HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I think Tiny is going to molt. She (I've been calling her "she") has dug down pretty far into the sand, and even moved a couple of the chola wood branches over top of her little burrow. I know this is a good sign, and I'm hoping she will molt because she's the only one who didn't immediately jump into a new shell when I put them into the tank.

Here's hoping!

Just out of curiosity, how long does the molting period usually last?

It varies. If you just got her, she might de-stress under the sand for a few weeks, then begin her molt, and be under there for a month, or even longer. In general, larger crabs take longer to molt, but molt less often. I have heard some people have small crabs that molt for 6 months, and have heard jumbo crabs molting for 6 months too, so it all depends.

It's a very annoying and long wait but well worth it. When I first got all my crabs, out of the 9 of them, I had only one who was not buried and molting. Suddenly though, they just all start popping up.

Keep us updated & Good luck!

I think that if it is molting, a worst case cenario is 6 mionths. But if it is really small, it may only take a few weeks.