Woke up to little pieces of Hermit Crab...

[capj64]

At first I only saw one piece and really couldn't make it out but knew that it wasn't in the tank when I went to bed last night, but then I saw a couple more pieces laying on the bottom of the tank. I found and counted all four of my hermits and they looked alive and well...so what the H was going on!? Then I looked in my little six gallon tank and saw that there was also a piece of hermit in there...it finally made sense. Crabs shed!!! Whew, what a relief to figure that out , duh. So now I have bigger crabs in the same shells (I ordered some more, just waiting on them) and now I can really see what they look like. Cute little bugs

Now...my question is, do I leave the discarded "skins" in the tank for them to get rid of or do I take them out?

 

[austinsdad]

I always left'm in there and they disappeared soon. Or remove them. Doesn't matter in the least as far as I know.

 

[SaltieFresh]

I think that the crabs eat their exoskeleton for the calcium.

 

[melosu58]

They are so small they wont make a difference.

 

[austinsdad]

Yep. I think I've heard that before.

Leave'm in there.

 

[capj64]

Thanks It's so cool that I can see them so much better now. Hope their new shells come soon. I don't know what kind of hermits they are, just brown and now I think I may see a touch of red, but how often will they shed?

 

[melosu58]

It`s called molting and there is no set number of tomes. Mine do it every 1 or two months.

 

[capj64]

This is before the shed

 

[SaltieFresh]

Ok, this is besides the point, but I've always found it amusing. I LOVE eating snow crab legs, but always felt guilty eating it in front of my saltwater aquarium. It was like I was eating their cousin in front of them or something, lol.

 

[capj64]

Ok, this is besides the point, but I've always found it amusing. I LOVE eating snow crab legs, but always felt guilty eating it in front of my saltwater aquarium. It was like I was eating their cousin in front of them or something, lol.

lol, yeah I'd have to turn my back to them to eat

 

[capj64]

Ok, I was trying to get a better shot of the crab and I just witnessed two the the crabs switching shells! I think they're fighting over the one shell cause it's bigger. Will one kill the other?

 

[capj64]

 

[austinsdad]

Can't say it won't happen. That's wildlife.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

And then the kicker is when the one that killed the other one for its shell decides it doesn't really like it after all, and switches back to his old shell! (And yes... this happens even if you have extra empty shells in the tank!)

 

[capj64]

That's what I keep telling myself, "That's nature. That's nature." They finally left each other alone, for now anyway. The crab in the tiniest shell has moved to the tallest rock in the tank and is just hanging out there. I guess morning will tell if the soap opera goes on another day
Thanks to everyone for the response.