Land Hermit Crab Molting

Land Hermit Crabs shed their outer skin (exoskeleton) as they grow, this prosses is called molting, smaller Hermits will molt more often then bigger Hermits as they have bigger growth spurts.

The hermit crab will begin to store water and nutrients, the water will be used to expand the exoskeleton during molting and the Hermit will live off nutriends it has stored during this prosses. Along with the water your Hermit needs the salt water, the salt along with water builds up the pressure needed to burst open its outer skin, so they can molt successfully.

Signs of a molt.

Your Land Hermit will be showing excessive digging, they need exstended darkness in order to activate the molting prosses, the substrate should be deep enough for your Hermit to compleatly bury himself.

At this time your Hermit is very vulnerable to its Crabitat mates, as it molts its present exoskeleton, the new one is very soft, they also seem to have a smell which other Hermits find quite apatising, and they may take the opportunity of a free tasty meal.

The bigger the Hermits you have, the deeper the substrate should be, as bigger Hermits find it very hard to molt above the sand.

Excessive time spent in the fresh water and salt water dishes, when your Hermit is getting ready to molt, it needs to take on board a great deal of water, for the reason above (burst open exoskeleton) you might even notice a gray bubble of water on your Hermits abdomen.

A premolting Hermit may even change his shell, sometimes for a smaller one to make the prosses of burying easier, also just after molting your Hermit will look and be smaller, another reason why it changes into a smaller shell.

In activity or slowing down, just before molting your Hermits level of activity will slow down quite a lot, showing no interest in food or his tank mates.

Dull looking, a Hermit ready to molt may look dull in colour and have cloudy looking eyes and a possible chalk like look to its exoskeleton. If your Hermit has lost a limb you may see a limb bud forming just before molting, the limb bud is the new limb growing back under its present outer skin, but it may take up to three molts before this limb is back to full size.

The Molting Cycle

• Premolt: the period before molting when the new exoskeleton grows underneath the old one.
• The molt: the shedding of the exoskeleton, using the salt and water it has stored to burst open its outer skin and remove its self from it, this stage is the shortest but very tiring for your Hermit.
• Postmolt: the freshly molted crab begins to harden up its outer skin and recover. The crab will consume his molted exoskeleton to recycle necessary minerals and salts to aid in the hardening process of his new exoskeleton.
• Intermolt: this is the longest period during which the outer skin will begin to bulk up as calcium and minerals are consumed. This is a sort of period of rest between one molt and the beginning of the another. As the crab grows, this phase gradually increases in length. Smaller Hermits will molt more often then bigger Hermits.

Molting Hermits may remain buried or hidden for anything from 3 weeks - 3 months in much bigger crabs.

Preventing molt related deaths:

Both in the wild and in captivity, a small percentage of Hermits will die during the molting process, the main factors for this are.

1) Not enough water has been provided for them, dehydration is the number one killer in Land Hermits.
2) Excessive handling, if your Hermit is hiding, please don't hunt him out and pick him up, this could cause him fatal harm and he may die.
3) The molted exoskeleton being removed by the owner before the Hermit has had chance to eat it.
4) The lack of a shelter or hiding place for your Hermits.
5) Being eaten by a tank mate, make sure you feed your Hermits well to provent this from happening.
6) They are injured during the molting progress and die or are eaten.

Material by Marg