QuestionMy son has two hermit crabs. They have been taking turn, molting turning red (claws and around eyes). They lost claws to grow bigger one. They have been digging and hiding in the coconut bedding that I bought at the pet store. They seem to love it to dig in and to eat it. They also love to dig under small rock I got at the beach. They even try to lift the rocks.
Today one of the hermit crab, 'Claw" went out of his shell. Should I move "Hermie", the one hermit crab than is NOT out of his shell. I found "Claw" while searching for him. He was under the heaviest rock and his shell was beside him. After lifting the rock I decided not to put the rock back on top of him and just covered him with the coconut bedding. The other crab, "Hermie" seems not to be bothering "Claw". Should I still move "Hermie" until "Claw" picks a shell? We have over half a dozen shell (differnt size and different shapes.
AnswerDear Sophie,
thank you for your question.
I don't think it's necessary to move Hermie. As long as the crabs get enough animal protein in their diet (at least twice a week), they won't bother a naked or molting crabs at all. They may feed on a dead crab, but that's normal, they are after all scavengers.
A crab leaving it's shell is often not a good sign, though, Usually they are sick or even dying, but unfortunately there's not much you can do apart from leaving them alone to avoid stress and to offer perfect conditions. Sometimes a crab will just leave its shell for no apparent reason at all and move back or into another shell after some time.
Here's a website with more info on crabs that went naked, it has good instructions on how to get a crab back into the shell, but I would only try that once, it's stressful for them:
http://www.hermit-crabs.com/FAQ.html
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer
