crab left his shell!

[TheBIGfish]

My crab left his shell. he is still alive but his shell is gone. I can't even find it in the tank???? I tried to give him a new shell but he dosn't seem towan't it.

[drowsyfirefly]

Hermit crab or like emerald crab?

 

If it's a hermit and you're really worried about him, I've heard of people putting it in a small dish with tank water and some shells and just have them wait to pick the one they want.

 

You can really just leave him be though.

 

If it's a crab like an emerald (don't think it is), they molt to get larger. It will be a few days before he comes out of hiding but he will be larger.

 

--Meghan

[chrisstankevitz]

A classic case of shell-less crab syndrome. Follow these instructions:

1. Put some empty shells in the tank

2. Do not try force the crab into the shell using pencil, screwdriver, etc.

 

Chris

 

If it's a crab like an emerald

 

If an emerald crab crawls out of his shell, you have a problem on your hands!

[TheBIGfish]

thanks guys. Is it possible that he is eating himself? It almost looks like he is but i cant tell.

[reefone]

he might have molted and is just cleaning the rest off of himself that might b y hes out of his shell

[Clownfishcrazy1117]

Yeah, I'm guessing he molted and his shell was too small so he left.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

This worked for my daughter's land hermit- you can gently curl his abdomen back into the shell, then give him a light tap on the head, and he will retreat back into the shell. Hopefully he'll stay there. Or as someone else said, put him in a dark, quiet place in a container with some tank water and a few shells- hopefully he'll calm down and settle into one. If I were that ugly naked I'd want to cover my rump ASAP.

 

Tasha

[Abraham1907]

HAHAHAHA^^^ IMO, don't worry, it's just a hermit crab. It didn't cost you $70 so if it won't pick a shell that you have provided for him then it's his own fault if he dies.

 

Now that I read that it sounds kind of mean..... oh well it's true.

[CGNano]

The whole point of nano-reefing is to care for our animals, not judge them by worth and give the more expensive animals care at the expense of their less expensive tankmates.

[Abraham1907]

I understand, I'm just saying that if the person tries everything and the crab won't help itself, then she shouldn't get all worked up about it and it's not THAT big of a deal.

[chrisstankevitz]

The whole point of nano-reefing is to care for our animals, not judge them by worth and give the more expensive animals care at the expense of their less expensive tankmates.

 

SAVE THE HERMITS! I recommend you go buy a quarantine tank. Don't forget the lights to create algae for the little guy to eat. A chiller if you live in a warm climate. Just use some LR from your existing tank.

 

Good luck, I hope he makes it,

 

Chris