ahhhhhhhh!!!! help me help me help me

[suckafreesather]

Last night i heard my molter moving around last night (eating his exo skeloton) and i got worried because the sand is really dry. Then when i woke up all the sand collapsed on him. I didnt do anything but smell the tank and it smelt fine so hes not dead . But can my hermit crab get out of this mess hes been up all night so i hope he ate all of his exo. Please respond!

[CrabbyJo]

Again, don't worry. If the sand is a little too dry, I'm sure he can get out of it. He's still alive and eating his exo, so chances are his new exo is strong enough to handle digging around a little if he needs to.
Again, don't disturb him any more, ok?
Hermies do this in the wild all the time without our help, he will be just fine.

[suckafreesather]

thank you and hes fine now he just dug up from his molting chamber and is fine i have read the post molt section on this website and it said not to touch him for a week is there any other adivce that you can give me from your own personal experiances?

[emmac350]

Give him lots of chitin/calcium/protein-high foods. Things like plankton, krill, even bloodworms/tubeworms/mealworms, fresh and dried shrimp (if it's fresh, make sure the tail's on at a minimum; steam or saute it so it isn't raw), etc. These foods will help him to harden his exo and grow after his molt, along with replenishing the nutrients he lost during the molt.

[ladybug15057]

When he is ready to return to the tank mates you will know too, he will become very active. (It may not take a full week... you'll know by his actions) Make sure to either bath your hermies together, or give him a dip in the community fresh water pond before you change the water so he smells like the others as well as rinse the molting odor off of him. This will help to cut back from some of the possible aggressive/territorial behavior issues.

[suckafreesather]

ok and about that protine theres this can of river shrimps at my pet store would that work for turtels is that ok?

[CrabbyJo]

Actually I believe the turtle foods also have the preservatives in them that are not good for hermit crabs.
What would be better would be the freeze dried shrimp (you'll find it over by the fish food), and the ingredients in the can are nothing other than freeze dried shrimp. Krill is also good.

[emmac350]

If you're talking about freeze dried baby shrimp and the can lists "shrimp only" (or something along those lines), then yes. You can also get similar jars of krill, plankton, and tubifex worms that will all provide them the same protein/calcium/chitin punch that they need especially after a molt.

Another thing to look at is the Hermit Crab Addiction Store here. Their products are extremely high quality and they offer packs like the Protein Combo Pack, PPS kit, and even species-specific food kits. Your mom or dad can buy them for you and your crabs if you aren't allowed to buy things online.

[ladybug15057]

Is this the type of product you're meaning?

http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/canned_foods.php

[emmac350]

I didn't mean those, Marie - I was meaning the dried ones that you can buy. I'm not sure if that's what he meant, though.