Molting crab got dug up and now he’s starting to smell

[Kiersten]

So I’ve got 2 hermies and The one successfully molted and in the middle of its molt the other one started. Anyways the one came out fine but I had the other ones little burrowed hole covered with something so the other crab couldn’t get to it. Well yesterday he pushed the object I had keeping the molting crab safe out of the way of the air hole and was digging where the molter was and caved in the hole. So I dig around really easy and find the whole exo skeleton and the crab it is totally limp really rubbery so I cover it up and get a new cage for the other crab. But now a day later it’s starting to smell really bad like almost rotten fish but just really fishy and I can smell it before I get to the tank. Is it dead or is it the just smell of the exo I need help!!!!

[crabs_lex]

If it smells really bad like rotten and fishy i'm afraid he is dead
the exo skeleton should not smell
he possibly had became stressed and had a bad molt
I'm sorry
did you move him yourself to another cage? how did you do it? moving a crab in the process of molting can be deadly

[curlysister]

Unfortunately, as Crabs Lex said, if your crab smells really bad, and is not moving, it is probably dead.

Crabs can molt in the same tank successfully, as long as conditions are correct and it is not over crowded. Your substrate should be deep enough that the crabs will completely bury. They make tunnels and will often move under ground, so you won't know where they are. They back-fill their tunnel, so again you won't know where they are, and there is no need to put anything over top of where they are.

You had started a thread in the Emergency section too (actually, there was a glitch and there were multiple threads exactly the same so I have deleted all but this one).
You had copied and pasted the emergency template, but did not answer all the questions. If you would like help with your tank and care, please answer the questions and we can help out.