First Crab Molting Nightmare

[mamagarbark]

Help! I had my first bad molting. Mr. Crabs has lived with us for about 1.5 years. He is awesome. This morning I came upstairs to Kathy and Little Bob feasting on what I thought was a dead Mr. Krabs. Our crabs have a wonderful 100 gallon tank with over 24 inches of sand and coconut strata. These are our first crabs so we tried to do everything right. I have never experienced a molting before above sand and honestly had no clue what I was looking at. When I placed Mr. Crabs shell in the sink to clean I found a very live Mr. Crabs. I rushed him back into the crabitat but he fell out of his shell. He tried to crawl back in - not knowing better I placed him back in the shell with the shell. Very little contact with hand. I created a separate crabitat within the big enclosure for him. I put damp sand and coconut strata over him. I placed saline water mixed with distilled water in the tank. I put some normal crab food in and a shell. I am doing my best to make sure the other crabs can’t get in. I am so scared I killed him. Am I missing anything? Should I leave the light on at all times? He was a pretty white and pink colored dude that looked at me as he placed his body in the shell. I am so broken hearted. I want to give him the best possible chance at living. His crabitat has great heat lamp and humidity. It stays in the happy blue zone on the monitor. Is there anything more I can do?

[curlysister]

Just to clarify - the other crabs were eating his exoskeleton? If so, he needs to have calcium right now. You are right to isolate him from the other crabs if he has just molted, as they can harm or kill him until he hardens up. You should not bury him with substrate, he won't be strong enough to make it into a cave. He should be isolated with what is left of his exoskeleton, as well as other sources of calcium (egg shell, cuttle bone, etc). Keep him in the dark if you can for a few days at least. You can use a margarine container or something like that with air holes in the lid so that he gets the same conditions, but the other crabs can't get to him.
When you say the 'happy zone', what are the actual temperature and humidity readings?

[mamagarbark]

Yes, the other crabs were eating his exoskeleton. I never saw one so I though he died. It’s in the 80-90 percent humidity. 75 degrees. I am not sure why he molted on top. We have a lot of substrate and it is more than 6 inches thick. It is play sand and coconut substrate from Zoo Med. I changed it all out in April to new material when we got the bigger tank. It is dry and not very moist, but the humidity in the cage was between 70-80%. I am not sure what I did wrong. The good news was I saw him moving this morning.

*Update: We added saline to the water to mix it up a bit. I have added two little caps. One of fresh water and one of honey. I added a shell with calcium supplement we found at PetSmart for Hermit Crabs. Should I put another shell for him to use. Once I figure out a picture - I will send it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ke7BpWAAqdtENNTH6

[curlysister]

If the substrate was not moist enough for him to tunnel and make a cave, that could be why he chose to molt on the surface.
Fresh water should be tap water treated with a dechlorinator (Prime is a commonly used brand). Then the salt water should be made by adding marine salt (Instant Ocean is a popular brand) to that water. I wouldn't add any more shells, or mess with him too much at this point. Your iso inside the tank looks good!