D Z Posted May 7, 2014 Share Posted May 7, 2014 OK so I have a weird question. What could cause my hermit to stay in its shell....for a couple weeks. It has not moved at all for probably 2 - 3 weeks now. At first, I thought it was just molting. Then after about a week I got concerned and thought maybe it had kicked the bucket. I picked it up and turned it over to find it retreating further into its shell, so it was still alive. I carefully put him back down thinking maybe he was molting and was still in the process. Well, another week or so went by and it still has not moved. I checked it again this past weekend, and sure enough, it is still alive. I feel bad for the poor guy....he has not come out of his shell for quite a while now. Is there anything I can do? Am I right in thinking at this point that it has been too long for it to be molting? I am at a loss here at this point. I have tried searching and have not found any good information. Thanks in advance. Link to comment
CrazyCarl Posted May 8, 2014 Share Posted May 8, 2014 Have you been spot feeding him. I had a scarlet hermit stay in one spot for about a week after he had been kidnapped by my pistol shrimp. Once I removed the pistol shrimp he came crawling out very slowly and was very pale (he was being held captive for about a month). I spot fed him pellets and he eventually recovered. I don't know if there is anything else you can do at this point. I guess it could be a molting problem, but I wouldn't think it would last this long. You might want to research Iodine dosing and see if it might help. Link to comment
D Z Posted May 8, 2014 Author Share Posted May 8, 2014 Have you been spot feeding him. I had a scarlet hermit stay in one spot for about a week after he had been kidnapped by my pistol shrimp. Once I removed the pistol shrimp he came crawling out very slowly and was very pale (he was being held captive for about a month). I spot fed him pellets and he eventually recovered. I don't know if there is anything else you can do at this point. I guess it could be a molting problem, but I wouldn't think it would last this long. You might want to research Iodine dosing and see if it might help. I have thought about iodine dosing. Will look into that. Is it possible that he outgrew his shell and is now stuck inside?? I used to spot feed him whenever I feed the tank with frozen food. I would have to feed him first so that he would not go after the food I was spot feeding to my coral. Now he doesn't even move when I put food in the tank... Ohh and also, I just remembered this part. When I was doing a water change on Saturday, I flipped him over to see if he was still alive and left him on his back for a little while to see what he would do. He kinda came out a little bit, enough where I could see his face, but eventually went back in and I just flipped him back over. Link to comment
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