Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

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Nessiandnoah
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Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sat Aug 17, 2019 7:50 pm

Substrate is 50/50 play sand and coconut, temp stays 75-80 and humidity 80, I feed meats, veggie, fruit, some nuts and egg shells, they have salt water and fresh water, plenty of shells to choose from, deep enough substrate to bury, I have 2 medium and 2 small crabs. So everything has been great for a while. Two of my crabs recently chose bigger shells ;) they are thriving! Two others disappeared....I assumed molting. One of them just showed up out of his shell and pale! Was on the salt water bowl! I was just in the process of rearranging my sons room and moving the hermit crab aquarium (it’s a glass 20 gallon) and I found him by the salt water all exposed and pale and idk what to do. Did he finish molting and came up to eat and pick a shell???

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Hermiesguardian
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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Hermiesguardian » Sat Aug 17, 2019 9:00 pm

They don't leave their shells to molt. It's a sign that conditions may not be right. He needs to be reshelled immediately. Rinse out a shell. Rinse him off gently with dechlorinated fresh water and gently lift him and back him into a shell. Someone with more experience can probably advise better. But in the meantime just some questions about your conditions. The substrate needs to be a minimum of 6 inches. Not just deep enough to bury. It has to be sandcastle consitancy having been mixed with either dechlor fresh or dechlor saltwater. Do you have analog thermometer/hygrometer? They are often inaccurite. A digital is much better. What kind of lid do you have? Is it totally sealed? What dechlorinator and salt are you using? If you move the tank you will very likely collapse their tunnels and caves and they can suffocate.
raising son's dog, Dante. Husky/hound.
Raising daughter's hermit crabs, Shelder, Paras and Derek. Added 2 more of my own (of course) Pete and Stryper. Former mommy to 2 guinea pigs and beloved cat, Nissi

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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by curlysister » Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:49 pm

Agree with HG, a naked crab will die and needs to be re-shelled ASAP. If you fill in the Emergency Template, we can help trouble shoot a bit better.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." -Will Rogers

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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sun Aug 18, 2019 6:52 am

I haven’t touched hon because everything online I saw said to leave him alone. He doesn’t look right to me. I can’t believe I could’ve collapsed their tunnels. Should I I bury my other one that’s under and make sure she’s ok??? I don’t use an digital hydrometer thermometer so I will get one soon. And the substrate is deep enough and I did moisten it with dechlorinated water. I use distilled water. And I use a salt that said was for hermit crabs soaking salt from all living things. The aquarium has Saran Wrap and I can tell is humid inside and I can feel the temperature difference when I stick my hand in to change food. I keep a tiny corner open for a little bit of airflow but it’s like dime sized.

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Hermiesguardian
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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Hermiesguardian » Sun Aug 18, 2019 8:21 am

Even though these are a hands off pet an unshelled hermit crab will die without a shell. He must be reshelled asap. Please don't re bury any crabs, they make their own caves down there. They will suffocate if we try to bury them.
raising son's dog, Dante. Husky/hound.
Raising daughter's hermit crabs, Shelder, Paras and Derek. Added 2 more of my own (of course) Pete and Stryper. Former mommy to 2 guinea pigs and beloved cat, Nissi

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curlysister
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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by curlysister » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:19 am

Do you mean un-bury the one that is under?

Is the substrate still sandcastle consistency?

Distilled water is not dechlorinated water. Better to use tap water and a proper dechlorinator such as Prime. Most products marketed for crabs aren't actually appropriate. That salt water is not correct. After dechlorinating, you need to then add a marine salt such as Instant Ocean.

As HG said, a naked crab will die. He needs to be gently re-shelled ASAP and isolated from the other crabs.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." -Will Rogers

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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:32 am

I meant unbury the other one and the substrate seems like the right consistency to me. I guess I am freaking out because I don’t want to hurt him and I have NEVER backed a crab into a shell so idk I’m going to try and ok I will have to change my water and salt. I got a fish water dechlorinator once but it was for like 10 gallons and when I did the math to dechlotonate just 1 gallon it was like 1/16 of a teaspoon or something so small I didn’t even know how to measure it :-/

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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:42 am

I tried having him back into a shell and he is tucking his abdomen in and he is so weak :( I feel a little helpless. Honestly, I got these hermit crabs because my son came home with one after visiting his father and so I bought more and started learning how to care for them but I don’t like touching them when they are out of their shells. So I used a shells to try and gently have him back into a shell and no his abdomen is just tucked in and I almost got him into a shell but he didn’t put his abdomen in it :( I am freaking out. I am going to figure out how to post a picture. He just laying on his side after the Reshell battle we had :(

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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:49 am

Image

This is what he looks like right now. He will be still and then go and eat and move a little and then kind of go back to this. His abdomen is tucked in, I couldn’t reshell him


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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:49 am

His color is actually better today than yesterday but yeah :( and the other hermits are leaving him alone as far as I’ve seen


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curlysister
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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by curlysister » Sun Aug 18, 2019 12:29 pm

Try putting him in a bowl with just a mm or two of fresh water in the bottom. Put a few different shells with him, and see if he will go into a shell on his own. What types of shells do you have? Do you have a few that would be appropriate size? Is that green one painted? It looks a bit too big for him.

Edited to add - You still need to iso him, even if the other crabs are leaving him alone now. Odds are that they will eat him.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." -Will Rogers

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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:14 pm

Ok thanks I will try this

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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:15 pm

Oh I forgot to answer that yes I’ve got a few his size. I wasn’t trying to get him in the green one

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Hermiesguardian
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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Hermiesguardian » Sun Aug 18, 2019 2:56 pm

If the green shell is empty remove it so no one goes back into it.
raising son's dog, Dante. Husky/hound.
Raising daughter's hermit crabs, Shelder, Paras and Derek. Added 2 more of my own (of course) Pete and Stryper. Former mommy to 2 guinea pigs and beloved cat, Nissi

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Re: Hermit crab out of shell and pale!

Post by Nessiandnoah » Sun Aug 18, 2019 6:26 pm

I’ve got her in a different small tank away from the others with just a little bit of water and several shells for her to chose from. I added a heating pad to the side of it to keep her warm. She isn’t doing much. Walked around a little, I added some honey and peanut shell in the tank. I also checked my other hermit and made sure my buried one didn’t have sand colapse on it when I moved the tank. I realized the half of the tank with the heating pads sand was a bit dry so I remoistened it to sand castle consistency and I’ve added my other hermits back, they all look healthy and happy in their shells. I’m very worried about my sickly one. How long before I take the water out of this tank and add some substrate for her? And do I just keep her here alone?


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