how many molters in the same iso tank

[Guest]

I just wanted to know can you put 2 hermit crabs in the same iso tank or will one try to kill the other because i put a crab int there two days ago and now I think another crab is going to molt so is it ok to put him in there or will he try to kill the other hermit crab in there

[Guest]

I have read others posts that said they had more than 1 molter in an ISO as they pretty much stay where they are to take care of their own business. I have 1 molter not yet dug under in with my new one who is dug under and 1 has not bothered the other. Hope this helps.

[Guest]

I had five molt in the main tank all at the same time. Everyone came up beautifully. Occasionally there are problems, but in this instance there wasn't. I dunno....they should ignore each other for the most part, I think.

[Guest]

i have had 10 or so molters in the same tank. I have not had them bother each other. The only time I have had any problems was when I put some new guys in ISO that were NOT molting. One of the new guys killed my molter and stole his shell. I would suggest ISOing molters together, only if they are all burrying. ISO new crabs in a separate area from molters so they don't bother, dig up or eat molters. Also a topside molter should be ISO separate. You will know if one is topside when you see him. I had my first topsider, and it was my red hermit. He was laying on the sand all morning. I saw him in the EXACT same stop, shell up, in the afternoon and his red legs lying near by. I thought he was dead at first then looked closer and saw that he had molted and his exo was on the sand. I put his exo and him in a small KK inside the ISO tank so no one would bother him. He did fine

[Nicole]

Other thoughts on this subject:From crabmom: Okay, I think I've read somewhere that molters don't bother each other. I have 35 crabs and 4 separate ISO tanks! All my ISOs are full! So, I put two suspected molters in one ISO unit. One dug under immediately and the other one stayed topside. The topside crab molted after being in ISO for two days. My son noticed her exo yesterday when he got home from school. I told him to just leave her alone. Well, later that evening, we were filling up food and water dishes and discovered that the buried crab came topside and was munching on the other crab's exo!!!!!!! Is this normal? We then took him out of that ISO and fixed up one of the wire cages that we got when we first purchased the crabs, put him in it, and put that in the main tank. He buried back under immediately. What the heck is going on? From a Former Member: While crabs that are truly molting don't bother each other, not all crabs are at the same stage when they are in ISO. If one is freshly molted and another is finishing his exo (or pre-molt) they may go after the fresh molter. Christa and I have both had hermies canabalized during molting when we kept them together(and yes they do eat each other's exo). Instead of multiple ISO's I have a 10 gallon with heavy gauge plastic dividers (the thickness of a piece of glass from an 8x10 picture frame) I went to my local sign shop and asked if they have scraps. Now I can have multiple molters at once in my ISO.From Snapfish: OK, this is probably a bad idea, but what if you were forced to put 2 in the same iso, and you popbottled one of them, after he had chosen his spot to bury. Is that a bad thing to do, if there is a UTH? I mean if he wanted to move around? You have to understand I have had zero molts, and I have 8 crabs, so I am not the person to give advice as you can see.Maybe a person can't pop bottle when there is the additional concern of the UTH. If you could find something that would fit at right angles to the divider in the maintank. Like, to explain...let's say the current divider is running north to south, if you could find something that would fit running east to west, to divide the tank into 4ths. Also I have heard that an 8x10 piece of glass from an old picture frame can be used sometimes. Would that fit?(running at right angle to original divider?) I have one that would not bury in iso. I would put him in iso, and he would just sit there, giving me the evil eyestalk. Then I would put him back in main and he would bury. We went through this several times, and finally I thought of Carol of Crabworks, who figures out what the crabbies like and works around that, so I pop bottled him in the main tank. He popped up and scratched to get out. Yack. Then he buried again, and I pop bottled him again, and now he has stayed under. I think he is still playing though. One of my others is trying like crazy to get into the popbottle, and the bottle is holding fast, because the sand is deep enough. The crab that wants to break in was running nonstop for 24 hours. He hates to be blocked. Can't say enough good things about the pop bottling method, so far.