deshelled molting crab

[Mmstars13]

Hello, i have 2 hermit crabs. This morning i woke up to find out that one of my crabs dug down to molt but the other crab deshelled him!!! The molting crab is weak and not very active at all. I have moved the other crab out of the tank but am very cocerned about the deshelled molting crab. What should i do with him??? Somebody help please!!!!

[CallaLily]

It's very important to get him back in a shell. You can place some extras near him to see if he'll try one on. If not, try the glass cup method. This is where you place a clean, appropriately sized shell in the bottom of a glass, gently rinse the crab in lukewarm dechlor freshwater, and place him in the glass on top of the shell. Hopefully that'll coax him into taking it. If he continues to refuse or is extremely weak, you'll need to help him into a shell. In that case, a slightly too large shell makes it a bit easier. Again you'll want to make sure crab and shell are clean. It also helps to leave a small amount of water in the shell.

After getting the crab reshelled, ISO in proper conditions. Good luck!

[Mmstars13]

I dug ahole around him and put his shell next to him and covered him with his coconut house so it would be dark and then covered the aquarium with a towel. I checked on him and he did crawl back into his shell I'm in the process of putting him in the ISO tank now. I didn't think my other hermit crab would deshell him but that was news to me. just hope he makes it through the molt alive. thanks for your help. I'll keep you updated.

[hermitcrab24]

I'm glad he is back in his shell. Fingers crossed he pulls through his molt.

[CallaLily]

So glad to hear he's back in a shell. Please let us know how he does. Good luck!

[kornchaser]

It's happened to me before. Octavius was too big for his shell and he tried burying his bum without it. I put some bigger shells with him and he reshelled and burried instantly.
The most important thing for a crab molting or not is a correct sized all natural shell! Glad he changed back


Hermit mommy of 10 PP babies: Octavius Flemming, Poseidon, Junior, Matty Pumpkin, Turbo, Aries, Kaylee Frye, Pepper, Flower and Adrian Shephard.

[YYWW]

Now that he has deshelled you might need to feed especially nutritious foods to get him to perk up and molt. Crabbers are known to select paste or powdered foods for ease of feeding, especially if the crab is weak. Good foods are dried bloodworms, peanut butter, baby food, honey, etc. use a cotton swab to hold the food real close to him so he needs only reach out and munch. It is also a good idea to dip the food qtip into a bit of powdered calcium, such as powdered cuttlebone or crushed eggshells, for an extra supplement.
Hopefully he can and will eat, and may gain enough strength to molt his way back to health.
Dont forget to always offer properly dechlorinated fresh and salt water.


Crabbers unite!!!

[Mmstars13]

Hey everyone, just wanted to give an update. Day 5. My crab seems to be doing well. I found the rest of his exo and put it n the ISO tank right by him so he could get to it. The next day after all that happened, i checked on him and he ate the exo of the big claw. That was great to see as i was so worried about him. Now wit the qtip with the food on it, should i just leave the qtip there sitting right by him or should i actually sit there and wait for him to eat some? I know that sounds like a dumb question but i don't see him eat much now. I certainly wouldnt expect him to eat while he's molting. Thanks

[YYWW]

If he can move you can just stick it nearby in front of him. If he's eating his exo i think that will be enough.


Crabbers unite!!!