Removing hermit crabs from shell after passing

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 1:11 pm

sorry could not find the post that I asked this in before, but I usually leave the crab in the shell after he passes, but my shell colection is shrinking, it there a way to remove them that is not to horrible?

newhermiemami · Post by **newhermiemami** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:17 pm

Usually wiggling them around a bit works. They are no longer holding a death grip on the shell so they will slip out. Just be gentle as not to tear their bodies off in the shell. I actually posted about keeping the shell or not and I do agree with the majority that there is already a shell shortage and its better to let another crab have a shell than to bury one never to be used again. Just my 2 cents.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:20 pm

I didn't save my shells at first but now I do when one of my crabs passes. They usually come out very easily. I usually just take a tissue and grab him out and I have no problem. I do bury my crabs though and give them a proper burial

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Tue Apr 10, 2007 2:34 pm

Even in death I don't have the heart to wrestle them from their homes if they've not let go but if you're sure they've passed then a quick dip in stress coated water might help them to slip out more easily. Some of them have really long tushes that just wrap the spiral core of the shell. Also try tipping the shell forward and down to let gravity help.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 11, 2007 6:22 am

If you burry them, I think you can go back in a few month and dig up the shell, after the hermie has returned to the ecosystem through natural processes.

Post by **JediMasterThrash** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:44 am

Sometimes the uropod (the hard exo at the end of the abdomen) is locked into the spiral of the shell when the crab passes, making it impossible to pull out. You have to dislodge the uropod.Try 1: Move the crab in and out to try to dislodge it. If it dislodges, the crab will then fall out.Try 2: Hold the shell under the faucet, so that the spiral tip is pointing up. The opening of the shell is facing right. The bottom of the opening is facing towards you (the underside of the crab). Turn on the fauces with medium flow and warm water.Let the water glance at the opening of the shell (not that the opening is not facing up, the tip of the shell is, but the opening is facing to the side, so the water can glance the lip and reflect inwards).The water should hit the underside of the cab as it glances, rather than the top. The water bounces upwards back up into the shell and will loosen up the back. Also, the act of water pushing on the underside of the crab helps to dislodge it. Sometimes letting the water get hotter helps.Gently rocking the body in and out while the water is glancing up the underside is about 95% effective in disloding the passed crab from the shell and saving the shell as a future home for a needy hermit.