New Crab Hasn't Moved In A Week

Please post here if you are a new crab owner and someone will be along shortly to welcome you to the HCA! This is also the place to welcome new crabbies to your clan!
Post Reply

Topic author
surprisecrab
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2021 1:43 pm
Location: Earth

New Crab Hasn't Moved In A Week

Post by surprisecrab » Sat Aug 28, 2021 1:56 pm

Hi everyone!

I am new to crab owning and never intended to be a crab owner. However, last Sunday (Aug. 22) I found a hermit crab in the street when I was walking my dogs. I have no idea where it came from but I took it home and bought the ExoTerra hermit crab starter kit at PetSmart. I know that this is not a perfect crabitat but like I said, the crab was unexpected and it was the best option with no advanced notice that I would become a crab owner.

The crab walked around a little on Sunday when I put it in the tank. It ate some bites of the pellets (I know those aren't great but it opted for those instead of the bell pepper I left out) then stopped moving and hasn't moved since. Two of its legs are sticking out of the shell and I can see antennas poking down and out too. From this site and others, I have read that it could either be dead or surface molting. Today is Saturday (Aug. 28) and I still don't smell anything that smells like dead fish, which I read was a sign of death. All I can smell is the substrate.

Temps are in the mid 70s. I am using the heater that sticks to the back of the tank. Humidity is between 70-80%. I mist the tank multiple times a day with dechlorinated water. The tank came with a screen lid. I know this isn't perfect and if the crab is alive, I will replace it with a glass lid. The substrate is the ExoTerra equivalent of EcoEarth. There are about 3 inches of it. I know this should be deeper, but I read that if the crab is molting, I shouldn't move it, so I'm waiting to see what happens before I make changes. Little guy has fresh and salt water (I treated them with the ExoTerra chemicals to remove chlorine and make the salt water salty). I don't think the crab climbed into either water pool before it stopped moving. I am changing out food and water daily even though it hasn't moved.

If anyone has any advice to offer, it would be greatly appreciated. I have become attached to the crab and I really hope it's still alive and just molting.

Thank you!

User avatar

JoeHermits
Administrator
Administrator
Posts: 2236
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 9:26 pm
Contact:

Re: New Crab Hasn't Moved In A Week

Post by JoeHermits » Sat Aug 28, 2021 6:08 pm

It’s normal for new crabs to not seem energetic. Keep an eye on it, since as you know a surface molt is not an ideal situation.

Regardless, there’s not much you can do except maintain the habitat and let him do his thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Post Reply