Uncovered my hermit crab!

[Salmon78]

Ok so I got my hermit crab (Sheldon) a couple months ago and he's been buried ever since the first day (to my knowledge). I've had some troubles and my tank conditions aren't the best but I am almost positive he's still alive. There's no dead smell, I looked under the tank a couple times and each time he's in a different position, and nothing seemed to be too off. Well today I decided to do some basic maintenance on the tank: refilling water, adding water to the substrate, ec. I lifted up an alfalfa hut thing I had put in there to see a hole with most my hermit crab's shell visible. I immediately just covered him up with the side of the hut to block light. Then I, within the next few minutes, put the hut back in its original place/position and left him.
Is he going to be ok? Me and my mom thinks the substrate may have shrunk or something. Is he molting? Did I kill him?
And sorry if this post is confusing, I'm just really worried about him.

[GotButterflies]

Egads...please don't add water to your substrate! You could collapse a tunnel or cave and trap a hermit crab down there.

With what you described - it sounds like he will be okay. You didn't cover him with dirt, you just put the hut over him right?

[Salmon78]

Oh my goodness I hope I didn't collapse a tunnel! I read on a website that you can do that to make sure the substrate isn't dried out. I've only done that twice though so I hope he's ok.
And yes I only put the hut over him. Some extra substrate may have gotten on him by accident during the whole thing but I think that was it.
And thank you for responding so quickly

[GotButterflies]

Yw! It's okay to add water to your substrate if all of your crabs are up Otherwise I would refrain from doing it

Good luck!

[aussieJJDude]

Tou can add water to your substrate, just do it with a mister or in a way that you dont dump it in and it will be fine!
Watering substrate can equate to flooding, so be careful and you should be fine.

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[Salmon78]

Ok thank you guys for the advice about the water!! I hope my hermit crab is ok though. It's really concerning that he hasn't really been on the surface since I got him over a month ago.

[piratetoothgir]

Back in my 10 gallon crabitat. My ZooMed Little Dripper leaked into the tank, and flooded it with 4 inches of water. One of my crabs was on the wood trying to get away from the water, and the other was buried underneath. Luckily, he was ok, and didn't drown. Sadly, I lost that crab 4 months later.


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[Salmon78]

Aww that's so sad. Poor little hermit crabs.

[Salmon78]

I know it's been a while but I just wanted to give an update on Sheldon. I heard a scratching noise the other night and found him perfectly ok crawling around the tank. He's been a lot more active since. He even went up to the surface one day around dusk, till I scared him when I went to do tank maintenance. I think he's scared of people but at least he's alive.

[daws409]

That's great! Remember they are prey animals so being scared of humans or shadows is totally normal.

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[GotButterflies]

Thanks for the update

[Salmon78]

Thanks everyone!
And daws409 that's a good point I didn't think about that.

I have a question though. Since Sheldon is alive and is acting normally, should I get him a friend? And if I so I probably need to fix the substrate, it's not deep enough. So should I wait till he's above ground then move him and add substrate or how should I do that?

[daws409]

Remind me how big your tank is and how many you already have...

You can add substrate with him under. Just add 1 inch per 24 hours til you get the desired depth (6 inches or 3x your largest crab. Whichever is deeper.) and DON'T pack it down.

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[Salmon78]

I have a 10 gallon and I only have Sheldon. When I first got him my parents didn't know they were social animals, and then we thought it'd be best to wait and get another one after Sheldon got used to his new home.
And ok thanks I'll probably do that considering he doesn't go above ground until 11:00 at night.

[daws409]

I would only add one more friend to the 10G. Keep in mind they do grow after each molt. After a few years, 2 in a 10G may be overcrowded depending on how big they are.

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