Hermit crab missing, but only found shell

[giannaw]

Hello! I have two hermit crabs and my one hermit crab was missing, so I assumed it was buried under the sand and molting. But I lifted up their water dish (it looked like it was dug up) and found my hermit crab’s shell, but no hermit crab. Was there a possibility the other hermit crab ate him? If so, what could be the causes? And, do you think it was molting but it was dug up?

[giannaw]

UPDATE: found hermit crab running around naked, I transferred him into a new tank with food, water, and such. I covered him to make it dark, but I have no heat (I use a heat lamp), what could I do to make it hot in that tank?

And I think he dug himself up, there was a hole underneath the water and when I lifted the water up, there was only a shell and when I looked away and looked back at the tank, the hermit crab was on top of it. So maybe it was hiding above the land after being in the sand?

He also seems weak, tired, dull, stiff, and trying to hide in the dark

[curlysister]

Look in the care sheets for the one that says what to do for a naked crab.
A naked crab is an emergency, he needs to get back into a shell asap or he will die. You want to put him in a small container with just a couple of shells, and a mm or two of dechlorinated water in the bottom. You can put that container into the main tank so it has heat and humidity, just be sure that the other crabs can't get into it.

[giannaw]

I did that last night (even boiled the shells), my hermit crab finally went into a shell. Do you know what could cause him to evacuate a shell? I did have shells in the tank prior to him running naked. Could this be a sign of molting?

I still have my hermit crab in a different tank, I don’t want to release him in the main tank yet if he’s molting.

[Jlmills525]

Hermits do not leave their shells to molt. Typically they get stuck on something and have to leave the shell to get loose.. or they weaken somehow and the shell is too heavy to keep. *shrug

I hope he stays in his shell and ends up well otherwise!

[curlysister]

As stated, crabs will often drop their shell when they are too weak to carry it. And they do not leave the shell to molt. The care sheet gives some possible causes.
You could fill in the emergency template so we know your tank conditions, if you would like some help trouble shooting.

[giannaw]

My hermit crab is in his shell now, and kept it. I believe he’s starting to molt, he’s lethargic and the shell he has looks big (but I looked into some research and they say they will change shells prior to molting). I believe he’s getting ready to molt.