QuestionI bought a hermit crab today at the pet store. The crab is very small and seemed dehydrated. He was curled up in his shell and extremely shy. When I got him home, I misted him with some water and gave him a bath. Since then, he is out of his shell but not moving at all. I can tell he is alive. He was in an extremely small shell for his size so I put in some larger ones hoping he just wants to move. Any suggestions? I am afraid he is sick or dying.
AnswerYou really need to leave him a lone for a while, hermit crabs are EXTREMELY stressed out buy all the moving from place to place that they have to do to get from the beach to your tank, so leave it alone for at least a week, just change it's food and water, as long as it doesn't die, don't bother it. After a week or so you can begin to handle it gently. Sometimes when they get very stressed out, they appear sick or dying, but if you bother them during that time, they WILL get sick. If anything changes in his state, please contact me because there may be something else wrong.
