HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Omg one of my hermit crabs was molting and one of my other hermit crabs attacked it and took it out of its shell and changed into it. The molting crab (Thing 1) had just molted and idk if he's about to die or just hasn't gained muscle control yet. I saw him twich once. I put him in a small criter carrier that I have for hermit card emergencys. It has a temp of around 80 and humidity is around 80 as well. The crab that attacked him (Midnight) is now in Thing 1's shell. And this isn't the first time that Midnight has done this either! He killed a different crab ,Thing 2, bc of taking his shell. I don't know why but he is constantly changing shells! I have plenty in there but he only wants the ones that other crabs are in. Please help! Any advice would be so greatly appreciated.

My tank conditions:
Temp: 76
Humidity: 65 (it's usually higher)
4 inches of Eco earth for substrate
10 gallons (soon to be upgraded)

Hi, welcome! I'm super sorry to hear you are going through this! Could you please fill out the emergency template here, http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=46102 The questions help give a full grasp of the situation, and familiarize a bit with your tank, and maybe help pinpoint what is causing him to act this way. (the attacker)
As for right now, keep him (victim) isoed with his exo of you have it, or some egg shell and leave him be as much as possible also keep the iso dark somehow as this is important to the molting process.

Sent from my VS880PP using Tapatalk

I'm so sorry this is happening, hopefully it will be sorted out!
While we are waiting for your completed emergency template, here are some things that stood out:
Humidity really should be higher in the main tank, especially if you have all EE substrate. I would spray the main tank more often. I understand this is lower than usual but prolonged humidity <70 can really stress them out, and even that is a bit low. Also, substrate should be at least 6 inches. Most prefer a mix of sand and EE for a nice molting consistency.

This could have happened due to not enough shells/ variety, too many crabs in the tank, stress overall, etc.
Rawrgeous' advice is great for what to do. If Thing 1 still isn't in a shell, the first order of business is to reshell!! Try placing him in a contain full of shells, hopefully he is already back in a shell and that won't be necessary.

Also, I'd change the title of the thread to include what the emergency is so there can be more help, something like "Emergency, shell fight!" or if he isn't reshelled than say naked crab.
Good luck, hope everything works out.

If the victim is naked it needs to be reshelled. Hopefully it is not soft.

Please answer the questions thoroughly when you can. This will give us an idea of why this happened.

Surface molting isn't normal and neither is cannibalism.



Sent from my LGLS665 using Tapatalk