If crabs are not provided substrate (preferably sand or sandy soil) that is deep enough and moist enough to completely bury, they may attempt to molt on the surface. They need extended darkness so that the molting hormone can be secreted and protection from predators and the elements during this vulnerable and critical time. In nature hermit crabs bury underground to molt.
Hermit crabs need to store salts in addition to water in order to build up hydrostatic pressure necessary to burst open their exoskeleton so that they can pull out of it. Salt plays an important role in the shedding process. The water will be used to expand the exoskeleton during ecdysis and the stored nutrients will sustain the crab while buried. Prior to burying, the hermit crab will begin to store water and nutrients which can be seen on larger crabs as a gray-black bubble located on the left underside of the crabs abdomen. Because hermit crabs are vulnerable during this time, they tend to bury underground (shell and all!) in the wild for protection, insulation and darkness necessary to allow the molting hormone (MH) to be secreted so that the shedding process known as ecdysis can begin. At this point the crab will begin eating the old exoskeleton which helps to recycle calcium and other minerals necessary for the new exoskeletons health and rigidity.
It involves shedding of the exoskeleton and for a short time afterward the crab is unable to move until it regains muscle control and the new exoskeleton hardens up. Molting is the process by which a hermit crab grows.
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