My crab molted into a shell

[AngelClark]

I'm pretty new to the hermit crab world, and this is def my first post on here, so please be patient with me. I am worried about my crab though and could really use some advice.

I have 10 small crabs in a 50+ gallon tank with one large crab in there. The shells then, that are in there, include mainly smaller shells, but there's a bunch of big shells for the big guy (Dozer).

Lysander crawled inside one of the big shells and molted his skin there. He had just molted when I was moving shells and went to check on him. I read enough that said for me not to disturb them digging, and if I had known this was common behavior I wouldn't have bothered him. I put him back in the shell and isolated him.

But from what I read, it seems that when a crab molts, the other guys run to him. Lysander was left completely alone...

Is this behavior normal? There's plenty of sand, relatively moist, so he could have dug. I ask because I wonder if I should start isolating crabs crawling into other shells...

[mrscrabmadness]

he may of felt he was to weak to dig so he just went a huge shell where he felt safe, or he may of just felt safer doing it in a shell vs digging? crabs that usually go hunting and digging up molters are lacking things in their diet { check out foods list } they need fresh foods and meats, not all dried commercial crab food. organic peanut butter, raw honey, meats cooked in microwave in their water or boiled , popcorn cooked in olive oil or air popped, nothing has seasonings, eggs is another good food for them, cook in olive oil or zap in microwave. cuttlebone in bird section in stores. I leave all my crabs in the tank when they molt, just when they come up I give the new molter a bath to wash the molt smell off cause i have a bully that loves the smell of them and he thinks his buddy is a snack. In your case I would of iso him to, got him out of the tank , he would of been to easy of prey for the others to get him cause of is smell and beings your crabs are new they maybe lacking in their diet as well. this is what this is for.. to ask questions, to help you keep your crabs happy and healthy, with out all of us depending on each others advice our crabs would be sickly..

[AngelClark]

Thanks! My crabs are all new, but I've been amazed by how much my husband and I love them. I got sand dollars in bulk, and have tons of them in there, and I just added honey as well (since I had it). Thanks for the food advice. I isolated the molted. What's the best way to give them a bath after them finish the molt?

[mrscrabmadness]

make sure the sand dollars are all natural and not the bleached out decorative type..

[AngelClark]

definitely! I also found out in the last 24 hours that they love honey and walnuts. I have to scoop some organic peanut butter as well to see if they'll like it. It's been so cute to see them enjoy the walnuts!