QuestionThis morning I cleaned my son's hermit crab aquarium that we have 4 crabs in. One of them was under the moss bedding and he had lost limbs and one claw, but also had what appears to be molting coming out of his shell. I saw the other crab messing with him and he pulled him out of his shell and stole it. Now the one that got pulled out is in the corner looking dead, not moving, and is naked. I put a new shell next to him with some olive oil around the inside to attract him in it, but he is not trying to move. He's a pink color and all curled up in there. What should I do?
AnswerDear Tracie,
thank you for your question.
It's best to leave the crab alone as much as possible now. There's not much you can do except keeping the humidity extra high (aboce 80%) so that he doesn't dry out and offering a new shell like you did. He needs to get through this on his own. It's possible that he will die, if he does, you will notice a smell of rotting fish fairly soon, that is the best way to tell if a crab is dead. I hope that he will make it. If he does start to move again, offer food high in protein and calcium: fish, krill, dead crickets/mealworms/silkworms, cooked egg, extra cuttlebone and some honey for extra energy. That will help him to molt and regrow his limbs soon.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer
