HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My crab, Cupid has been acting pretty strange lately. He wasn't moving around much, so I decided he must be molting. I put him in the ISO but he just crawled around for a few minutes and tried to climb out. I put him back, and now I think he's making a little hole for himself! Is he going to molt, or am I being paranoid!

It's hard to say with such limited information. Could you copy and answer the questions from here please.

1) How long have you had your crabs and how long have you been caring for this particular crab in distress?I've had crabs since October, but I've had his one for a bout 2 weeks. 2) What size is your tank and what kind of lid do you have? About 11 gallons and a framed lid with screen inside (hard to describe). Half flips out at a time. 3) What are you using for heat? Please be specific and include fixture type, watt or mat size and where the heat source is mounted.An UTH on half the aquarium, but it's so hot I turned it off. 4) What kind of substrate do you use in your tank and at what depth? Is it dry or damp and sand castle consistency?It's play sand (sterilized), kind of dry at the moment, at about 3 inches in he main tank, 6 in the ISO. 5) Do you dechlorinate your fresh water and if so, with what product? Do you offer aquarium salt water in addition to fresh water? Again, what product?I've been using treated tap water since Sunday, and it's API. The salt is Mediterranean Sea Salt, Kirkland brand.6) What do you normally feed your crabs?A variety of fruits, and some commercial foods every now and then. 7) Do you bathe, mist or handle your crabs at all?I pick them up once or twice a day. I'm a bit paranoid ever since three of my crabs died. I bathe them once a week with Stress Coat, which they LOVE!8) What are the temperature and humidity readings? Please be specific and include high low fluctuations if you're aware of them.The temperature is 79 degrees, but it went as high as 84 in the past few days. The humidity is usually between 70 and 80%, but yesterday it dropped to 10! Right now, it's at 60%.Cupid (the crab) scared me today when he didn't move at all when I picked him up! I moved him to the isolation tank immediately,and he's crawling along the glass now. Still not sure if he's going to molt, though: his exoskeleton looks kind of dull. (not sure what's meant by the term "ashy", though. Could someone please clarify?) He looks back to normal, but I'm not going to move him back just yet. I'm still worried...

If you do handle or bathe your crabs regularly, it's important to notice pre-molt symptoms. Crabs near pre-molt shouldn't be disturbed or bathed, as they may have already finalized getting their shell water the way they want before molt, and if they are already digging a hole, may not have the energy left to dig a new one if removed.Most of us don't bathe anymore, but there are crabbers who are successful with it, but as mentioned, it does require paying close attention to pre-molt symptoms.I've been crabbing for 20 years and I've still never figured out what this "ashy exo" or "iodine smell" is! I really am no help there!For me pre-molt is best noticed by digging a tunnel, then coming back up and eating a ton, and then digging an even bigger tunnel. If you're lucky you'll notice a molt-sac but they don't always make one big enough to notice.Supposedly the eyes will get kind of a milky film over them, not sure if I can completely verify that though.