HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I had a black/brown ecuadorian. He had pps so i put him in iso to molt. he came up from his molt today and now he is white????? He was the only crab in the tank so i am not confusing crabs

SneakePablo wrote:I had a black/brown ecuadorian. He had pps so i put him in iso to molt. he came up from his molt today and now he is white????? He was the only crab in the tank so i am not confusing crabs

They can change dramatically with every molt. I wish one of my Es was white. So beautiful and unique. Pictures?

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Worried here. How long was your E down for molting, possibly wasn't done hardening? @Kelly if this is normal for Es then wow, yes agreed, I wanna see pictures, too!!


Twelve PP hermit babies

Someone on here has a white viola (I believe that is the species) crabs can all surprise us.

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When I had gotten a juvenile e it was tinted blue, natural coloration not stained exo. It molted and turned an extremely light cream. It's next molt was a really burnt orange. And now quite a solid brown the last couple of molts. It's possible for that just to be the color, but sometimes when they come up a little early they are light then start to darken up. I have a purple pincer that's an extremely light lavender. Then a have a pp that is a very dark purple. They all eat the same foods, just molt and come out different colors.

rainbow_crab wrote:When I had gotten a juvenile e it was tinted blue, natural coloration not stained exo. It molted and turned an extremely light cream. It's next molt was a really burnt orange. And now quite a solid brown the last couple of molts. It's possible for that just to be the color, but sometimes when they come up a little early they are light then start to darken up. I have a purple pincer that's an extremely light lavender. Then a have a pp that is a very dark purple. They all eat the same foods, just molt and come out different colors.

That is a very interesting observation. I have noticed strange things with colorization and molts as well. Some of my crabs molt and gain color like one would expect. I've had others that seem to skip around from staying the same color, losing, then finally gaining. I know that crab coloring is thought to mainly be about diet, carotenoids for example which we feed to bring out those deep colors. But I really don't understand the concept in terms of what I've observed. Take straws for instance, it is very typical for a straw's first molt with me for them to hold onto their color, but then the molt after that they'll lose color. Of course all this time they are eating the same foods that my other crabs are eating which are gaining color, and these molts are months apart-so I would think I would be seeing gains in color because of the nutrition they had available to them at during that time, not continued loss in color. Then several molts down the line the straw will start steadily gaining color back in molts. It's almost like changes in nutrition (because through the harvesting/distribution/pet stores there are sure to be nutritional deficiencies) take effect slowly, cumulatively, and over a long period of time-whether good or bad. That was always my thoughts anyway.......

landlubber I would say that sounds like a valid finding. During the time they are harvested, transported and kept in pet stores or distribution centers they would have a lack of nutritional value, and a lack In variety. Between food and stress I would think that it affects there first molt in captivity. That is also a turning point for us crabbers, we know if the crab makes it through its first molt thAt it will most likely do well in the tank. I know that they gain color from foods they eat, and I put a variety of foods in daily, so it could be the food they pick individually that contributes to how many of my crabs vary in color. It's hard to say, maybe like people they draw out certain nutrients because each body functions differently. Like some people can't absorb certain vitamins or minerals. Or it could do with stress. I'm not a scientist but I got theories haha.