HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Ringo has molted ! Different parts of his Exoskeleton are laying around his ISO tank. (Half a sunny D bottle around him) so now when do I take out the parts he hasn't eaten? & when can I return him back to the main tank? Also I am upgrading them from a 2.5 gallon to a ten that I bought over the weekend

The hermitcrab will be done with his old exo when all that is left are the hard nail tip, leg and pincher segments which are too hard to crush.Hermitcrabs usually take anywhere from three days to a week to regain their strength from a molt and an additional two weeks to properly harden and swell.Ideally molting should occur in an underground molt pocket where the crab feels more secure, less stressed and can molt alot easier as surface molting doesn't provide any protection from light and off climate conditions which makes the whole process very stressful for the crab and in some instances causes the crab to stress too much and it dies.Your little one should be ready to go back in the main tank in two weeks and you might want to remove the bottle when he starts acting like he's trying to escape as this is a sign that he's ready to be let out and needs food and water.