Molting Crab Caught in the Act!
Sunday, October 24, 2010 by Amy
Caution: another episode of nerdiness ahead!
So, as I was changing the water in the hermit crabs' cage (which I am ashamed to admit, it had been several days), I notice that the littlest hermit crab had buried itself under the bowl and was now fully exposed. I see what appears to be a dead hermit crab.
Now, as much as I have been able to educate myself on hermit crabs, I'd never actually seen a molting crab. I had learned that molting is very stressful, and it is fairly common for crabs to have a "bad molt" and die. I also knew that many people see the shed exoskeleton, assume the crab is dead, and toss out the "body" and the shell, not realizing that the shell still had the molted crab in it. I seriously thought the crab was dead, so closely did the exoskeleton resemble a body. My heart dropped into my shoes, I got a plastic spork and a plastic baggy and returned to the girls room. Since I had heard that crabs seem to shrink between molting and the hardening of their new exoskeleton, I used the end of the spork to turn over the shell and get a good look deep inside. And there he was, all white and new! I called the girls over and told them how lucky we were to see this, etc. And true-to-form, I took pictures! Later, the little guy will eat the shed exoskeleton for its nutrients and then return to the surface when he is all done hardening. How cool is that? Yeah, I know no one finds this cool but me, just play along :)
Since he chose a very convenient place to molt, we'll check in on him every so often and watch his progress. But not too much, as we don't want to stress him even more. Not that we can help spying on him, since he's right beneath the water dish!
So, as I was changing the water in the hermit crabs' cage (which I am ashamed to admit, it had been several days), I notice that the littlest hermit crab had buried itself under the bowl and was now fully exposed. I see what appears to be a dead hermit crab.
Now, as much as I have been able to educate myself on hermit crabs, I'd never actually seen a molting crab. I had learned that molting is very stressful, and it is fairly common for crabs to have a "bad molt" and die. I also knew that many people see the shed exoskeleton, assume the crab is dead, and toss out the "body" and the shell, not realizing that the shell still had the molted crab in it. I seriously thought the crab was dead, so closely did the exoskeleton resemble a body. My heart dropped into my shoes, I got a plastic spork and a plastic baggy and returned to the girls room. Since I had heard that crabs seem to shrink between molting and the hardening of their new exoskeleton, I used the end of the spork to turn over the shell and get a good look deep inside. And there he was, all white and new! I called the girls over and told them how lucky we were to see this, etc. And true-to-form, I took pictures! Later, the little guy will eat the shed exoskeleton for its nutrients and then return to the surface when he is all done hardening. How cool is that? Yeah, I know no one finds this cool but me, just play along :)
Since he chose a very convenient place to molt, we'll check in on him every so often and watch his progress. But not too much, as we don't want to stress him even more. Not that we can help spying on him, since he's right beneath the water dish!
