Molting? What the heck is that?
Molting is when a crab sheds its outer exoskelton. Smaller crabs do this more often than larger crabs since they grow faster. This is a picture of when Beans molted in March 2006. Honestly, at first glance he looked dead, but then I realized he had actually molted! What happens when a crab molts is their exoskeleton splits in half from their bodys swelling so much from water intake. The crab will then slowly pull the old skin off its body and retract back into its shell, soft and pink. This process for Beans took just over an hour. You can see from this picture, Beans' old claw exoskeleton on the ground and his new claw covering the entrance to his shell. The crabs will actually eat their old skin for nutrients. Ewww.... 
posted by Angel @ 4:07 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Beaners!!!
well how long does it ussally take for tmem to molt
Well..Beans is my only crab to have molted so far. He acted a little slow for about two days before he molted. His actual molt process took about an hour. We then isolated him for approx. one week to ten days... just long enough to pretty much eat his old skin.
i have a crab that molted 2 times and i only had it for 2 months!
is it normal for the hermies to eat the old exoskelotin??? should i leave it in there for the hermit crab to eat???
Joe, you must have a tiny crab! The smaller they are the more often they will molt until they are older. Good for you! It means that the crab is healthy!
anonymous, it IS normal for the crab to eat its old skin... this is how it is done in nature! If he does eat it this is an excellent sign!
This is just from my own experience - but hermits are not supposed to molt on the surface...it's a sign that they don't have a deep enough substrate to dig into. Normally molting happens in a burrow.
Check your tank's humidity level, and remember that the sand needs to be sand-castle consistency, it needs to be moist and deep enough to dig in. Three inches is plenty.
Thank you for the comment, but if you see from my pictures, I have far enough substrate for my crabs to burrow if they chose. I have had one crab do a surface molt twice and a burried molt once. I've also had another crab only do surface molts. I already know the expected conditions of a crabitat, but thanks anyways. I guess my pictures just dont do justice.
my crab just molted!!!!!!
this is a great picture!
Thank you! And yes, its kind of *exciting* when crabs molt, isn't it?
hey from reading your information. i see you know a lot about hermit crabs. well my name is Andria. im 15 and this Christmas i got 3 hermit crabs. well i have had them for like 4 months. and none of them have molted yet. and i have 2 that just hang out in the dirt and im not sure if they are trying to molt but everything i see them they are fine. and i also just got 4 babies and one of them keep on switching from shell to shell is that bad? and so i need to know how offten do they molt?
my e-mail is
andria_93@hotmail.com
please help me. i dont know what all to do anymore.
ill send you pictures if you need any.
andria,
wow, sounds like you got a nice X-mas present! CooL! hermit crabs are like any other animal in nature. They will change shells, eat, poop (hahahha) and yes...even molt on instinct. I have learned that you must be patient with crabs.....
Thank you very much i will keep you posted on what happens with them.
your lots of help :]
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