QuestionA few minutes ago I went into my room and found my male hermit crab Spider lying upside down with three of his legs missing. I picked him up so i could turn him over and he just slipped right out of his shell!!! My female crab Callypso is just fine. I find it weird that he died because just last night I took him and set him down on my bed and he was crawling around just fine, but Callypso is the lazy one!!! HELP!!!
AnswerDear Daryl,
thank you for your question.
It's not possible to tell why your crab died. It might be that he was sick, all crab are wildcaught and may carry parasites or other diease (none are dangerous for humans, though). They can die from stress during a molt, the first few weeks after you brought them home are always especially dangerous.
A freshly molted crab can look dead because the shedded exoskeleton falls from the shell, but there's no abdomen attached to it and you can see the living crab hidden in the shell, although sometimes it's very far back.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer
