Hermit crabs molting?

jrock4411

Reefing newb
Hi! This question is actually coming from jrock's wife, Rachelle.
I've noticed what looks like a few dead hermit crabs in my tank but I'm wondering if they are molts.
Today there was a hermit in the front corner of my tank with what seemed to be a dead hermit beside it. Everytime I go in for a closer look, the live hermit immediately hides in his shell. He's not moving around just hanging out.
So...does a hermit molt look exactly like a hermit out of his shell or am I losing hermits. This is the second one I found this week!
FYI-these hermits have been in the tank for a couple of months and are quite large. The tank is 50 gallons, the hermits tend to hide out most of the day and I can't always keep track of who's who.
Tank parameters are fine.
Thanks,
Rachelle
 
I agree probably molts. They are identical with one exception. They lay there limp-less and never move. If you pick them out and smash them between your fingers you'll be able to tell if they are hollow or have meat inside them.
 
+1 all above

If you have had them a few months and this is the first time you have noticed any signs of molting, then it's probably molting, but it wouldn't hurt to take it out of the tank anyway and do a feel/squeeze test as the others have mentioned :mrgreen:
 
I would say it's molting as well. I'm new to the SW hoby and had the same concerns. I only have 1 scarlet reef hermit and it molted twice in the past month. I thought it was dead when I saw the red legs right near the shell, but then I saw the crab inside, but the legs were slightly lighter in color. They'll darken up as the shell hardens again. The cleaners would definitely eat the dead hermit. My pepermint shrimp died and the crabs made short work of it within about an hour.
 
Back
Top