I've Got Crabs.....!!!!!!!!

[Trigger]

OK,,,, I do have crabs there in my tank.... now with the question. I used to have a fish only tank with live rock and crushed coral in it, I am beginning to switch over the coral to "live" sand and make this tank hopefully look nice. My two kids along with my wife made a trip to the store and purchased 2 large "hermit crabs" (I think) and decided they wanted them in the tank. This was about 3 weeks ago. Man they looked great in there and everything was going great till Thursday evening. The largest one named "Snuggles" moved to a area in a piece of live rock and started to go thru a transformation. He began to shed is pinchers and face. And then presto next day there he is walking around again. I will try to include a couple pictures. What I want to know is...IS THIS NORMAL? and second of all Am I the only Dumb one that names every animal that goes into the tank?

This top picture is where he did his work

This picture was after the transformation...

 

[Boogiechillin]

All crustaceans (crabs, shrimp, lobsters, etc) will molt - they shed their old exoskeleton as it isn't flexible, so they couldn't grow without ditching it. You can expect the average hermit to molt at least every couple of weeks.

 

[PunkMartyr]

Snuggles haha thats the best crab name ever

 

[Satchmo]

Originally posted by Trigger
I've Got Crabs.....!!!!!!!!

You know, they've got a special shampoo for that.

 

[Corax]

Here is a shot of when one of my Scarletts molted near the BTA... Yummy!

and no, I name most of my critters too... Not the hermits, cuz I've got so many, must most everything else gets a name =)