Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

[Nessiandnoah]

Last night, I kept him in isolation with substrate, water, food, and every single shell he can fit into. This morning he is laying on his side and is surrounded by the shells. I don’t know what that means. It’s like he made a shell fort around himself. He doesn’t look good it’ll be a full 2 days tonight that he has been naked.

[curlysister]

If he won't go in a shell on his own, you need to re-shell him by hand. Unfortunately, this doesn't sound good for him.

[Nessiandnoah]

Ugh how do I do that? I’ll google some videos or something ugh

[Nessiandnoah]

I was going to attempt to manually reshell him today but he’s gone honestly, I never signed up for this. My kids father brought him back to me after spending the weekend with him with a hermit crab. After much research, I learned they needed friends and a good crabitat and I’ve kept the original one he brought me alive. It’s been 3 years and I am proud of that, but I feel horrible when I lose one. Not sure if they were already it healthy from the pet store? I got this one 5 months ago. I need to figure out the absolute BEST water. What’s the easiest dechlorinator to dilute just a gallon of water with? And Ocean is the brand of the salt water? Where can I get that? I don’t think I’ve seen in in pet stores. I’m in SC, USA. Anyways, feeling crappy. I want to make sure the other ones stay healthy

[Hermiesguardian]

I'm so sorry gor your loss. Sometimes with the best conditions they still succumb to PPS. The most used dechlorinator is Prime. You only need a tiny drop for 1 gallon so it lasts a really long time. Instant Ocean is then added to that. 1/2 cup to 1 gal. I got mine at Petsmart.

[Nessiandnoah]

Thanks. Yeah I guess I’ve been super worried about adding too much dechlorinator or it not cleaning my tap water good enough. That scares me more than using like distilled water. I’ll get that dechlorinator and def change my salt. I don’t think it was PPS as I had the crab for 5 months and it seemed fine and healthy the first few months before it disappeared and I believed was molting half of the tanks sand was pretty dry in the surface but the other half was sandcastle consistency and the deep part was still moist. The dry part was the side with the heating pads. I don’t know if that’s what killed her. Maybe she had started molting in sand that was too dry? Either way, I know now to check my sand better to maintain its moisture :-/ didn’t think about the heating pads drying it out like that. Whatever killed her, I’m just going to keep learning and improving to try and help my others crabs live healthy long lives. Thanks for everyone’s help here this website has been a lifesaver for me as a crab newbie <3


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[curlysister]

I am sorry to hear that he/she didn't make it.