QuestionI bought a my hermit crab about 6 days ago after a recent ocean crab had died. It had been acting kinda shy ever since we got it but i didnt worry cuz she was in a new home. But when i woke up this morning i looked at her and she was ALL THE WAY OUT OF HER SHELL AND CRAWLING AROUND WITHOUT IT!!!! At first i figured it needed a new shell but it is acting fine without one and crawling around and acting like a regular hermit crab just without its shell. But i am worried that she wont last long without a shell. Im also wondering how long it will survive without one. What should i do?
P.S. plz hurry cuz i dont want her to die.
AnswerDear Kendyl,
thank you for your question.
Usually, land hermit crabs that leave their shell are sick or very stressed, but sometimes they just go naked for no apparent reason. In captivity, it's not that live-threatening as in the wild because there are no predators and a healthy crab can survive surprisingly long without a shell as long as it has access to water and the humidity is high enough (70-80%).
Check for dirt or mites in her old shell, maybe there was something that made her feel uncomfortable.
You can try to gently coax her back into a shell by putting her in a small container with a number of suitable shells. If she doesn't want to go back, you cannot do much more than providing her with high humidity, good food and leaving her alone to destress. Crabs fresh from the pet store need a long time to get used to their new surroundings even if everything is perfect.
Here are some more very useful hermit crab links:
http://www.thecrabbagepatch.com/
http://landhermitcrabs.com/
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com
http://www.crabstreetjournal.com/
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer
