HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Just brought home my first two hermit crabs. Purchased at Panama City when we were there. Set up 10 gallon tank, did all the research, things were going good. The bigger of the two, the bully, was found one morning in the corner of the tank facing the corner. He had just attempted to start digging by the looks of it but didn’t get far. He was hanging over the front of his shell loosely. No movement whatsoever. I even watched him with my video on zoom to get a very up close look to see if any tiny twitches were present, their wasn’t. Antenna hanging, no eye movement… the strangest part was that almost all of his legs were popped off right there. All except his second largest pincer and a smaller back leg. That’s what led me to ultimately decide he was dead and take him out. I carried him to the sink and held him up to see if he slid out of shell which I read was the final sign of death. He didn’t slide out but dangled.. loosely and lifelessly.
I guess my question despite all the evidence is this… was her in fact dead? I’ve read some things that say to leave them be until a considerable time has passed and they stink to remove them… I know what dead is.. he was dead… but these articles have made me second guess my decision. All his legs were popped off where he sat…. I mean what would cause that and why did I find him dead out of nowhere.. he was the bigger of the two and it just seems highly unlikely he was killed by the other..

When we get crabs, they have often gone through so much that they just can't recover, no matter how good our tank conditions are. The term that is used for it is 'post purchase syndrome', and they are susceptible to it until at least their first molt with us.