QuestionI bought these crabs in Ocean City Maryland in August. I have too and when i went to play with them i realized that the pink shell one, wasnt in her shell. i read and read about hermit crabs and it says that if there motling they might be under the sand but i searched though the sand and still coundt find my crab. Do you think shes dead? but where would she go if she dead?
AnswerDear Skye,
thank you for your question.
Crabs do bury themselves to molt and it's very important that you leave them alone when they do that, never search for them. They are already stressed when they are molting and disturbing them at this time can cause them to loose legs or even die.
When crabs die while being buried, they decompose, sometimes very quickly (especially small crabs). You will only find the shell or not even that if the crab went naked before burying and left the shell behind (which is not something they normally do, though).
Is it possible that she changed shells and that you just overlooked her while searching?
Hermit crabs are escape artists, they are perfectly able to climb the silicone in the corner or tanks and push open the lid. If you cannot rule out that this happened, the crab might have escaped. Put shallow water bowls and moist pieces of cloth in every room, the crab will look for damp places and you might be able to find it again that way. If she should still be inside the tank, there's nothing you can do but wait for her to turn up again.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer
