Molting advice, help??

kelsey · Post by **kelsey** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 4:45 am

I didn't realize one of my crabs was molting, sure enough the only time my husband has interest in them he picks up my freshly molted crab, I told him to put the crab down where he found it, so now crawling stone still hasn't eat his exoskeleton, when should I be worried, how long will he go without eating it? Or do they not always eat it?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:00 am

If given the chance hermitcrabs will most certainly always bury themselves in molt pockets beneath the substrate this is to provide protection from the other crabs and to give a more stable and conducive environment for molting.We need you to copy and reply to the questions found here so that we can get a better idea of whats going on with your crab.I'm hesitant to say that what fell out of the shell wasn't the crabs old exo but rather the deceased crab as I don't have enough info to go on at this point.Does the crab have any sort of smell to it like rotten fish or Iodine?Any smell coming from the shell will help us to determine whether or not the crab has molted or passed on.

kelsey · Post by **kelsey** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:41 am

Hi, he's still most definitely in his shell, he asked why he was such a light pink color, I took a quick peek and told him to put him down because he's in the molting process, there's no smell, I'm just concerned because his exoskeleton hasn't been eaten yet, he hasn't went back under the substrate either. So at this point should I just wait it out, and see if he comes out of okay? I also blocked him off from the other crabs since I didn't want to bother him by putting him in the isolation tank.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 5:52 am

It would be better if you could move him to the isolation tank as the others will find a way in to him and I speak from experience.lolHe needs to have his old exo close to him as he'll need to consume it to regain the lost chitin(hardening agent) and calcium he needs to re-harden properly.He won't be interested in the old exo for at least three days as he is paralyzed right now which is normal as all hermitcrabs loose the ability to move after casting off their old exo.He'll regain the ability to move in three to four days and he'll use this time to begin re-hardening so that he is able to eat the shed exo the whole hardening process will take seven to ten days to complete.Don't bother with putting food and water in with him right now as he'll have no interest in it until he has finished his old exo.You'll know he's done when all you see left are the pinchers and leg tips which are to hard to break apart and eat.He'll need another two weeks to fully recover but you'll know he's ready to go back in the main tank when he starts acting like a prison convict looking for an escape route.Is it normal for your crabs to surface molt?How deep is your substrate?Is it damp or sand castle consistency?What kind of substrate are you using?We need to know these things in order to help you as much as possible.Thanks, Crabber85.

kelsey · Post by **kelsey** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:02 am

Oh he was buried my husband dug him out (my 3&5 year old know not to disturb them if there buried, but apparently my husband missed the memo)is there a way I can move him to the other tank without putting to much stress on him? I'm using coconut husk its damp, and it's about 5/6 inches deep, I've been thinking of switching to sand, would you say sand is better? And if so what would you recommend for sand? Thanks for all your help

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Sep 05, 2013 6:18 am

The coconut fiber or Eco-Earth is actually one of the best molting mediums available but it has been found to have a higher acidity level than first thought so we typically recommend doing a 50/50 mix of it and regular Play Sand as sand is ph neutral which means it has an acidity value of essentially zero which makes it the perfect diluting or blending medium.Calci sand and Repti sand same thing different brand names are bad substrates as they tend to act like cement when wet bonding hermitcrabs into their shells or their limbs together trapping them and this kind of sand doesn't retain moisture well and allows water to pool on the bottom where it becomes stagnant and molds at twice the rate of coconut fiber or regular play sand. When looking at play sand look for dry bags near the center of the pile and also smell the bags if they smell of oils or chemicals the sand is unusable.You can use a large spatula or spoon to scoop the crab and the substrate underneath it out and then transport both on the utensil to the iso this will minimize stress on the crab.Please do not re-bury the crab as this will lead to suffocation hermitcrabs have to carve out special pockets underground which allow for air space so that they can breath.5/6 inches of substrate is enough for small specimens about quarter to chicken egg size but when your crabs get bigger than a golf ball you'll need to up the depth to a minimum of eight inches.

kelsey · Post by **kelsey** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 1:54 pm

He's been eating his exoskeleton since last night, yay. A couple more questions, I just got a bigger tank its 48" long 15" high and 19" wide, would you happen to know how much heat I need? Like the heating pads that stick to the tank? I currently have 5 crabs in there and I would like to get more, I'm thinking I can get a couple more and there should still be enough space for all of them, there all small, is it okay to stick larger ones in with smaller ones, or would that cause issues?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Fri Sep 06, 2013 2:16 pm

After running the calculations to get your tank size in gallons which is 58.94......basically 60 gallons you need two pads rated for 50-60gallons(24 watts).Mount the pads on the back and side pane of the aquarium put the one pad on the back pane as close to one of the corners as possible without over lapping it and then put the other pad on the end pane nearest to the pad you've already mounted so that they meet on the corner forming a hot or warm zone the heat generated will then radiate out gradually to the rest of the aquarium.If you find that the pads aren't generating enough heat you can cover them with a sheet of styrofoam insulation to redirect the heat being lost off the backside of the pads back into the enclosure.When the cold weather hits you might also want to consider using a dome lamp with a 50 or 60 watt heat bulb over the same corner with the pads this will help to amplify the heat in that corner and will also indirectly heat the rest of the enclosure raising the temp and additional five to ten degrees. As for how many hermitcrabs max in an aquarium the size of yours I would say a max of seven because they are going to be molting regularly about once every four to seven weeks which means in two years you'll be at full capacity as the crabs will be approximately double their size now.Yes its completely fine to have larger hermits in with smaller ones I myself have three jumbos about baseball size and five mediums about golf ball size all together in my 129gallon and I haven't had any problems with the larger crabs bullying the smaller ones in fact the larger crabs seem to go out of their way to avoid the smaller tank mates.lol