Help! My Hermit crab is naked and lost his big claw

[EpicGaming66]

I came from a movie yesterday and my hermit crab was not in his shell and he was laying in his water dish all night today he is moving a little but he lost his big claw what do I do!!!!

[BrisHermies]

I hope someone with more experience will chime in, but until then:

I'm pretty sure he HAS to be reshelled. Search the "cup method" on this site. It seems to be the most recommended. Put him in a narrow bottomed cup with his shell and cover him over. His abdomen has to be kept moist, so him being in the water may have been his way of trying to stay hydrated. I think you should only move him with a spoon, don't touch him. Leave him alone for a while in the cup, but you may have to manually reshell him.

The pincher missing isn't going to kill him, but is is a bad sign when they drop limbs. If you can get him in a shell, the missing claw won't be the end. One of mine lost all but his little claw and a leg, and he's fine now. Just be delicate with him.

[Candie]

You definitely need to re shell him, how long have you had the crab? If you just got him it could be PPS. It's common for crabs to be naked and lose limbs because of PPS, I lost a crab to it about a month ago and he was naked and lost 2 legs, he died after 3 hours. I tried everything to get him in his shell but it wasn't enough.

[CrazyCrab12]

He can re=grow his pincher during his next few molts, but you really need to get him re-shelled as quickly as possible. Look inside his old shell and see if there is anything sharp that fell in like small rocks or bits of sand that would make it uncomfortable. Rinse it out and and try to GENTLY curl his abdomen back in.