Is it a Hermit crab exoskeletons or is it dead

[Jduk]

[*]We have nine hermit crabs in a large enclosure for the past year. Our hermit crab sunshine left her shell and hid behind a log in the enclosure. She was moving around for a day but today stopped moving. We offered her food but has not moved. We put a shell near her and the next day the new shell had a crab in it, but we are not sure if it’s a different crab as they often jump shells at about the same times. Those crabs mean a lot to my 9 year old daughter as we got the crabs during the pandemic so she’d have some friends

How do I know if what I am looking at is an exoskeleton or a body? What I am looking at includes the butt side of the crab as well as the front. It’s been one day of no movement but no smell yet. The crab does not react if you nudge the claw or when we lifted it wirh a spoon I to the bottle enclosure in the tank. We created a bottle enclosure with the top open and put some food in and a little water dish. The tank is humidity controlled to 80%

Also I don’t know how upload a photo if anyone can tell me how : o )

[Hermielover121]

Please fill out the emergency page so we can better help find the problem. Do you know how many crabs you had up? If you do try to see if you can find all of them.


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[Jduk]

Thanks. How do I find the emergency page? I can’t find it

[Hermielover121]

Thanks. How do I find the emergency page? I can’t find it

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?

2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?

4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?

12. How often do you clean the tank and how?

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?

15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.


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[curlysister]

A naked crab is an emergency. They drop their shell when they are too weak to carry it.
The first thing you need to do is to get the crab back into a shell, if it is still alive. Here is the care sheet that explains how to do that:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 7&t=122302

The emergency template can help us help you trouble shoot what may have gone wrong.

To add photos, you need to use the Tapa Talk app, or a photo sharing app.

[Jduk]

If it’s not moving and totally limp is it worth trying to put it back in the shell

[edukeshire]

If it’s not moving and totally limp is it worth trying to put it back in the shell

Here is picture of sunshine outside her shell today right now. Been outside shell for 24 hours in this photo a few minutes ago




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[Hermielover121]

I would definitely try, there is no reason to throw away a chance of survival. You still don’t smell anything fishy?


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[Hermielover121]

Also please fill out the emergency template so that we can figure out the cause and prevent it.


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[Jduk]

Well I'm pretty sure Sunshine is dead being that she is starting to smell. Thanks for your help. I think she left her shell and couldn't find another one quick enough.

Luckily we still have 8 other crabs and they are doing awesome for the past year.

[Hermielover121]

I’m so sorry for your loss. I would still recommend filling out the template or just checking all the care guides here and making sure everything is good to prevent this from happening again.


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[crabs_lex]

Well I'm pretty sure Sunshine is dead being that she is starting to smell. Thanks for your help. I think she left her shell and couldn't find another one quick enough.

Luckily we still have 8 other crabs and they are doing awesome for the past year.

as stated, crabs leave their shells when they are to sick/weak to carry it, so it’s obviously a sign of something being wrong with your crab. sadly lots of people don’t have the best of luck with naked crabs and they do pass on. so can’t say it’s really from the crab leavings it’s shell and not getting into another one quick enough. i mean there are times where crabs are bullied out of shells and such. but it’s probably pps if he hasn’t molted yet or something improper with your tank that we need to fix
has the crab molted with you yet?
and as stated it might be helpful to you and your crabs to fill out the template provided!