CrabbyChris - Hermit Crabbing: 2005-12-11

Carrot, Total, 10-grain, Clementine, Walnuts, fresh Coconut.
IM'd with Vicki about the molters and she gave me a great idea. She said if I wanted to know if they were actually molting or just hiding, to try some popcorn. I had to buy a bag of plain ole kernels, no butter or salt added. I didn't have any bags so I rigged up something by taking 2 pieces of printing paper and folded up all the sides to try to make it somewhat air-tight. I wet the kernels with water and then used the microwave to cook it. I got a couple of pieces out of it and put it in to see if they REALLY do go crazy over it like I keep hearing. Well, Kermit started to come out once and I think I scared the crap out of him and then Steph scared him too. I put a piece in the doorway of the hut he was in and he finally came out a bit later to try it out. He ended up in the food dish for a bit eating carrots mostly.
Big surprise, Hermie came out for a bit tonight too. He sat in the coconut dish for a while and then ducked into the log. I haven't seen him out in forever, like for a couple of weeks. He's been hiding back behind the log up against the glass and I don't know what he's been doing but I haven't seen him around at all. Kermit had gone to the log to check it out for a minute and maybe to say hi to Hermie since they haven't seen each other in so long and then Kermit went back to his hut.

David and Kermit were out for a bit.
David went back to the shells and sure enough, he changed back into his old one again. That is one crazy, shell identity crisis, crab. So, I took that new one out for a few to flush it out thinking there might be something in there irritating him. I also took him out for a minute to check him out, he came right out to say hi. I was watching him and something looked different. I finally figured it out after a minute, he was hairy. Then I looked at his feet and sure enough they have black tips. Both SURE signs that he has molted recently. I also noticed that his legs have some orange markings on them I hadn't noticed before; of course, I really don't have a good idea yet of each of their markings since they've been hiding out since shortly after we brought them home. I don't know how long after a molt that they display the signs, but he's pretty hairy and new looking. They only thing I can't figure out is if s/he did it since they've been home or if he did it before that. Whatever the case, if he did it at home he did it fast because there may have only been about 4 days I didn't see him. Vicki said that the little ones CAN do a molt that fast. I can't wait to see how the other ones look when they come up from their molts.

Total, CrabCake, kiwi, avacado, strawberry & dried papaya.
Still not much activity going on, only ever see 2 or 3 crabs on any given day. Saw Kermit a couple of days now. I saw him in the water dish last night and I guess he didn't like me watching him 'cause he hauled ass into the log. That crab is pretty quick.
Petunia is still under the IO dish. Every time I change out the water she's laying on her side but I've seen her antenna's moving so I know she's ok. She doesn't move otherwise.
I hope that Hermie isn't going to have a surface molt. He is still in the corner behind the log and I never see him out eating or drinking. I can't really even see him to know whether or not he's moving at all, but I see that he's changed positions a bit.
I gotta tell you, I'll be so happy whenever this destress/molt deal is over. What I believe though is that the ones that are buried ARE molting. It's been a month now since we got the first batch so I believe the destress time is over. I read the other day that if the conditions weren't right when they were caught or in the pet store then they can delay their molt until the conditions ARE right. I'm thinking that's what happened and now they are in a nice warm and moist environment so the molting came on with a vengence. Oh well, I hope to see them soon...