accidently dug up my molting ecuadorian :(

[bleujoli]

Hi all, I'm new here, but have had my hermit crabs for about a year and a half. I've had many successful molting with my little ecuadorian "Agent Fang". However, a few days ago I noticed somehow my tank had mites... ew... so I had to do a major cleaning. I have a damp play sand substrate (very deep). Agent Fang had just buried himself yesterday, but he loves to dig, so I had no idea he was molting!

When I was carefully digging, I dug up Agent Fang and some molting limbs fell off. He seems to be sticking halfway out of shell with his little new pink body. And I think I did a no-no because he had a mite or two on him, so I dipped him in a bath just to get them off. Anyway, I have him hanging out in a separate tank where I covered it (so it'd be dark). But he's completely still (hasn't stunk yet, thank goodness, so I think he's alive).

So, did I kill him? Any advice?

Thanks so much!

[Wai]

Getting him out of the mite infested substrate was a good thing to do. Leave him in ISO from now on and don't disturb him anymore.

[iluvhermies]

I agree with Wai. I have lost several hermies to mites when I moved to my new house I am in now. So yes you did good by digging him up and unless you put him in the water and left him under water I would say he will be ok. I had to dig up molters before when we moved and I placed them into iso and they were all ok.

[Wai]

Giving your moulter a bath would wash off any mites. If your moulter had mites in its shell, then moving it to ISO would make things worse; your ISO would then be infested with mites.

These are good things to point out; I'll add it to our hermit crab care section.

[bleujoli]

Thanks for the reassurance, everyone. I appreciate the response. I didn't think it was a good idea to let him keep the mites, even if he was moulting. Unfortunately, I think my digging him up either stressed him too much or I hurt him when I scooped him, because he didn't make it. Thanks all anyway. At least my two remaining crabs are in a happy clean mite-free home now, though. Yuck, that was gross.

[krabby_katie]

Awww. I'm so sorry.

[iluvhermies]

I am so sorry to hear about your lose.

[Mr.Crab]

Aww:(