Is my crab dead or molting?

[elvispresley]

I got two new hermit crabs about a week ago. The larger one is doing perfectly fine, wandering around the tank and interacting with me. The smaller crab was not moving when we got him (we thought he was just sleeping). He seemed quite lethargic for the first few days and did not move very often. It has been kind of cold, so I assumed he had gone somewhat dormant. The last time I saw him move was two days ago. Today, he was in the same spot as he was the day before, so I picked him up by the shell to see if he was doing okay. When I picked him up, his limp body fell out of the shell completely. I left him where he was and put a clean dome-shaped drink lid on top of him and his shell (I didn't want the other crab to disturb him and I don't have any kind of isolation tank). There is food under the lid with him. I'm not sure if he's dead or molting. I've read that dead crabs let off a strong, fishy odor. There is a smell in the tank, but it doesn't really smell like death - it smells faintly like an ocean-side fish market. Is that the death smell that people talk about? What should I do about my crab?

[StellaCrab]

Hello, and welcome to the HCP!

It's common for new crabs to be a bit reclusive when you first get them, they need to release their stress from transport directly off the beach and into the pet store. They will be even slower when it is cold, and that can cause problems eventually. The smell you have describes sounds like it could be the molting smell, which is a lot like an iodine smell, and it happens when a crab molts, but we don't always smell it.

How deep is your substrate? You need to have at least six inches, or three times as deep as your largest crab is big for proper molting and digger behaviors.

If he really is molting, and you see a body inside of the shell he was wearing, then he is still alive and that is his exoskeleton, the part they shed when molting. If not, then he may be dead or dying.

[charcoal44]

This seems to be a common occurrence, I lost one the day after getting it as well, I found him half out of his shell and limp.

And since then, 2 more, that were fine up to the point of leaving their shells

Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing how old they are, or what kind of life they've had prior to getting them. I chose the one I recently lost based on the fact that he and his other crab mates were scampering around in their enclosure quite happily, that was 28 Nov last year, and he seemed fine up till a week ago, when he went quiet and sat in a corner for 5 days before vacating his shell.

This is indeed frustrating, when you give them the best care possible, and this happens and there's not much you can do, beyond the advice in these care forums, and then they still die.

[aussieJJDude]

If he is moulting, and what fell out is the exo, there will not be an abdomen attached to the 'main body'. The abdomen is soft and squishy, and is not like the hard exoskeleton the crabs have.


IMO, its never a good sign when a crab isn't in a shell or has fallen out, it usually shows high stress or its severely weak.