QuestionI have 3 hermit crabs that I got from the pet store. I have had them for a year now and they have been great but recently (3-4 days) they have stopped eating anything or even moving around. There is a toy palm tree that every morning I would have to pick up because they would knock it down and crawl all over it and I have not had to pick that up once in the past few days. I even smoothed out the sand around them before I went to bed to see if they were walking around but just not playing with the trees, but there were no "footprints" or anything. It was still perfectly smooth. They also make a mess in their food bowl and it doesn't look like it was touched each morning at all. I don't have a humidity gauge but we keep the temperature around 73. I don't think I have changed anything since I bought them so I'm just worried why all of a sudden are they acting like this. I use bottled water because I heard tap water could have chlorine in it and that it was bad for them, but I have always used bottled water. They are not dead though because when I pick them up to check on them I can feel them moving inside the shell.
AnswerWhat climate do you live in? Is it getting more humid and warm? Have you adjusted your light/heat setup to compensate? This is a common problem and usually watching your gauges and adjusting will sort them out. Another option is a group bath and rearranging your tank and offering some new intriguing foods.
