HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Idk where to put this but I haven't seen my crab Shelby for a week or so and I looked my shells and I triple checked and I'm pretty sure all of my shells are there and Shelby might be naked?! What should I do??

Hmmm, that's a tough one. I'm sure you've already checked all around the surface and in the hiding spots on the surface of your substrate, right? If you don't find Shelby there, I wouldn't dig in the substrate. Don't know if crabs can molt without shells but, maybe he is buried and molting? Unless you smell the death smell (a fishy smell), I'd just watch your tank often and keep a close eye out for Shelby. If you find him naked, you'll need to put him in an isolation tank right away. Look around on the forum and you'll find a care guide for caring for a naked crab. If you were to smell a strong fishy odor and if you don't have any other crabs buried and molting then I'd say it's ok to dig. Otherwise, just wait and watch - as hard as it is! Molting can take up to 4 months and digging up a molter can stress it to the point of death. Hope Shelby is ok!

Are you completely sure all of your shells are there and that the crab is naked? There's no possibility he hasn't dug down wearing one?

If you are sure he's dug down somewhere naked, you should go very, very carefully looking for him. Molting crabs do not leave their shell. They do not do well for very long without one and he'll need to be reshelled.

If you're not sure, it's a tough call. He very well could be dug down, in a shell, perfectly fine and disturbing him may cause more harm than good. And there may be other crabs to think about. You'll have to go with your gut on this one. I'm sorry I don't have better advice. Good luck and keep us updated.

I'm not sure but my gut tells me to dig. I'm very scared that she is in danger, but I don't want to accidentally hurt her while digging. I'm almost positive she's naked

I think I may have found something not sure how to check on her without hurting her

I can see a tiny spot about the size of a dime

Not sure if it's just a weird spot in the substrate or her...

If she's for sure naked you will need to very, very carefully look for her. It's extremely important to get her reshelled.

Turned out to be a chunk of weird EE and right after that I stopped digging and threw all the substrate back because I finally remembered the shell I had just bought a few days ago that Shelby seemed to like

So she's not naked? That's great!