 Hermit crabs have an exoskeleton which is tougher than skin. The only draw-back is that every so often, your crab has to bury under the sand for a few weeks and shed its tough ‘skin’ when it becomes too stretched. So how do you know when to expect this? The best way to figure out when your crab is about to molt is to monitor how much food it eats. Right before a molt, a crab will eat a lot as it prepares to spend many weeks without eating. Also watch for excess digging. This may either be your crab is finding a good spot to molt or the temperature is off (and it is very important during a molt for the temperature and humidity to be just right for a successful molting process). Your hermit crab may also switch shells right before it molts and its antenna may become a little disoriented. The moment you begin to suspect your crab is getting ready to molt, you may want to move it to another container so that if you have other crabs so that they don’t dig down after the molter to eat the nutritious exoskeleton. The crab that molts needs to be able to eat its exoskeleton to give it enough energy to make it through the next week of drying off and rejuvenating itself. Molting Tips
Once your crab goes into the sand or starts to act like it is getting ready to molt, begin a molting journal so that you can get a better estimate on when the next time your crab is going to molt and when you can expect it to resurface. Below is a molting chart that should help you average the time space between molts and how long you can expect them to be buried: Crabs .5 inches to 1 inch: are below the sand for 1 to 4 weeks, every month Crabs 1 to 1.5 inches: are below the sand 2 to 3 weeks to molt, every 1 to 3 months Crabs 1.5 to 2 inches: are below the sand for 3 to 6 weeks to molt, every 2 to 5 months Crabs 2 to 2.5 inches: are below the sand for 4 to 8 weeks to molt, every 4 to 10 months Crabs 2.5 to 3 inches: are below the sand for 6 to 8 weeks to molt, every 10 to 12 months Crabs 3 inches or more: are below the sand for 8 to 16 weeks to molt, every 12 to 24 months (Wiki-How’s molting chart is also very helpful)… If you happen to notice that your crab came up for food and water after it buried itself, then went back under; don’t worry. Sometimes they just need extra energy right before they molt.
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