I had a surprise molt this week!! I was home sick for a few days and was observing the crabitat more than usual. I saw my last little rugosus, Monster, streaking naked across the tank! His shell was in the bottom of the fresh pool and had been for a day or two (I figured it was one of the many empty Natica vitellus I had lying around!). So I gently rinsed him off and would coax him back into a shell only to have him streak more later.

I finally iso'ed him into a small KK within the main tank, worried that he was going to die. Even as many years as I have into this hobby and I still don't recognize pre-molt behavior! LOL

So this is what I peeked into the KK to find tonight (you can see his freshly molted legs in the shell, and that's his old exo in front of him-they need to eat it to reabsorb their nutrients lost from it):



Hermits (like insects and other crustaceans) have to regularly shed their skin in order to grow. It is a process that takes weeks, and months in larger animals. They usually do it underground, where they are safe and protected, and this surface molt was rare. During molts they are extremely vulnerable to predation because all of their hard protective exo is gone.



And this is what little Monster looks like on a good day:



Little Monster is currently doing fine, but is still extremely pale. It takes a couple weeks for them to harden back up and be safe to go out into the main tank. I will try and get a good shot of his pale body. His skin is translucent and you can see right through it.

Very cool! I never managed to see my hermit crabs through the molt when I had them

I love hermit crabs! I'd love to have one. You take the best pictures!

Jenny that is fascinating! I would love to see a picture of him naked......(now doesn't that sound bad LOL).

That's amazing, proof of what a good crab mom you are! Great job!

Chrissy

I had a crab for two years and never saw it molt. They're fun little buggers tho, they love exploring "outside the box," I took mine out and set it on the floor, and he'd be trucking along, checking everything out, including the cat! (She learned never to go near him again....)

That is so cool! I'm glad he is OK!

That is very cool. Thanks for sharing. I especially like the visual of the naked crab running around

Awww jsrtist, all these hermit pics lately is making me want to keep them again

Cool!!