Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Questions about hermit crabs moulting and its symptoms.
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Carrie
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Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Carrie »

Pre-molt signs (as exhibited by Claude the Clawless One):

Claude is at his 'molt or die' point today... he's going to molt above ground (he didn't want to dig at all). He's spent a lot of time in his water dish in the past two weeks. One night he was in there for about 2 1/2 hours, mostly rubbing water into the gel-limbs that will hopefully be his new claws--they're pretty big and they look uncomfortable. Of concern... the gel-limbs have made hand-feeding him difficult, since they're growing right next to his mouthparts, almost gettting in the way. His appetite is gone--he's even gone so far as to use his front legs to make me stop feeding him--he's obviously saying "no." Now I only bother him to put him in the water dish. He'll still climb out when he's done, but I imagine he'll stop after today. (Yesterday--the entire day--he was perched on the side of the dish, not climbing in or out).

Claude is now hanging out of his shell a bit (but still holding on); very dry-looking, dull skin (colors are more pale than usual, too); antennae action is almost gone; movement just plain looks uncomfortable, what I call "creaky," sort of arthritic... His gel-limbs are pretty big now but since he's a small crab I can't make out if there's a miniature replica of each claw inside them (which I'd hoped to do). They're the only part of him that looks moist now.

Due to these signs I think he's going to molt w/in the next few days, if not tonight or tomorrow. I've upped the humidity and heat in his tank and I'm putting him in the water dish twice a day for as long as he wants. (He might molt IN the water dish, which means he'll have extra moisture and the old exo will be easier to slip out of).

The Molt:

When Kali IV--my repeat surface molter--was at the point of 'crisis' (molt or die) she was exactly like this. I thought she was dead based on the way she was barely holding onto her shell and she'd come out of it up to where the soft part of her abdomen began. Not sure but she might have lost the ability to hold onto her shell if I'd done something very bad like shaken her. At the time I just held her, thinking she was dying. Then I realized that her eye-stalks were clear, instead of dull. That's when I knew she was molting!

I held her in the palm of my hand and started spraying her with water.

The skin at the back of her abdomen, where the exo meets the soft part, was first to crack. (This is also the skin that can't have water rubbed into it when the crab is hanging around the water dish). This part of the exo, from the soft part up to the 'joint' where the 'head' begins seems to be more supple in comparision to the rest of the exo. This segment contains the 4 shell-legs which the crab will use to hold onto its shell, as well as retract back into the shell and come out, whichever.

After the skin at the edge of the actual exoskeleton had cracked in the back, Kali started to retract out of her old exo, much like if you were to pull your hand out of a glove if we were to hold onto one of the fingers and pull your hand out backwards. (I use this analogy b/c that's what the actual physical process of molting reminded me of: slipping out of a glove, with each limb equivalent to one of our fingers).

She was going thru huge muscle contractions. Expand and contract, expand and contract. Her new skin was so soft and with each contraction she'd move backwards out of her exo a little more. As she was 'backing out' of the old skin, each limb was being pulled thru the narrow holes that can be seen on a freshly molted exo, where each separate limb joins the body. Kali's soft new skin was SO soft that each limb--including the big claw--was easily able to pull through those tiny holes. And, having seen that firsthand, I would have to call that a definite miracle of nature!

The muscle conractions were so strong that they looked painful. The frequency was comparable to the time it takes you to open and close your fist, and as rhythmic. It's a process that, once started, cannot be stopped. If a crab dies during molting it could be, in part, that the crab's body simply becomes exhausted and can't keep up the contractions necessary to move backwards out of the old exo.

By now Kali was almost all the way out of her old exo--at this point most of the length of her legs and most of her claws could be seen, but her 'head' (antennae, mouthparts, etc.) was still partially inside the old skin. You could see the base of her eye-stalks, which were tightly together and pointed in the direction of the old exo. By this point I don't think she was holding onto her shell at all anymore.

Her mouthparts and antennae and the area surrounding them underneath--including the four 'shell-legs', came off last, during a brief period, at the very end, of lesser contractions. This skin, like the top part of her exo that had cracked first, also seemed to be more supple (for exo). :)

The contractions were so strong that, when her 'back' became visible, the new skin actually seemed to pulse in and out... almost to fold... strange. In a way it was like seeing a person's chest rise and fall with each breath--only an in/out pulsation. I would have to compare the whole process, in human terms, to something as extreme as childbirth. (I don't have any kids myself, so that's a rough analogy). Once I realized the process was over I stopped spraying her with water. (Water on the new, soft, exo prevents it from hardening properly.)

Once the exo was completely shed she was able to retreat back into her shell, which was still tilted backwards. The freshly shed exo was moist--I believe over the course of the next few days following a molt, it dries out, becoming tougher and more difficult to eat. The softest parts of the exo were facing towards her shell--the first part of the exo accessible to her after her new skin hardened up and she would be able to eat it.

Kali, being perhaps TOO tame, didn't retract back into her shell for very long, and she didn't go as far back as she could. I held her in my hand a while longer. After a while she came back out of her shell, still soft, and started eating her exo... which isn't typical behavior. Normally, of course, they hide in their shells for a few days and the new exo hardens. She just had no fear at all, I guess. She knew my hand by smell and feel (she'd pinch anybody else who picked her up) so I figure she knew she was safe. Or else she didn't want to miss anything. The second time she molted in my hand she did this, too. Immediately took to eating and drinking.

Before a crab's new exo hardens... and you happen to be years younger and curious and touch the soft big claw... the crab will have your thumbprint in the hardened exo until the next molt. This is also why antennae sometimes end up a little crooked--they end up at whatever angle they're in while the crab is deep in its shell, recovering, while the new skin hardens.

The whole molting process took about half an hour. (Kali was something of a mascot at work so I was able to call in late b/c "Kali's molting!! In my hand!!") Kali was a medium-jumbo crab. The exos of the smaller crabs--as I read somewhere--are more supple and thinner than the exos of the jumbos. The little guys don't have all those bumps and pores you can see on a jumbo. I imagine that the small guys molt faster.

Immediately after the molt Kali went for anything calcium/protein--exo first, then Tetra BabyShrimp and cuttlebone. I showed her another shell (which she later moved into) and she started scraping at it w/ her little claw and apparently wanted to eat something out of the inside of the shell... and I thought, what are shells made of? Calcium! So I gave her the cuttlebone, which she held onto for about 24 hrs and ate and ate... I figure her nutrition, in captivity, was such that she needed the extra calcium/protein wherever she could find it, b/c there probably wasn't enough of these nutrients in her exo, even tho she ate most of it. She knew what she needed and how much of it. She was nutrient-starved.

Had she wanted to retract into her shell and hide for a few days I would've put her in iso and left her alone. As it was, she wanted to walk around before she was strong enough. I held up her shell for her so she could build up strength as she began to walk again. When I realized she was going for everything calcium/protein... well, her next molt (again in my hand) was about the same, but she regained her strength in a few days instead of about a week and a half. Calcium/protein is crucial for a freshly molted crab to recover and--perhaps--to begin (already??) growing the next exo underneath.

What happened to Kali? Her final molt wasn't successful. I learned that molting isn't just a period of a few days--the cycle BEGINS with the molt, rather than ending w/ it. Therefore when I moved twice in two months and disrupted the normal heat and humidity (I hadn't mastered humidity yet anyway) her molting cycle was disrupted during the crucial final month. (Spring moving... and molting season appears to be spring, too.)

Hope this makes sense. And anybody who reads this... keep Claude the Clawless Wonder-Crab in your thoughts b/c he's going to be going thru this in the next day or so, I think.

Kali was the exception to every rule. She started walking while her exo was still soft... she had NO problem w/ being handled thru all this, but I used to have her w/ me everywhere. I think she was practically human, or as close to it as a crab can ever get.

In every other case besides Kali, the crabs have either molted underground or, for surface molters, when it's dark and still (i.e., when I'm not hovering w/ the digital camera and a light on to 'tape' the process). And in every other case nobody's been up and about an hour after molting. The usual rule of 'leave me alone!' applies. Arwen (a little bigger than Kali IV) got to the point that Claude is at now--'molt or die'--and I really think she waited until I went to bed at 5 AM--she's the one I was trying to tale a movie of w/ my digital camera. I might want to get visuals of a molt but she's not going to cooperate. I doubt Claude will, either.

Sooo... anybody want a descriptoin of a shell change? Kali also took to changing shells in my hand. If you really watch closely you can 'read' the body language (legs and antennae) and tell what's going to happen next. I have a video of Arwen (AK) changing shells last summer. Which I haven't figured out how to post on here.
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Chermo »

Wow that is awesome, I probably would have freaked out while it was molting in my hand. I wear gloves when handling them because they are not use to me yet and I am scared of being pinched.
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Carrie »

What I didn't mention was that I was freaking out the whole time! :) I thought I'd killed Kali IV by picking her up right when I did--she looked dead. Only she molted. Thanks to her and a few others I can narrow down pretty accurately when the surface molters are going to molt... Claude is soo close right now. Naturally they have to look like they're going to die first, which means I'm really worried about him. He's been alive almost 5 months w/ no claws. The "I'm dead" look is w/in a day or two of the actual molt.

Gloves are a good idea. I remember when I went to a pet shop when I was 8 to pick out my first crabs. I got pinched so I told my parents I didn't want any... and then changed my mind the next day. Mom picked 2 up on her way home from work and didn't tell me--I had to finish my math homework first (form of torture!)... but I snuck into the other room and looked and saw Hermie I and Pinchers I, in a wire crab carrier w/ gravel on the bottom. They were walking around and making noise, so I peeked. I was very afraid of them so I held them w/ gloves. I don't think Pinchers ever got held w/ my bare hand. They seemed so big back then and I don't think they really were.

Hand-feeding = trust. When you and the crabs get ready for that. They'll get to associate your hand w/ good things... :)

Only w/ Arwen it kind of backfired and she ONLY likes to eat when she's in my hand. When I pick her up she looks for food immediately. She's so much like Kali IV, the crab who molted and changed shells in my hand, only she's not as trusting. But for her I think she is trusting, b/c she's very nervous by nature. Not that you can tell right now--she's heading out into the hallway again!

Glad you liked the molting story. Hope it's not too confusing. It was hard to write...
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Chermo »

I wasn't confused, it was a great story.
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by krabby_katie »

That's awsome. You're so lucky to have seen that not once but twice! I hope Claude makes it through okay.
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Carrie »

Claude now seems to be slightly less pre-molt. Maybe the additional humidity is helping him out a little, so that he's more active. He's still got to molt soon... but he seems further away from the "die" side of "molt or die." I look every day to see if he's molted. No molting in my hand w/ any of these crabs. Kali IV was a very special crab. Claude's survived 5 months (on the 30th) w/ whatever I've fed him by hand and I'm just hoping he makes it now. Worried b/c he won't eat much anymore... but of course that's normal. I've spent all this time fussing over that little one and it seems I can't stop now!! Question is, which hurricane/tropical storm does he get named after? Gustav, Hanna... and whatever that other one was. Hmm... Claude is also NOT a he. MIddle name therefore will lean towards the female, prob. Hanna. Claude is now short for Claudia.

Also the anniv. of Katrina's molt, I think. The last time I wrote to the Forum was about her. In memory of my "hurricane crabs," the 9 (most of my biggies) who died that summer, then, I sign off for now...

I wish Claude would just DO IT!! Grrrrrrrr...

Good luck w/ the molters, krabby_kate! Calypso and Kali... what a team... :) crab heaven somewhere they're about to have a shell fight...
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Mr.Crab »

Aw my god. So much about molting. This is bad =[
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Carrie »

Molting looks more scary than it really is. It's a natural process... one that we normally don't even have to watch b/c the crabs usually dig holes or stealth-molt in the night. I think the scariest part was that Kali looked dead beforehand. The actual molt was beautiful to see, b/c I've had hermit crabs off and on since I was 8 (waaay before the Internet, let alone sites like this) before there was any info out there. I remember being in awe that Kali trusted me that much, too. It's the "big event" in a hermit crab's life and if the heat, humidity, and nutrition are all good then they do just fine.
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Krabber5544 »

This was a great help. Thanks for posting it. However, I'm still confused...When I think my crab is ready to molt should I pick it up or leave it alone? Can they molt by themselves (without human interaction) in the tank?
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Re: Description of a molt (as seen!!)

Post by Carrie »

Molters almost always dig underground... and they shouldn't be handled! One of the golden rules.

I only picked up Kali IV b/c I thought she was dying (she looked like it) and I wanted her to have a warm hand to be in... and to say goodbye. She was hanging out of her shell so far, and barely holding onto it. I was startled to realize she was actually molting and so I reacted by continuing to hold her and spraying her w/ water, since I didn't know what else to do.

These guys definitely don't benefit from human attention--they molt in secret, usually underground, and in the dark.

From recent reading (The CrabbagePatch)... hermit crabs have two hormones: MH (molting hormone) and MIH (molting inhibiting hormone). MH is what stimulates the molting process; obviously, MIH works the other way, to forestall molting until conditions are favorable. The best conditions for a molt: a nice "cave" in the substrate--the crab will pick out its own varying location based on whatever heat/humidity spectrum you have. (My tank has a "hot/humid" side and a "cool/humid" side, and the pre-molters really are digging in on the hot/humid side, where the earth/sand mixture is damp). IDEAL conditions (namely, total darkness) trigger the secretion of MH. If a crab has too much MIH in its system eventually the process of forestalling the molt can't be reversed and the crab will fail to molt and die. When we first get a crab, if it was pre-molt for too long--too much MIH--it usually dies pretty soon after we get it home, b/c of so many pet shops often have such horrible conditions! (Even the well-meaning shops are of course overcrowded w/ the wrong substrate and NO seclusion for a pre-molter to create a molting "nest.")

Crabs dig to have that ideal darkness/heat/humidity "nest" in the substrate... and that's why they shouldn't be disturbed. Their state is so fragile during and after a molt.

From this reading I also realized that "surface molts," while survivable, are an indication that the crab might be molting atop the substrate as a "last resort," which was probalby the case with Kali IV. They can molt and survive surface molts and molts under less than ideal conditions, but it's always best for them to molt on their own. :)

To read more, go to The CrabbagePatch. I've put a post under "Chirp & Chat," called Live Help, and that's got the web address. Their crab care section is the best one I've ever found. It goes into detail about anatomy, molting, shells, nutrition, and all sorts of things! I think it's a must-read... at least that's my personal vote!

I shouldn't have picked Kali IV up at all... but I do think that the heat of my hand and the constant misting did make her molt easier, given that it was already a surface molt. Now I'd have to suggest making a "nest" for the ones who look terrible who are on the surface... wherever there's a good measure of heat/humidity/darkness. Ideally everyone digs under ahead of time and makes their own little "nests."

They're meant to molt on their own... which I think I've probably stressed about 4x by now. :)

-- molts in your tank, not on your hand (ref. M&Ms commercial!) --
Carrie
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