Crabs taking really long to surface molt

[azbywhitecalf]

Hi,so my hermit crab Bond was very sick and weak, and myself and other users on here came to the conclusion that he was surface molting. So I made sure the tank was perfect regarding temp and humidity,and I put his cocohut over him so it's dark and some food. It's been about 3 weeks and he hasn't moved or anything, (I've only lifted his cocohut once to do the sniff test), there's no fish smell yet, so I'm guessing he's alive. How long do surface molts take? I've never had a crab do a surface molt.

[Happy Crabbies]

Surface molts can be really stressful on them, and it depends on how big he is. If the exo is all off (it should be, it really only takes them like an hour), then it usually takes about 10 days for their new exo to harden and by then they could be ready.
Has he eaten allof his exo yet? If its been 3 weeks it should probably be gone. If it doesnt look like hes touched it, gently pick him up and smell him. Sometimes the smell isnt very strong. If he doesnt smell, the best thing to do would be leave him and see what happens.

[MamaKelly]

Hi,so my hermit crab Bond was very sick and weak, and myself and other users on here came to the conclusion that he was surface molting. So I made sure the tank was perfect regarding temp and humidity,and I put his cocohut over him so it's dark and some food. It's been about 3 weeks and he hasn't moved or anything, (I've only lifted his cocohut once to do the sniff test), there's no fish smell yet, so I'm guessing he's alive. How long do surface molts take? I've never had a crab do a surface molt.

The crab that I have that surface molted two days ago had been acting "off" for probably 3-4 weeks. Lethargic, sitting in a shallow pit under a cave right shadiest the glass just shifting a bit from time to time, I think he only willingly came out once in that time. Monday I moved him (shouldn't have!?) to move things around in the tank and he was nearly totally unresponsive. Tuesday he molted in a the coco hut I put over him (would he have molted that day anyway or did the additional darkness over the hut help him get over the hurdle? Who knows?). It's been a wild week here.

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[Happy Crabbies]

Surface molts can be tough. It usually means something isnt quite right in the tank, but sometimes its just a weird thing that happens. I have one that just surface molted two days ago, and everything in the tank it fine, and hasnt changed really since I got them lol and nobody can figure out why he did it. But hes been out and about today. My only advice is humidity! Make sure its really high. And feed healing foods: honey, peanut butter, crushed egg/eggshell. Things with a lot of calcium and proteiin in it.

[MamaKelly]

Surface molts can be tough. It usually means something isnt quite right in the tank, but sometimes its just a weird thing that happens. I have one that just surface molted two days ago, and everything in the tank it fine, and hasnt changed really since I got them lol and nobody can figure out why he did it. But hes been out and about today. My only advice is humidity! Make sure its really high. And feed healing foods: honey, peanut butter, crushed egg/eggshell. Things with a lot of calcium and proteiin in it.

This is my crabs first molt after over a year in captivity (previous home was not a good place for a molt!) so I kept waiting for him to dig. He was missing a leg, but I don't think that would have been enough to make it impossible, especially since he was active the first couple weeks we had him. I am curious though, if a crab surface molted once is it likely to do it again?

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[Happy Crabbies]

it really depends on the tank conditions. If they are really good, then I dont think they would do it again,