Found Crab out of shell and freshly molted

[Guest]

Our oldest hermit crab (we've had him for 2.5 years) and this is the first time I have seen him molt. I didn't even know what had happened really. His shell was turned upside down and vacated yesterday. The other two hermies were sleeping on the other side of the tank. We thought he was dead gently wrapped him in a paper towel with his molted parts and I googled why do hermit crabs die. Well to my surprise, it said, maybe not dead. I quickly but gently put him in an isolation tank with fresh coconut and calci-sand mix, both waters and food and 3 shells, his old shell, a smaller shell and a bigger shell. Heated it with a heating pad on low for a little bit and turned it off. I am monitoring the temp and humidity to stay in the optimal range. After 5 hours to our surprise he is moving around his claws, but has buried himself (abdomen down) in the substrate with his little face and claws sticking out. His color and liveliness is much better. I have misted him with dechlorinated water twice. He is still not in shell and I read that I should in no way touch him (too late but I don't want to move him again), but then I am also reading that he can't be out of his shell for very long. I am wondering if this is still the case even though he is in an ISO tank? Should I just leave him be and check on temp and misting as I have been or should I rinse him off and try to put him in a shell? I just figure he is too weak and fragile for that right now? Any suggestions? Thanks for any advice you can offer. We really love this little guy and have said prayers over his cage hoping he regains his liveliness fully.

[Knibitz]

Have you checked his old shell inside for anything poking? or any holes in the shell?


Please fill out this info form to better help up help you (include info for both your main tank, and your isolation set up)
http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 27&t=46102

[WingedWalrus]

I'll check back here after the form as been filled out/posted. But just a word of encouragement: I have had a few crabs that for various reasons have left their shells during a molt and dug under in their ISO tanks - all of them survived. If your crab appears more lively and not totally "out of it" he has a chance! Keep misting and put saran wrap over the top of your ISO to keep humidity in. Keep heating pad on, I'd say, but just keep a corner of the tank over it. Keep monitoring temps and humidity.