Molting crab attacked, out of shell

[Guest]

I found one of our hermit crabs molting yesterday. I blocked him off from our other crabs right away but during the night one of them managed to knock down the baricade and pull him out of his shell and rip off his dominent claw. I separated him from the other crabs and gave him food, water and a few shells to choose from. He seems to be moving around okay but he won't go into a shell. He's probably been naked for about 24 hours now. Should I try to put him in a shell or just leave him alone? So sad about this, don't want him to die :( Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!

[Ellysara]

Sorry no one replied earlier. Did he get in a shell? For future reference, definitely reshell them when they've been out that long. They can't go much longer than a day without a shell. I know I've seen wodesorel mention the exact amount of time, but can't remember. Also, a safe way to isolate within the main tank is to put them in a Tupperware with ventilation holes in the lid
.

[gotta-crab-em-all]

It looks like their account is gone. I hope the crab made it :C

[Ellysara]

Aww man

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

[Guest]

I'm still here. How do I resell him? He is still alive but still out of his shell.

[dpoley]

We had the same thing happen to one of ours last week, his shell was stolen, someone on here said to carefully unroll his abdomen and slide it in a shell, I chose a shell alittle bigger to slide him in easier, i did rinse the dirt of him first, good luck, i do have ours in a tupperwarebowl with his bedding, still waiting to see if he'll be ok, good luck

[gotta-crab-em-all]

Ah, my bad! I cant click on your username to view your profile, so i thought the account was deactivated or something.

dpoley's advice is exactly right. Good luck, I hope he makes it!

[Guest]

So, I was able to reshell him and he's still alive! Thanks for all the advice. I'm still worried about him as I think the was still early in the molting process. He's starting to look a little darker and less pink. I'm not sure when/if I should put him back in the main tank. Will the other crabs pick on him since he's missing his dominant claw?

[Ellysara]

That is awesome news! If he is getting around, eating and drinking on his own, I would give him a dunk in some fresh water to wash off the molting smell, then put him in the main tank. I doubt the other crabs would pick on him unless he still smells like a yummy molting crab. Do you know if they are E's or PP's?

When you put him in the main tank, just keep an extra close eye on him for several hours.

Welcome to the HCA! I hope you make an account and stay for awhile

[Guest]

All three crabs look like PP's, I think. I checked on him today and I can see his legs moving in his shell but he's not quite up and walking around yet. I moved him out of the small critter cage and into a medium sized one. I don't know if he's still recovering/molting or if he's having a hard time moving around with a new shell and missing his dominant claw. I''ll wait until he's moving around better before I move him back to the main tank. I'm hoping he's okay! Thanks again!