Help molting!

[Piekenbrock]

Hello, im new to hermit crabs therefor new to this website! Im hoping someone can send some knowledge over this way! I have two hermit crabs, durring tank maintenance i accidentally dug around a crab and wanted to make sure he was still alive, when i picked him up he had his dead skin hanging and he was in his shell pink color, his old claws were in the sand. I felt horrible, so i took his old claws out and gently put him back in the sand but did not burry him because his tunnel was gone!
So this morning i saw he was coming out of his shell completely, and the other crab was by him so i put that one in a seperate tank. When i checked back in at lunch time it looks like he went back into his shell. Is this normal? Did i mess anything up? Or did the other crab force him out of his shell when he wasnt ready?

[I<3mycrabbies]

Ok so when you do tank maintenance do not dig up any sand or substrate unless if you know that all of your crabs are above the sand. Your crab was molting and if you still have the part of his old claw you can put it back cause that was his old exo skeleton and hermit crabs eat them when they molt. If you dont still have it put some foods next to him that are rich in protein that wont have to be moved out or that wont nec(only put a small amount) And do not rebury him instead take a soda bottle and cut it in half so you can cover him so your other crab can't get to him if you want to put him back into the main tank but if your second crab is fine in the one you have it in now don't do anything and just leave him be. You can also turn off the lights in the main tank to make it less stressful for him if you don't put your second crab back in you can also put a towel over the tank to make it 100% dark like as if he was still in his cave.
I hope everything works out and your crabs are fine good luck!

[curlysister]

You will need to keep him isolated from your other crab.
You will need to feed him food high in CALCIUM if you don't have his exo skeleton for him to eat. They need to calcium that the exo provides, for their new exo.

[Piekenbrock]

Thank you for all the information! I'm keeping them isolated until the one who is molting is acting normal again!

[Piekenbrock]

How do I know when it's safe to put my crabs back in together? The one that was molting isn't too active, I did see him move around a little but he is staying in the same spot most of the time. I feel like the one I put in the new tank keeps destroying it.

[curlysister]

What did you feed him for calcium? How much did he eat?
You will want to wait until he is moving around normally.