My streaking crab is now molting-help

[mcabrera]

I've had my 2 hermit crabs for about 4 years now, and I woke up this morning to find one of them out of his shell. His shell was in the water dish and he crawled out of the water dish naked. I tried not to panic and he went to the shell area and is halfway in a bigger shell. I raised the humidity and have been misting him every few hours, his past molt was over a month ago. I seperated him and the other crab, he has been sitting about a quarter in a shell (I can see his abdomen) for almost the whole day very lethargic. I don't know what it is besides stress or illness, but very sad because I've had him for so long. Why do they usually streak and is there anything else I can do? Thanks.

[Wai]

Stop misting the crab directly (if you have been, that is) and thoroughly clean out all the shells you have with dechlorinated hot water in case there are any pests inside. Mist the area inside the tank periodically.

After cleaning out all the shells, try coaxing your hermit crab to go in one of them.

Unfortunately, there are few (if any) hermit crab doctors out there. If your hermit crab doesn't seem to be eating, you may need to start hand-feeding him/her with a toothpick. Be extremely careful don't to poke the hermit crab with the toothpick. Rather, put the food at the end of the toothpick, and position it in front of the hermit crab's mouth. The hermit crab should then use its mouthparts to reach of the food. I have tried this myself, and have witnessed the hermit crab eating. Try some clean vegies (don't wash with tap water), honey, spirulina and bloodworms. I'm not a doctor myself, but these may boost your hermit crab's nutrition levels and may cure him/her of any illness he/she may have.

Good luck. I hope your hermit crab recovers. Keep us updated.

[iluvhermies]

I agree with Wai clean the shells out. They can eave them cause there is something inside their shell. You can pick up a shells and dip him into the chlorine free water and rinse off his abdomen. Place his abdomen inside the shell and he shoud stretch out to place himself inside the shell. You may have to try this a couple times or try different shells. Be very careful with him.

[mcabrera]

Oh my gosh. He is molting. I just checked on him thought he was dying he was all shriveled up and looked like he was swaying back and forth. I peeked in again a few minutes later, he's shedding his exo! I've never had a topside molt. I don't know why again, though? It wasn't long ago. What do I do, I don't want to bother him anymore, should I leave him completely alone? I don't want do any further harm.

[mcabrera]

I recently posted a thread under "Stress" about my crab who left his shell yesterday morning. Well he stayed pretty much in the same position all yesterday and today, I raised humidity and tried offering him some food. He was still halfway in another shell. A couple hours ago I checked on him, I freaked out- it looked like he was dying, his eyestalks were down and I could see him "breathing" but a few mins later, I looked closer and he was shedding his exo! He molted over a month ago, i don't know why he would be molting already again, it was the last thing I expected. I've left him alone as I don't want to stress him out and tried making the tank as dark and humid as possible. Any other suggestions? I've never had a surface molt before. Help!

[iluvhermies]

OK Stay calm. Let him finish his molt and if there are oter crabs n there and you have an ISO tank move him to it. If you don't find a way to block the end of the tank he is in off from the others for awhile. If you move him to ISO then move the Exo with it.Be sure they all have food and water which ever way you do it. He will be vulnerable to the others so thats why you need to keep him separate. After that leave him alone until he is acting normal again and his color has returned. Then move back with the others.

[iluvhermies]

I posted in the other post under the stress one.

[Wai]

I'll add on to iluv's advice. If you haven't moved the hermit crab to ISO yet, rather than touching the hermit crab and its exo, scoop them all up with a dish along with the substrate underneath and put them in ISO. That way you do not need to touch the hermit crab. Be VERY careful while doing this, to avoid dropping the hermit crab.

Has your hermit crab finished moulting? I strongly suggest that you refrain from fiddling with him/her. Make sure there is sufficient temperature and humidity in the ISO, and keep the ISO in a dark place (cover the area of the lid that the moulter is under with something if you want to).

Congratulations! I hope the moult will be successful. I'm glad to hear that the hermit crab wasn't ill.

Edit:
I have merged the two topics together. Continue discussing this case in this one thread.

[mcabrera]

Thanks guys. He is looking good so far. Unfortunately, I don't have an ISO, but I've blocked off my other crabby from him. He is so funny, he must smell Big Boy's exo, he's trying so hard to "break" through the barrier I made. I didn't think I'd have a problem but he is being very mischevious! I had to outsmart him and make sure it's secure.
Big Boy is hardening and color is starting to come back. Today he started eating his exo. I hope he gets through this, it was so strange he molted again only after a couple months.. does that happen often? Usually they don't molt that often as long as I've had them. It's just been a very unusual experience for me, but I learn more every time.

[iluvhermies]

Who knows why hermies do what they do. Only them. Glad to hear he is getting better.