Empty Shell in Substrate- attacked and naked crab

[VenturaHermit]

Hi, do crabs leave their shells when they molt? I moved the food dish today and found a big cavity underneath which wasn’t there yesterday. A shell previously occupied by a crab the last time I saw it was underneath the bowl and empty. I put a loose layer of sand over it and returned the food bowl. Is that something to be concerned about?
Update: I searched empty shell on the forum and found it might be de-shelled Crab so I dug gently in the substrate as suggested and found my naked crab. I have enacted Re-shelling protocol A and will check in an hour or two. He was moving and seemed to be sizing up the old shell so I am hopeful. I have checked all potential stressers heat/humidity/water/food and all are normal and to suggested standards. So, I can’t imagine what’s going on. He’s my second largest crab, I’ve had over a year and has successfully molted before. All other crabs seem to be behaving normally. So, I’m a little perplexed but glad I happened to see the empty shell poking up out of the new hole under the food dish.

Update: he seems to have damage to his large claw too. He’s fairly lifeless, slid down into a propped up shell in the iso. I’ll leave alone and check him tomorrow morning. This is really sad and stressful. I feel so bad for the attack or whatever happened.

[FJrocks003]

You did the right thing with iso but next time don't recover him in sand. I honestly don't know how to help but I would recommend posting this on the emergency because this is clearly an emergency.

[GotButterflies]

I'm so sorry to hear this! Perhaps you should switch your water bowls to tupperware so this doesn't happen again. You would double them up. Check out this link: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... r#p1030806

[VenturaHermit]

Thank you for the responses. Unfortunately, he did not recover.
I have the doubled-up Tupperware water bowls.
Today I found another crab naked in the sand (before I read your response suggesting leaving in the sand) but this one was very active. I did the same procedure as I did with the prior crab and this guy put in a shell in about 5 minutes. I’m keeping him in iso at least overnight and I will make a new post in the emergency forum to see if anyone has any idea why this is happening.
Thank you!

[GotButterflies]

I'm sorry to hear that. I will look to see if you posted in the emergency section as I go through unread posts.