I NEED HELP ASAP!!

Question
QUESTION: my hermit crab just lost a lot of its exoskeliton and is freaking me out. i read that when they do that its called molting. i was wondering what color they need to be to be heathy after molting. please respond asap please!

ANSWER: Dear Josh,
thank you for your question.
Directly after molting, the crab is pink and very soft. It will gradually harden and turn to a darker color (the actual color depends on both species and food). Leave the crab alone as much as possible now, he's very stressed just from the molt and needs time to harden out and to de-stress.

If your crab molted without burying himself, there is probably something wrong with the conditions in your tank, like too low humidity/temperature or substrate that's not deep enough or not suitable. Topside molts sometimes happen for no reason, but it's rare, usually there's some kind of problem. Please take a look at these websites, they have excellent info on crab care:
www.thecrabbagepatch.com
www.crabstreetjournal.com

www.landhermitcrabs.com
www.hermitcrabassociation.com
are active and friendly hermit crab forums, the people there are very knowledgeable.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer

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QUESTION: hi my crabs habitat is fine and that response helped a lot but my hermit crab's  leftovers from molting were on the top and that worried me. also a hermit crab this morning was completely still and still is. when i went to pick it up i grabbed it by the shell and it was slipping right out. i wanted to know if it is dead or its a process of molting. please respond ASAP please!!!!!!

ANSWER: If a crab just slips out of its shell, that's not a good sign. It doesn't neccessarily mean that the crab is dead, though. Put it in a small container with some moist moss, the shell and bottlecaps full of food and water, there's not much more you can do.
If the crab is really dead, it will start to smell of rotting fish fairly soon, this is just about the only sure sign that a crab is dead.
I hope your crab is going to make it!
Jennifer

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi again. i was wondering about the smell well i put some deodorizer i bought from a store that is made for hermit crabs
so i can tell if it smells or not. he got out of the shell today and i did what you said. one of my other hermit crabs died a year ago and when he did he was in pieces. i was wondering if that's a sign that they are truly dead so i can tell if it's just acting weird or not. i also want to know what are the stages of molting and what i should do for them. please respond soon!

Answer
The rotting-fish smell is the best sign. I wouldn't use the deodorizer, even if it says on the bottle it's made for use in crabitats. Hermit crabs are very sensitive to such things and it may be harmful.

During premolt, the crab may become sluggish, dig and eat a lot and the eyes may cloud over, like a white skin over the eyes. The actual molt takes only a few hours, but the crab will take a long time to harden again and to destress after molting. Apart from providing excellent conditions and leaving the crab alone, there's nothing you have to do, they must make it on their own.
I hope this helps
Jennifer