HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Does a crab ever leave it's shell above ground and burry itself ?

The latest addition, PP2, is missing but his shell is above ground... I found it just now when I woke up for a bathroom break (work late nights). It was just sitting there backfilled with the substrate. I thought he dug bag in and was hiding because he was just a little guy but I cleaned the shell out and nothing was there. The best I can figure is this...

1. He died without me knowing it and was eaten out of the shell and then the shell was sisposed of on the surface.

2. He thought he would take a vacation from his shell an go down somwhere.

Have you made sure he didnt change shells (the shell in question could have been pushed away from whatever shells you have in your tat).
I do not think he would bury down without a shell as their abdominins (sp?) are so sensitive.
I hope he did change shells and if he didnt someone with some more insite into these things can come along and help .
I hope PP2 is ok -- Please keep us updated.

ReptileLover1 wrote:Have you made sure he didnt change shells (the shell in question could have been pushed away from whatever shells you have in your tat).
I do not think he would bury down without a shell as their abdominins (sp?) are so sensitive.
I hope he did change shells and if he didnt someone with some more insite into these things can come along and help .
I hope PP2 is ok -- Please keep us updated.

I hope he is ok too, I doubt he switched shells though as I don't have any available right now with funds still being limited and all. He was a rather small guy and the shell he was in sat kind og bi on him but he seemed to have liked it which is why I came to the two possible conclusions that I did above.

darn, I hope he's ok.

This happened to me but he was inside a bigger shell where I could barely see him

he could have switcherd to a shell where he cam hide where you cant see him (Do you not have any his size or none in the tat? srry just a little confused there),
I had a hermie who was tiny on the verge of small switch into a shell for a small/medium-- He is still in that shell (and it fits right now too).
I woud check any whells you have in there just in case and again I hope he is all right.

I'm wondering if he actually still IS in the shell but so far back that you just can't see or feel him. I would leave the shell in the tank for now. Maybe one of the other hermies was bothering him for his shell and that is how the substrate got in. Hmmm :roll:

Be very careful, but start digging!!! This was how I found Sunshine, and quite a few others who had been attacked underground. Their shells were on the surface filled with sand and I still have no idea how they ended up there. In most cases I was able to get to them in time and they were okay. There is a chance that another crab did kill him, but I've found it to be about 50/50 that they're still alive and they can survive with intervention from us.

Scrape the sand away gently from the area where you found the shell and have a bowl of dechlor water handy to wash him off since he'll be naked if he is alive. Assess the situation and see if he would be able to reshell himself or if you'll need to do it for him. I've had them where they were naked and missing legs and were okay, but there was no way they could have unburied themselves without a shell.

wodesorel wrote:Be very careful, but start digging!!! This was how I found Sunshine, and quite a few others who had been attacked underground. Their shells were on the surface filled with sand and I still have no idea how they ended up there. In most cases I was able to get to them in time and they were okay. There is a chance that another crab did kill him, but I've found it to be about 50/50 that they're still alive and they can survive with intervention from us.

Scrape the sand away gently from the area where you found the shell and have a bowl of dechlor water handy to wash him off since he'll be naked if he is alive. Assess the situation and see if he would be able to reshell himself or if you'll need to do it for him. I've had them where they were naked and missing legs and were okay, but there was no way they could have unburied themselves without a shell.

If by some chance he is still alive and I find him and I need to help with a reshell, how do I do this safely ?

I hate to think on the negative but he wa / is a rather small guy so he could have died during a molt or something and was eaten out of it or he could have come up with the same end result. The original PP and E are fine, the one in question (PP2) was the last addition to the tank. Also, for what it's worth... why wouldn't they be able to dig out without a shell ?

Oh and befor I forget so I can say that I asked, if he was dug out and killed under ground how in the heck can a crab not only bring himself up but a second but empty shell with him ?

Edit: To the best of my knowledge, today (monday 4/30) is the second or posible third day his shell has been above ground.

He probably dug down without his shell if he is still alive or down under.

the first time my daughters crab baseball molted we thought he died and fell out, but very far in the shell we saw a tiny bit of pink. They can really pull into the shells far. Gen's newest little one, pinky, pulls so far in that you can barely see the big claw. you should make sure you check all of the extra shells for a hidden crab. I wish you lot's of luck in finding the little guy. Keep us posted.

I carefully scoop them and the sand around them into a bucket of dechlor freshwater to rinse the sand off. I've used spoons as well to move them. Ya kinda have to be fearless as it's safer close your hands and let them pinch you then to try and grab them with your fingers if they go to bolt since their backsides are so soft.

They can dig without a shell, but they can injure themselves by doing so. In sand it's probably not such a risk but EE has different sized particles and large pieces and there is a risk that they could stab or scrape themselves. I don't know if you've ever had a naked crab or saw one deshelled when they die, but that backend is basically a water balloon with a thin skin on it. It doesn't take much to hurt it.

I don't know how they get the shells back up, but they do. I've had it happen at least half a dozen times in the last two years. Es especially are extremely good at it. My guess is that they get the shell away from the molter and want to test it out but there isn't enough room underground so they haul it up and do it on the surface. Never actually had them wear the stolen shell, but they just had to take it.

Ok, so it turns out the original PP I started with died in molt or was killed underground as the mising PP2 was found in his shell. So all in all, no ones missing right now but we did lose a member of our colony... looks like I'm back to one PP and a very hairy E (picked him up to see if he was the mising PP and saw the fuzz).

that's too bad, I have 3 down molting right now on their firsts and hoping I don't lose anyone.