Surface Moulter without a Shell

[Andy]

I've only been a crabber for a couple of months. Last Saturday one of my two crabs, Rocky, moulted for the first time. At the time he was still in the environment in which he had come from the pet store in, so didn't have a deep enough substrate to burrow into. I had spent the last couple of months preparing a large tank, with properly controlled heating and plenty of substrate. I finished preparing the substrate on the day he moulted in a mad scramble.

He had moulted and retreated into his shell. I wasn't sure what to do next, but I thought that moving Rocky and his companion to the much larger tank with a properly controlled environment and deep substrate was better than leaving him where he was, even though the change of environment might cause stress.

For the first couple of days he was in his shell, but then came out a few days ago. His smaller companion has burrowed into the deep substrate and hasn't emerged since he was transferred, so I don't believe he is a threat at this point.

I have a couple of concerns though.

1. Rocky seems to have abandoned his shell. I have placed some larger shells of various sizes around where he has based himself, but he hasn't taken to any yet. Is this normal? What is a reasonable length of time that a hermit crab can live without a shell?

2. I'm not sure where the salt water is going, but for the past 2 days, the salt water dish has been empty by the time I wake up in the morning. I filled it on both occasions at night, and the dish is dry by the morning. I don't think it is evaporating, because the fresh water dish still has a fair bit of water in it. Last night when I refilled the salt water dish, Rocky immediately came out of his shallow hole and climbed in. Is this also normal?

As I'm new to all this I don't know if I should be worried or whether this is all normal behaviour. Is there anything else I can do to help Rocky?

[Wai]

Make sure the tank isn't overheated. Secondly, has Rocky finished hardening yet? His large claw should have a slight glossy look to it if he has. If he has finished hardening, you can try coax him into a shell.

Moulters will crave salt water as it is used to make their body swell and grow larger. I suggest getting a larger salt water dish, as it shouldn't be all used up by the next morning.