Hermit crab out of his shell

[wontonflip]

Ok, I know hermit crabs will come out of their shell to molt or change shells or if they have sand in their shell or something...or if they're dying...but this one I just got yesterday is out of his shell..at first, I saw him upside down, so I thought it was either a crab's molted skin, or he was dead. But I saw him twitch. I poked him with my tongs and pushed him upright and he's just there...sitting in front of my tank....on top of his shell. Should I worry/do anything?

 

[d2mini]

Maybe he was working on his tan?

No, seriously I have no idea. :dunno:

 

[wontonflip]

Hehehe....Yeah, I just checked on him...still just sitting there. Maybe he's dying. I see his antenna twitching, and he keeps rolling on his back. I just really hope the other ones I got don't follow suit :shock:

 

[Oscarsdad608]

Get a q-tip fast, clean out his shell or he won't make it. Maybe shake it a little. No seriously I would leave it be.

 

[Bifferwine]

It sounds like it's dying. But there's nothing you can do about that. Sorry.

 

[cthegame]

i once had a hermit walk around for a few days without a shell and then it died. But i think it died because at the time i didnt have any empty shells for it. it was one of the first ones i ever owned.

It was actually quite funny - he was all paranoid to be in the open for too long so he would just hide in this little cave area. now im thinking it was his way of dying?

 

[wontonflip]

Yeah, he died :( I'm just worried if anymore of them will die. I'm all paranoid -- looking around nooks and crannies for any more showing any signs of distress...unfortunately, they're all hiding!!! I can only find 4 out of the 12 I have in there.

 

[messiah023]

Q-Tip!!!!! HAHAHA....

You need to make sure you have a bunch of empty shells of all sizes if you are going to keep hermits. It looks like you have scarlett hermits which tend to be the most agressive (towards snails).

I started with hermit crabs as well, but soon realized they are a big pain.
I have (3) scarletts in the tank now an mainly just keep snails for the algae & shrimp to assist with clean-up.

 

[cgoodman381]

Sorry to hear that your hermit died, I love all mine!

Something to consider is if you had a larger shell for him to move in to. He looks pretty big and both the shells on the right of the pic look a little small for him. Im not positive, but if he didnt have something else to go into it may have stressed him out and such...

 

[wontonflip]

I don't know because I had tons of different sized shells all over the front of the aquarium and some even larger ones in the back. He was one of the ones I just picked up from my lfs on sunday, so it's possible he just didn't handle the transition. Always sad to loose one of your livestock, even if it's just a janitor.