molting or dead?

[Johnshin]

One of my hermit crabs, a very small one, began surface molting a couple weeks ago, I isolated him by putting him under a log with the entrance barely open, however he has yet to move or show signs of life. He stays in his shell, I don't see signs of exoskeleton hardening but he also doesn't have a strong fish/dead odor. Is he dead and should I get him out of the tank or is he still alive?

[landlubber]

Keep treating it like a surface molt until you smell the death smell. I've been where you are, and the waiting game was awful. Multiple times I would have sworn the crab was dead and nothing was happening, but she survived. Even when you think the crab is a lost cause without the death smell there is still a chance, however unlikely it seems. And the death smell is impossible to miss.