HCA: Hermit Crab Association

One hermit crab named Blondie has finished her molt and the other hermit crab named Nutcracker is suddenly soft and exposed and out of his shell. Nutcracker was up after both were buried a couple of weeks, and walking around the tank today. It looks as though Blondie has dug up Nutcracker, who is now lying on top of the sand outside of his shell. Nutcracker's exoskeleton is sitting next to him in the sand. I have isolated Blondie and not touched Nutcracker. Nutcracker is alive and able to move and was looking around when we first noticed him and thought that he may have died. I have now learned from the forum to prepare wet sand and bury Nutcracker but I don't know whether I should try to return him to his home shell before burying him. Please help ASAP. Thank you!

NO! Do NOT bury him! You could crush or severely injure him.

Wash him off in dechlorinated freshwater and put him in a cup with a few cleaned wet shells. He needs to put a shell back to have a chance.

Once he's reshelled, place him in an ISO. If you wanted to, you could make a little divot in the substrate and then place something solid overtop, like a cocohut or dish.

Thanks! Unfortunately because I made my post in the middle of the night and had to go to sleep and then to work today, I'm only just seeing your instructions. Thinking that it was bad for Nutcracker to remain uncovered and shell-less last night, I very gently covered him with moist sand. I was extremely careful not to bump him or lay too much sand on top of him. The sand is in a loose pile over him today. One good thing happened that eased my concern before I covered him last night. He was up able to pull one of his molted exoskeleton legs over to him and stand over it. He maneuvered quite a bit. I thought that he might be interested in eating it.
So now what? He is buried, naked, and near his old shell and old exoskeleton. Should I follow your procedure above? I would have to gently lift him with a spoon and remove the 2 inches of moist sand that I put over him.
Many thanks!

It may not seem like a lot, but 2 inches of moistened sand is heavy/a lot for a hermit crab.

How big is this crab?
Can you update us with the latest?
Have you noticed a small top pile of sand near where you buried him? (Showing that he may have been hollowing out a cave for himself).

Can you fill out this template and share it with us?
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=46102

His outlook may not be very good. If he's already molted his priority is to get into a shell, not be underground.

thank you for your reply I don't I know how to fill out the form on the device that I'm on but I'll try to fill it out soon. I do see a divit against the glass and its about 2 inches over from where I left him last night, and I'm pretty sure that it was not there two hours ago, so I think he's probably moving underneath. the sand is still loose. I think that I do not have enough shells available for him and I have just found a place nearby that can sell me shells immediately. the turbo shells that I have on hand are much too large for this crab. I have had these crabs 16 months and this is their first molt. Blondie has definitely outgrown her shell and may have tried to steal Nutcracker's slightly larger, heavier one. Both shells are about 7/8 - 1 inch across the aperture.
I have a 5- 10 gal aquarium with play sand substrate. I do have coconut substrate in storage, if I should use some for Nutcracker. We feed them Gardner's Hermit Crab Food because it's free of fillers and is balanced for molting. we keep saltwater and freshwater available. the humidity in the tank is 73% and I'm trying to bring that up. The temperature is 73.7 degrees F.
Should I look for Nutcracker once I get shells after work? And then follow the instructions in the earlier post?

I would like to upload an image of the loose sand pile over Nutcracker but cannot seem to. Help?
Also, I put a moist hand towel over the tank and humidity is up to 78%. Tank near 80 degrees. I have to return to work but will check back around 6:30 pm Eastern (-5 hours GMT)

If he's still without a shell I do suggest very, very carefully removing him, rinse him off in lukewarm dechlor fresh water, and offering shells to him as Wode suggested. Getting a naked crab to reshell is important. They do not fare well for long without one. Once he's reshelled, follow Wode's suggestion on creating a divot and carefully covering with a hide. Keep conditions right and offer his exo if you found it or if you do not have his exo, high energy foods like sweet fruit, honey, peanut butter, and bee pollen as well as calcium and protein.

Thank You Callalily and Wode! I will go buy some shells and help him as best as I can. if I offer peanut butter does it need to be organic peanut butter or may I use Jif? I do not know how to get bee pollen, but if I offer the other rich foods would that be sufficient? It is likely that I can find his exoskeleton again and keep it available. thank you for suggesting the dark hut, as we use an incandescent light bulb as a heat source, rather than a heating pad.

One more request for advice please. If he does not accept one of the shells that I make available or go back into his old shell, should I attempt to pick him up and put him back into his shell? I would not ordinarily even think about doing this but I did see someone post that they had once reshelled a naked crab. If anyone has a link to a video showing how to do this, I would be very grateful for that link.

In case Calla or Wode don't get back to you quickly. I'm not an expert and really new but this is what I understand from other posts.

Organic is best for peanut butter so there aren't any harmful pesticides present. It needs to be 100% peanuts. Plain Jif has added stuff like sugar and hydrogenated oils.


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If you can find his exo, that's really all he needs. If not, any of those foods are good just be sure to include calcium and protein too. I prefer to use peanut butter that ingredients are just roasted peanuts and oil. Sometimes I'll offer ones that do also contain a little sugar and sea salt. I don't buy the ones that are loaded with sugar and other junk. Maranatha is a good brand if you can find it. I also like Justin's.

If he doesn't take a shell on his own you will need to reshell him yourself. Make sure crab and shell are both clean (lukewarm dechlor freshwater). Leave a small amount of water in the shell, gently uncurl his "tail", and slide into the shell. Gently tap on him to get him to pull back into the shell. A slightly too big shell makes this easier. Hopefully he'll take one himself though. Good luck.

Thank you Aldebaron and Callalilly. I am back with a new turbo snail shell and am boiling it now. This shell is 1.13 inches and should be a bit large for Nutcracker. Back to work on the directions above!

Happy news to report about Nutcracker! I found him, his entire exoskeleton, and his shell near him right at the spot where I left him last night. He is lively, alert, very soft, and able to stand and walk around. I put him into the new turbo shell that I bought today, and it's much too large! After about 1 minute he walked out on to my hand and wandered across both hands before I put him into a glass with his old shell, according to the advice above or somewhere else in this forum. But for two hours now, he has refused to go into his old shell so I'm going to try to put him into his old shell next.
I have also tidied up and reworked my main tank and the isolation tank, so that our other crab, Blondie, could walk around and Nutcracker could go into the isolation tank.
I have photographs of Nutcracker for the forum but I can't figure out how to load them. All in all I think this is promising news and that Nutcracker will pull through at some point. Many thanks for the advice; I'm so grateful for your help.

Well I'm not sure I have the best news to report but I've done everything I can do tonight. Nutcracker is still not wearing his shell and is now back in his isolation tank , standing beside his salt water bowl. When I finally put him back in after struggling to put him in his shell, I thought he felt a bit dry and that I should leave him alone for a while. As soon as I put him into his isolation tank he walked to both bowls, one after the other, and he seemed to leave the fresh water bowl rather quickly in favor of the salt water bowl. He also walked over to the small scallop shell where I put his exoskeleton. But he did not eat anything . I'm hoping at this point that he can keep himself hydrated as he knows best. He dragged his abdomen through both water dishes one time each. He is getting harder; the large claw is more solid and creamy in color than yesterday, and I can feel leg tips
I was not able to fit his abdomen into the old shell. It's likely that he is now too big for it. He did let me gently uncurl it, but it would not fit into the old shells curvature . So I think that I need to go find more turbo shells tomorrow morning and hope to find at least one between the size of the one I bought tonight, which is too big, and the one he's leaving. I try a shell that I had on hand from a hermit crab that I had 20 years ago . This one was slightly too big, but not nearly as bad as the one I purchased today . The 20-year-old shell that I have is very heavy and thick , and he left that one right away too.
Tank conditions : temperature 73 degrees, humidity 88%, there's a royal blue plastic bowl over the exoskeleton and a divot that I created in the sand substrate, for a hideout. Nutcracker is not going to the hideout, but prefers to hang out in the corner of the tank behind the salt water dish.
Advice requested. Thanks again for all your help.

Do you have eggs in the fridge, or cuttlebone. He needs the calcium and protien. Cook a little of the egg and let it cool, rinse the shells off with declorinated fresh water and dry with a papertowel. Crack them into small pieces. Put them and any cuttlebone or other calcium suppliment right next to him. If you have raw honey or bee pollen he could use that as well.