Possibly dead hermie!!!

[HermieGuy]

For my tank's substrate, I originally had beach sand, then added a large amount of a mix of multipurpose sand and coco fiber later. I currently have 4 inches of substrate in the tank.

I do not have digital readers for my tank's temperature and humidity, I have analog ones instead. Currently my tank's temp is 78 degrees, and the humidity is at 85%

I use a heat lamp to keep my tank heated. Yes, I know it saps the humidity out of the tank, but I am looking for a good heat mat to buy.

I have both freshwater and saltwater in my tank. I bought a few gallons of distilled water, and boiled it after buying, just in case. I used the distilled water after boiling and the recommended measurements of sea salt (the safe kinds, I knew what was bad ingredient-wise, there was none on the brand I used) to make the saltwater.

I feed my hermies a mixture of dried shrimp and mealworms, pellets, small bits of fruits and veggies, and finely-grounded eggshells. (for extra calcium) I replace the food every two days.

Both of my crabs are purple pinchers. I bought them from a little shop on a boardwalk in the state of Delaware last June.

Shelli WAS molting, but partially above-ground. My other hermie, Scuttle, has not shown any signs of molting yet.

I keep my hermies in a 10 gallon tank.

I originally had three hermies. The smallest one, Seaweed, passed away a few months ago, the cause of death was unknown. Shelli is a small crab, but not as small as Seaweed was. Scuttle is my largest crab. I believe he is medium-sized.

I have over six shells in the tank. A few of them are painted, I know those are not safe, but the rest are natural shells that I scooped up from a beach.

I have not had any bad chemicals near my tank recently.

Once a month I carefully remove all crabs from my tank (with Shelli molting, I kept him isolated in a separate container) and place them in a temporary crabitat (plastic tupperware container), dump all the substrate into a large baking pan, and bake it in the oven. I wash everything in the tank thoroughly, including extra shells, food dishes, the salt bath, and other knickknacks I put in there for my hermies to play with.

I stopped using sponges because I found that they were unsafe.

Nothing new has been added to my hermit crab tank recently.

Onto the emergency:

My small hermit crab, Shelli, was above-ground molting for almost two months. I got home from work today and immediately went up to my room to mist the tank. I removed the lid and looked inside, and saw Shelli's shell out of the substrate, moved and EMPTY. Shelli himself was COMPLETELY out of his shell and laying motionless in the substrate. This was a serious shock to me. Now I thought maybe my other hermie, Scuttle, had messed with him, but he was in the exact same spot as he was in this morning, in the coco hut.

I am afraid to touch Shelli right now, and currently there is no bad odor in the tank. All I smell is a beachy smell, which is normal since part of my substrate is beach sand. I do not know what to do about this. I think Shelli may be dead, but I really hope he isn't.

People call hermies throwaway pets, but that is not true at all! All hermies are special and have their own personalities, and I hope that somehow my little Shelli still has some life left in him.

Right now I am keeping an eye on Shelli in case he moves again. (I hope he does, it would mean he is still alive) If he does move, what should I do?

I have an image of where I originally found Shelli.

[curlysister]

For my tank's substrate, I originally had beach sand, then added a large amount of a mix of multipurpose sand and coco fiber later. I currently have 4 inches of substrate in the tank.
Curly - Is it moistened with dechlorinated water so that it holds it's shape?

I do not have digital readers for my tank's temperature and humidity, I have analog ones instead. Currently my tank's temp is 78 degrees, and the humidity is at 85%
Curly - Is this shortly after misting? What does the humidity go down to before you mist? Do you leave the lamp on 24/7, or turn it on and off? If you turn it off for night, what is the temp in the morning?

I use a heat lamp to keep my tank heated. Yes, I know it saps the humidity out of the tank, but I am looking for a good heat mat to buy.

I have both freshwater and saltwater in my tank. I bought a few gallons of distilled water, and boiled it after buying, just in case. I used the distilled water after boiling and the recommended measurements of sea salt (the safe kinds, I knew what was bad ingredient-wise, there was none on the brand I used) to make the saltwater.
Curly - What brand is the salt? Is it sea salt or marine salt? As I said before, tap water treated with a dechlorinator is what is recommended - the tap water provides minerals from the ground, while the marine salt provides minerals from the ocean.

I feed my hermies a mixture of dried shrimp and mealworms, pellets, small bits of fruits and veggies, and finely-grounded eggshells. (for extra calcium) I replace the food every two days.

Both of my crabs are purple pinchers. I bought them from a little shop on a boardwalk in the state of Delaware last June.

Shelli WAS molting, but partially above-ground. My other hermie, Scuttle, has not shown any signs of molting yet.

I keep my hermies in a 10 gallon tank.

I originally had three hermies. The smallest one, Seaweed, passed away a few months ago, the cause of death was unknown. Shelli is a small crab, but not as small as Seaweed was. Scuttle is my largest crab. I believe he is medium-sized.

I have over six shells in the tank. A few of them are painted, I know those are not safe, but the rest are natural shells that I scooped up from a beach.
Curly - You will want to remove the painted shells and buy some natural ones. Be sure to read the 'shells' care sheet so you buy the appropriate types.

I have not had any bad chemicals near my tank recently.

Once a month I carefully remove all crabs from my tank (with Shelli molting, I kept him isolated in a separate container) and place them in a temporary crabitat (plastic tupperware container), dump all the substrate into a large baking pan, and bake it in the oven. I wash everything in the tank thoroughly, including extra shells, food dishes, the salt bath, and other knickknacks I put in there for my hermies to play with.
Curly - There is no need to do this at all. Some crabbers 'deep clean' their tank every year or two, but some of us don't do it at all. You can just remove poop and bits of foods that the crabs drag around.

I stopped using sponges because I found that they were unsafe.

Nothing new has been added to my hermit crab tank recently.

Onto the emergency:

My small hermit crab, Shelli, was above-ground molting for almost two months. I got home from work today and immediately went up to my room to mist the tank. I removed the lid and looked inside, and saw Shelli's shell out of the substrate, moved and EMPTY. Shelli himself was COMPLETELY out of his shell and laying motionless in the substrate. This was a serious shock to me. Now I thought maybe my other hermie, Scuttle, had messed with him, but he was in the exact same spot as he was in this morning, in the coco hut.

I am afraid to touch Shelli right now, and currently there is no bad odor in the tank. All I smell is a beachy smell, which is normal since part of my substrate is beach sand. I do not know what to do about this. I think Shelli may be dead, but I really hope he isn't.
Curly - When Shelli was not moving and partially buried, you isolated him with a pop bottle, right? Then you moved him to another container for your cleaning? Then where did you put him? Did you see him moving around at all at any time?


People call hermies throwaway pets, but that is not true at all! All hermies are special and have their own personalities, and I hope that somehow my little Shelli still has some life left in him.

Right now I am keeping an eye on Shelli in case he moves again. (I hope he does, it would mean he is still alive) If he does move, what should I do?

I have an image of where I originally found Shelli.

[HermieGuy]

I do keep the substrate at the recommended "sandcastle consistency". As my tank's humidity drops down to about 65% in about four hours, I have to mist the tank multiple times a day and pour more water into the substrate twice a day. My heat lamp is the main source of heat and is on all the time (I have another bulb for it, a moonlight bulb which can be used at night, but I only use the red bulb), and it seems to be doing enough for now, with the help of lots of towels wrapped around three sides of the tank to keep it insulated. I have tried turning it off for the night but with the recent cold temperatures and the average temperature in the house, the tank's temp went down quick.

The snow and cold weather here IS going away, but we are getting a bit more snow next week. I do think there will be improvement in the tank's humidity and temperature once it warms up around where I live.

I had been suggested to keep the tank as clean as possible to avoid any nasty bacteria growth or any possible illnesses in my hermies. I will deep-clean my tank a lot less in the future.

I still use sea salt. (fine-crystal, it's in a large container and usually used to season food, but it makes the saltwater good enough and I said before, there weren't any nasty things labeled in the ingredients) I am unsure of where to find a dechlorinator and the two pet stores near me do not sell marine salt.

I removed as many painted shells as I could at the moment. Scuttle moved back into his old shell, which is a painted one, so I cannot remove that one. I'm keeping Shelli's shell in the tank as well just in case the little guy moves again.

Yes, I did isolate Shelli by using the pop bottle as you suggested. When I did remove Shelli from the tank for cleaning I took a large plastic tupperware container and carefully scooped Shelli and a huge chunk of the substrate out with him so as not to disturb him. Instead of using a normal lid for the container I took some plastic wrap, pulled it over the top and poked lots of holes in it. I misted the container a few times while I cleaned my main tank and kept it close to the heat lamp next to my temporary crabitat. No, I did not see him moving around at all. Note: I last cleaned my main tank last week.

Is there ANY way that Shelli might still be alive? I am still not smelling anything bad/rotten but I am still afraid to pick him up to get a better whiff. He has not moved at all, and Scuttle came out of the coco hut and just... stared at him. Scuttle did go back to moving a while after and went to take a dip in the salt bath, but is this a sign?

[curlysister]

I do keep the substrate at the recommended "sandcastle consistency". As my tank's humidity drops down to about 65% in about four hours, I have to mist the tank multiple times a day and pour more water into the substrate twice a day. My heat lamp is the main source of heat and is on all the time (I have another bulb for it, a moonlight bulb which can be used at night, but I only use the red bulb), and it seems to be doing enough for now, with the help of lots of towels wrapped around three sides of the tank to keep it insulated. I have tried turning it off for the night but with the recent cold temperatures and the average temperature in the house, the tank's temp went down quick.
Curly - I would really recommend getting a heat pad to put on the back of the tank. Crabs need a day/ night cycle of light and dark. And they won't thrive with the humidity regularly being that low.

The snow and cold weather here IS going away, but we are getting a bit more snow next week. I do think there will be improvement in the tank's humidity and temperature once it warms up around where I live.

I had been suggested to keep the tank as clean as possible to avoid any nasty bacteria growth or any possible illnesses in my hermies. I will deep-clean my tank a lot less in the future.
Curly - Keeping the surface clean is enough. A bacterial bloom is a growth of anaerobic bacteria that occurs underground - it is a relatively rare occurrence.

I still use sea salt. (fine-crystal, it's in a large container and usually used to season food, but it makes the saltwater good enough and I said before, there weren't any nasty things labeled in the ingredients) I am unsure of where to find a dechlorinator and the two pet stores near me do not sell marine salt.
Curly - Sea salt won't provide all the minerals needed for long term health. Are you able to order dechlorinator, a heat pad, and marine salt online?

I removed as many painted shells as I could at the moment. Scuttle moved back into his old shell, which is a painted one, so I cannot remove that one. I'm keeping Shelli's shell in the tank as well just in case the little guy moves again.

Yes, I did isolate Shelli by using the pop bottle as you suggested. When I did remove Shelli from the tank for cleaning I took a large plastic tupperware container and carefully scooped Shelli and a huge chunk of the substrate out with him so as not to disturb him. Instead of using a normal lid for the container I took some plastic wrap, pulled it over the top and poked lots of holes in it. I misted the container a few times while I cleaned my main tank and kept it close to the heat lamp next to my temporary crabitat. No, I did not see him moving around at all. Note: I last cleaned my main tank last week.

Is there ANY way that Shelli might still be alive? I am still not smelling anything bad/rotten but I am still afraid to pick him up to get a better whiff. He has not moved at all, and Scuttle came out of the coco hut and just... stared at him. Scuttle did go back to moving a while after and went to take a dip in the salt bath, but is this a sign?
Curly - If he has not moved since the beginning of all of this with the surface molt, I am sorry to say he is probably dead. I can't see the photo really well, but is his back end all dried up? If so, I'm afraid that he is dead.

[HermieGuy]

Yes, I have been looking for decent brands of dechlorinators and heat mats online, but haven't decided on any yet.

I haven't touched Shelli myself, but I asked a friend if they could do that for me. They said Shelli was all dried up.

I'll dispose of Shelli properly in the morning. At this point I feel like I'm not doing enough for my crabs. Hopefully Scuttle stays alive. I might have to go out and buy him another friend so that he doesn't get lonely.

[HermieGuy]

UPDATE!! I have NOT been online in a long while. Shelli was declared deceased and properly disposed of, but when I cleaned out his shell... part of his rear parts were stuck inside it? (back legs and such)

Could it have been possible that he got stuck in his shell and pulled himself out, but ripped himself in two in the process?

I do not have a picture of this.

[curlysister]

He was probably only partially decayed, so some of his body stayed in the shell. I am sorry he passed away.
Have you managed to get a UTH yet? Are your temps and humidity consistently in a good range?

[HermieGuy]

I do not have a UTH yet. I recently moved my tank (not too far, just into another room) and doing that somehow boosted the temperature. I have bought two heat mats but have not installed them yet.

The temperature (with the heat lamp) stays at a constant 83-84 degrees now.

I still mist my tank frequently, and the humidity stays at 80-85%.