He is out of his shell

Question
HI,
My daughter has a crab (Bo) that I think is molting.  It buried itself under a combination of sand wood chips. It is about 75 degrees and about 75 % humidity in the tank.   It is a very small crab and has been there for about 3 weeks.  Another crab was also buried underneath this substrate and when he came out Bo was there out of his shell and not moving.  He did not smell at all so I put him back under the substrate.  Is this normal to molt out of the shell and what do I do now?  How long do I leave him before checking on him to see if he is alright. Do I need to clean the sand off him?

Answer
Hello,
Here's a few recommendations for your tank. You should take the wood chips out. They suck the moisture out of the tank and can be potentially harmful to your hermit crabs. You can use sand, coco-fiber and moss. Those are all safe substrates.
Usually a crab will not molt out of his shell. Did you rebury him? If you did, I'd check on him again. When they dig under they leave a pocket of air for them. If we rebury them, the chance of losing that air pocket is high.
When you check on him, look for movement. IF he passed there might not be a smell. Rinse out his shell and a few others and offer them to him in an area the other crab can't get to.
Here's a few sites to check out.
www.hermitcrabaddiction.net/forum
www.crabstreetjournal.com
Hope Bo is alright!
Vicki