people are here.