crab babies or mold?

Question
my sister bought me and my other sister hermit crabs for our birthdays, we've had them ever since summer. well i noticed that they have been doing a lot of burying in the sand. well, just today my sister called me upstairs and there was a kind of moldyishlooking stuff in the sand. we don't know is they are crab babies, or just mold?

Answer
Dear Esther,
thank you for your question.
It's probably mold. Land hermit crabs carry their eggs on their abdomen for some time and then fling them into the ocean in the wild, in captivity they are usually dropped into the salt water dish. They rarely mate in captivity and almost no-one has managed to raise the larvae. Here are some pictures of hermit crab eggs and zoae
http://www.thecrabbagepatch.com/lifecycle.html

To prevent the mold from spreading, scoop it and the surrounding sand up with a spoon. If it comes back, you will probably need to clean out the whole crabitat: change or bake the sand, boil the toys and furniture ect. to get rid of the mold spores.
If you are interested, you can find more info on crab care on these websites:
www.hermitcrabassociation.com
www.landhermitcrabs.com
www.epicurean-hermit.com
www.hermit-crabs.com
http://www.crabbytalk.com/
http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/


I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer