OK, last night, I saw that one of my crabs was naked. He was under a "bridge" type thing, and I couldnt reach him to remove him into iso. So I tried to block the area from other crabs getting to it as best I could and put shells within easy distance of him.
This morning, I woke up and found a crab on top of him, and he was torn apart (or so i thought), so I moved the crab off of him, but I had to leave for work.

I went home on my lunch to remove the body and parts that were strewn, and I scooped the main part of his body up with a spoon when I noticed a twitch. It was then that I saw that he had legs still...but they were soft and pink...so he had molted! I put him in a small container gently and placed his exo and some sand in there with him. I also put a shell in there, and I placed some moss gently on top of him so that he wouldn't be out in the open. I put that container in my old 10 gal. tank with a sponge and some water. I put a glass lid on it and left the light on. I only had 10 minutes, and I am back at work now. I really thought he was dead, so I am glad that he is alive. However, from what I have read, he will probably not make it through this.

Please tell me what I can do to increase his chances!

I'll admit I don't know a whole lot about hermies but it sounds like you've done all the right things. Don't give up hope. My sis has 2 crabs and a while back she was cleaning their tank and found that one was missing HALF his legs (including his large claw). We thought he was done for but he's doing great now, he's even got 'gel limbs' which are a sign of regrowth. We just made sure he had plenty of water and good food available.

Keep us updated on your little guy please!

Thanks Chrissy!
I found a lid for the container that he is in, so I was able to put that back in the main tank, where the temp is warmer and stable. I saw some movement from him when I was placing the lid on, so he is still alive.

Now, I discovered another problem....one of my crabs is in a shell that is WAY too small for him. Like it only covers his soft abdomen, the curvy yucky looking part. I think what happened is that the smaller crab that was in that shell stole the shell from the larger crab, and so the larger one just went into the smaller crab's shell. OR maybe it was the other way around...i have no way of knowing. I'm not sure why the large one is in that small shell though when there are plenty of shells that would fit him that are available. He is hiding right now, and I don't want to disturb him.

Is this out of your s/w tank? Is it filtered or is it a FOWLR or a REEF? It is best to let it go if you have the FOWLR or a REEF, he will find a safe place.

Do you have extra shells for the big guy to crawl into? Sometimes I think they are just silly and choose really inappropriate sized houses

Awww I had Hermits as a kid.. When they Molt sometimes the others will gain a quick meal since the new skin is sooo soft..Try to provide something he can go into to when they shed...Mine always burrowed into the sand and when done presto! they found a new home...lol

How's he doing now?

My sis checked on hers today and he regrew all his legs! They're tougher than you think

Well, I just got back from my trip, and the one who was in the small shell came out of it completely and molted as well...so that's 2 of them that are surface molting naked...i don't know really what to do with them, so I"m just trying to provide them with the righ temp and humidity. I know the 2nd one is still alive...I can't seem to locate the first one in the little container he was in. :unsure

But yes, they do have plenty of other shells to pick from.

quick update.
The 1st one went into the shell that i had put in the container with him, and he is still alive. I moved him out of the container to an iso tank. I put him in there with some honey, and other foods, and a salt water and fresh water pool, as well as some new shells. He hasn't moved out of the mossy corner though, but I think that he is eating his exo, so that's good, right?

When I put the 1st crab into the iso, I then moved the other naked crab into the container with his exo and a shell, and after a day, he went into that shell So, today I will move him out of the container and into the iso tank as well.

Does anyone know how long it should take for them to harden up, and when it would be safe to move them back into the main tank?

Yes, that's very good


I'd like to know this as well. My sister's tank has a divider in it now to seperate her crabs and we're afraid to remove it, we don't want a repeat attack!

I am checking on that on a hermit crab message board that I go to. But sometimes it takes a few days to get an answer there.

Did your sister's crabs attack the other while it was molting, or was it just a random attack?

I think what caused my problems was my humidity fluxuation, and the sand that I had in there would dry out really fast and got very hard when it dried. Luckily, I was able to bring back a bunch of sand from the beach, which I have had crabs successfully molt in before, so I think this will help alot. Now I just have to get the humidity stable, and it should be OK. I just hope these 2 little guys are able to pull through!

We're fairly sure he was attacked while moulting, but unfortunatly she's been working a lot of overtime lately and hasn't really been able to watch the little guys too much - so she didn't know if the crab was definatly moulting.
She also had a lot of humidity fluctuation, that's a good theory. She added some coconut fiber and took out one of the light bulbs that was causing a lot of evaporation, that seemed to do the trick.

that's cool, i hope her little guys are ok!

On the hermit crab board, they said it should be ok to add the molted crabs back to the main tank after about 2 weeks, they should be hard by then.
They also said that high humidity isn't a problem for the crabs, it is only a problem because it can lead to mold growth, and mold is toxic.
That's good news for me because my humidity gets really high sometimes!

So far, the two little molters are still in the shells that they went into after a few days of being naked, and I am pretty sure they are still eating their exo's. So good news so far!

That's great!

Thank you

More good news. Friday when I got home from work, the first crab that molted had come out of his little corner and he switched into a different shell, and he was by the food dish when i saw him He was out and about a bit on saturday & sunday too.

Oh that's wonderful news!!
I don't know anything about hermit crabs, or I would have offered you some advice. But you did all that was best for him, and he's doing great!!
But you always do what's best for your pets!! And I'm sure they love you for it!!!


Deb

Thanks deb!!
I'm very happy that they are doing good! The 2nd one was out looking around the other day too, so i'm really happy!

That's great news, these little guys are tough hey? Mine has completely regrown all his legs, it's crazy.

I've had similar situations with my hermits; in fact, last year I thought I had lost one of my oldest hermits, only to find out it was exo I was seeing, not a dead crab. Even after all these years he still fooled me!

It can take a week or two for them to completely harden back up. They usually will burrow to the bottom of the tank to do this, out of the way of any predators. However I have had several surface molts. Unfortunately, those usually end with the molter being eaten by the other crabs. They are opportunistic scavengers who will eat anything, even their own kind.

When I have found my surface molters in time, I remove them to a separate tiny Kritter Keeper that I put into the main tank. It is vented but sealed so they are safe but still have the benefit of the heat and humidity of the main tank, without having to stress them by putting them in a quarantine tank. I put soft moss and Eco Earth and some food high in calcium such as eggshells, as well as a small container of salt and fresh water.

Good luck with your hermits. I've had badly damaged crabs come back from missing legs or claws.

Thanks jsrtist! I know that you are the "hermit crab master"!!
It has been a little over 2 weeks, and I have moved them both back into the main tank, and they seem to be doing well so far. I think I also currently have another molter, but luckily he did dig under the sand to do his.
It's kinda funny that for like a year and a half no one molted, and within the past 4 months, I've had 5 molts! Is it normal for them to molt around the same time that others molt?

I believe it is--they give off a chemical odor that may trigger it, especially in such close quarters. Just make sure the substrate is plenty deep enough so you don't have other crabs trying to dig up the molters. Also make sure there are lots of extra, larger shells for them to try on post molt!

Thank you

-Just this morning, for the first time since I moved the 2 molters back to the main tank, I saw one of them out and about, and I noticed that he is missing 2 legs on one side he wasn't like that before the molt. So, now he only has the small pincher on that side. On the other side is the 2 legs, and the purple pincher, so that side is normal. I feel bad for him, is there anything special I should do for him? Do you think he will be OK?

Oh no

I'm starting to find keeping these little guys stressful since mine lost his legs, my sis and I are constantly worried about more attacks.
When ours lost his legs we just made sure he got plenty of food and water, and I kept an eye out for 'gel limbs'. When those appeared I knew he'd moult soon so kept him seperated from the other crab.

So, when the gel limbs appear, they molt soon after?
Can he molt again so soon?
I still don't know if it was just a bad molt and he lost them then, or if he lost them after
i still see him out and about, so he must be doing OK....he doesn't seem to be climbing though, he's just staying on the ground level. The poor thing, i just want him to be ok.

I'm not sure how long it takes them to moult once the gel limbs appear, but I think it's a good bet to isolate at that point. I also don't know how quickly they go between moults. For our guy, from the time he lost the limbs (we're pretty sure it was a post-moult attack) to the time he regrew his legs was about 2 months.

OH NO!!! I have another emergency!

One of my crabs was under the sand molting, and I don't know if another crab dug in with him and tried to eat him or what, but his hole is open, and I can see a part of his body....i can't tell what part it is. One of his soft legs has fallen off. I'm not real sure about the rest of him. I don't know where his shell is either. I did see some movement when I looked at him. But what I see looks like a mess! Last night, I saw his little legs, and he looked perfectly normal, just soft. Now this morning, i see this mess. I tried to get pics, but my flash is too bright, and when I turn it off, the pic blurs.

So, I guess my question is, should I just leave him alone? Would it be too traumatic to dig him up and iso him? I can't see any eyes or legs, just a lump that twitched. I thought I saw his antanae, but I'm not sure because if what I think is his body, it would be impossible that his

Oh no, you're having bad luck with your crabs hey?

I don't think it would be wise to move him at this point. But can you keep the other crabs away?

yeah, these crabs are gonna give me a heart attack!! poor little guys

-last night before I went to bed, I cut the bottom off of a 2 liter pop bottle and kinda place that around him as best I could without disturbing him to keep the others away. This morning, I didn't see any signs that he had moved at all. I will be able to check better when I get home from work today. I really hope he makes it, he was doing so well until now.

-also, i'm missing 1 crab....i did a count of them last night, and i can only account for 5...i should have 6. so either he's under the sand somewhere, or the others completely devoured him? no clue.

well, the little guy is still alive. Yesterday, I misted his hole with some water and I saw what I think may be gel limbs immediately reach out and try to get water from the sand. so I then added some bee pollen to the hole and he ate some of that! This morning, he is almost completely out of the hole. he is naked. i have a shell in there for him hoping he will go in it. he has no small pincher, his purple pincher is very deformed. From what I can see, he has one leg on the right, no small pincher, then his deformed big pincher, and another leg. From what I can see, it looks like his BP is embedded with sand or something...i'm not really sure though, it's hard to tell what happened there. All I know is he had a very bad molt.
My question now is, if he goes into the shell, should I ISO him, or should I leave him in the main tank?
any advice would be most helpful

I'd iso him just to be safe, better safe than sorry

OK, he came out of the hole, so I think i may move him to ISO. I really didn't want to disturb him though....but I can see sand all over his little soft body. Wonder if i should get him in some dechlor water to get the sand off then try to put him near some shells?? I've never really messed with a naked crab like that before, and seeing as how he doesn't even have his small pincher, I don't want to stress him out even more!

Eek, I've never dealt with a naked crab either. I would think you need to wash him but I really don't know, maybe you could just mist him?

You've probably seen this but I found a lot of info on this site in the past
www.thecrabbagepatch.com

Thanks Chrissy! I don't think I have seen that site before. I'm gonna go look right now!

Thanks to everyone who tried to help. Sadly, he is gone now

Oh no
Sorry to hear it, you did your best.

Oh Sweety, I'm so sorry that you lost him. You really did all that you could for him, Hun.
I hope you feel better soon.

Deb

thanks guys! I feel so bad that he didn't make it
but i did all that i knew how to do for the poor little fella. I think that the molt was stressful, and then i believe that another crab went into his molting tunnel and pulled him out of his shell and then stole his shell. I think this was just too stressful for him to recover from, not to mention the loss of a leg and his small pincher, and the deformed big pincher. I just hope that he didn't suffer much. I guess at least I was able to get him out of the pet store conditions and give him a better chance than he had there. He is burried next to my goldie Tiny, and my Betta's that have passed before.

Try going on www.landhermitcrabs.com i was their before

I am so sorry! The biggest problem I've dealt with through the years is molters being killed and eaten (I find body parts or just completely empty shells). But I am a crabber who does not iso my molting crabs. It's controversial but I do feel that moving them during this time is infinitely more stressful than the off chance of being killed. Since I increased the depth of my substrate I've had much better luck.

Last year I lost one of my favorite and oldest crabs, Ivy. He came up from a molt with a badly deformed leg. Over the next year or so he molted a couple more times and the leg was getting better but was still very damaged. Finally, during a move, I emptied out the tank and found his empty shell. I don't know if he died from the bad molt, or if he was killed. Of all the crabs I've lost that one was one of the worst. I really miss him and have since retired his shell to my display shelf in the living room. He was the only one to ever have it and I didn't want anyone else in it.

Some really good sites that I am a member of are Hermit Crab Association, The Crab Street Journal and Hermit Crab Addicition.