hermit crab molt?

Question

what should i do when my hermit crab molts? is it nessecary to seperate it? is putting half a bottle of pop over it a good idea? please help as i am buying them tomorow. what are the chances theyll eat their molting friend(s)? how long will a crab ( size of the petsmart ones) molt? should i provide water and food if its isolated? will it stay underground during the hole molt or will it ocasionally come up? if i have a plastic container, will it be bad if someone accidentally taps on the tank and shocks the (molting) crab(s)? thanks and thanks

if someone accidentally taps the glass while a crabs molting, what would be the worst possible scenario besides death?

Answer 1

it is not neccessary to seperate molting crabs if you have the right conditions for them and provide the proper food.

You will need a minimum 10 gal glass tank with glass or plexiglass lid.

your substrate should be playsand, eco earth, forest bedding or any combination of them. It must be at least 1 and 1/2 times as deep as your largest crab is tall.

You need to provide fresh dechlorinated water and dechlorinated salt water made with aquarium salt like oceanic.

You need to provide them a variety of food. including proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables.

You will need a thermometer and hygrometer for your tank. the temperature must be between 72F and 80F degrees. Your humidity needs to be between 73% and 80%.

Feel free to go to www.hermitcrabassociation.com and ask all the questions you want, it is a very friendly group of people who will help you set up your new crabitat properly for your new pets.

As for tapping, it won't hurt them but it's not good for them

Answer 2

Hermit crabs are one of the most popular pets we sell. Here is some of the info we provide to customers. Use a glass aquarium so the crabs have a nice ventilated living area. Please do not purchase crabs in painted shells. Crabs need natural porous shells. Natural sponges are not good for providing water. Use a water dish that can hold at least 2" of water instead and change at least 2-3 times a week. Hermit crabs are scavengers and eat at least 60-70 different kinds of foods. They need a little salt in the diet. This can be provided by purchasing some iodized salt and pour just a tiny bit in the food dish. Provide a gladware dish that is about 3" deep, halfway full with calci-sand and the rest with water. The crabs will get in this dish every day. It will be just like at the ocean. Be sure to clean out this container by letting water run over the sand to remove the waste, at least 3 times a week. Do not disturb a molting crab. Some crabs will leave the molt behind and some will eat the whole molt. When molting, the crab will hide, just leave it alone. It will most likely hide under the regular water dish. Use calci-sand for substrate. This can be purchased at any pet shop. Crabs like to climb. As long as the decorations do not reach the top of the tank and there are not any animals or children to disturb the crabs, you do not need a lid. No extra heat or light is needed. We've had customers successfully keep hermit crabs for at least 5 years. Hermit crabs are gregarious, love the company of others of all sizes. You do have to watch for the occasional bully though. There are several kinds to choose from. The easiest kind to keep are the ones with the purple or red legs and claw.

Answer 3

I've had my recent hermits for the last seven months and I just lost two to cannabalism because I was gone for a week and my mom didn't feed them. Basiccally, keep the food in the tank or you'll end up losing a hermie.

I would seperate it, but knowing when they are going to molt requires a LOT of monitering. The crabs there will take about one-two months to molt. Zim took a month and a half and he's a little bigger than petsmart hermies.

Tapping doesn't seem to bother them, but if they molt in the corner where you can see them(on the side of the tank, not the bottom), try to cover the 'hole' so they're in darkness. I lost mine because he was stressed and went up top without his shell.

Basically, they're really a lot of work. Otherwise they're really fun. I have 8 left out of 10 and I think thats pretty good, since most people kill them. Remember not to drown them, keep the tank humid enough, and feed them the right ammount and they should be ok.

(NO, Hermits require a LOT of care, and the people who think they dont require care think they dont live that long. My previous hermies lived for almost 4 years, and I know people with 10 year old hermits! Please dont think they're easy-care pets. ^.^ sorry for the rant...)

Answer 4

Hermit crabs are in their most sensitive state while moulting. First..DO NOT TOUCH OR MOVE THE CRAB ONCE IT STARTS. If another crab bothers it, move the aggressive crab. By moving or touching the moulting crab it can cause stress and kill it.

Moulting can last from 3 days for a micro to 5-6 months for a jumbo and larger. The average is a few weeks.

IF you see that your crab is showing pre-signs then if you know the other crabs are aggressive then it is fine to move it into an Isolation tank.

The isolation tank must be a duplicate of the main tnak, glass aquarium, solid and very secure lid, both types of water AND food dishes, hiding AND climbing areas, a soft and clean substrate and perfect tank conditions as far as temperature and humidity.. without the correct conditions the crab will not survive the molt.

Do not bother a molting crab! Remove the other crabs IF they bother him.

There are always chanses of aggressions and fighting, that can be combatted with diet.

Do not only offer commercial foods, they must have a varied natural diet as well with fresh fruits, veggies grains, meats and fish. Some foods can be very toxic.

You must provide un-chlorinated water of both fresh and marine salt (not table salt) waters in large enough dishes that they can climb in and out of AND fully submerse themselves.

Proper tank conditions are temp 77-82 degrees F and humiditiy of 76-83% relative, so you must have gauges to monitor those conditions at all times.

A plastic container is a temporary holding container ONLY NOT an ISO or an actual habitat for hermit crabs, plastic containers or cages do not hold the proper heat and humidity that is needed.

Good luck, hope you research well before getting them home.

The tank must be stable prior to purchase AND they will de-stress from 3 days to 4 weeks and must be un-desturbbed during this destress time. They are also nocturnal.

Answer 5

the crabs will (as i can see you already know) bury themselves as they molt the other crabs will leave the molting crabs alone they dont need to be seperated and you might want to leave the food and water for them even if they r molting. crabs can molt for 1 week- 1 month, if they take a long time to molt dont freak and and DONT try to find it. dont put a half bottle of pop!! it wouldn't matter anyways becuz if they rilly wanted the other crabs could dig their way down and find a way to get in there, it will stay under ground the WHOLE time it is molting. yes be very careful with molting crabs, dont tap on the glass

P.S. hermit crabs require VERY LITTLE care,

Answer 6

It sounds like you're ready to panic and you haven't even gotten the hermits yet! Relax!

Here are two websites that will give you plenty of good info on caring for your new pets (include what to do when they're molting) and all the things you'll need to give them a good home: http://www.hermit-crabs.com/, http://www.thecrabbagepatch.com/

I'm glad you're geting more than one, because they do like to be in groups.

Answer 7

because they grow..

you must leave bigger empty shells on her aquarium so she can have some replacement.