Need Hermit Crab Help

[jayharris]

I have two hermit crabs and have had them for about 3 weeks. They both seemed to be doing well until today when I picked one up and 3 of his legs were off!! I kept wondering what was wrong and did some research but felt like it was not environment stress related. First of all let me just say that they are named red and black ( my 5 year olds choice). Now red was a VERY outgoing crab from day 1. Always active and would come out as soon as picked up and walk on your hand. Black was exact opposite. VERY shy, didn't come out when held, and not adventurous at all. My problem here is that I picked up Red's shell and it was his legs that were gone (so I thought) and he is alive but won't come out of his shell. I then realized that Black was crawling all over the place and came out to crawl when held. I then wondered if Red attacked and stole Blacks shell or stole his shell and Black's legs fell off from stress because of it. Is it possible for a hermit crab to attack/take anothers shell???? (I am 99% certain that it is Red in Blacks shell) And will Black now die from the stress of this???? Please Help.....thanks!

 

[Kevin565]

How large is their tank?

 

[jayharris]

10 gallon.

 

[hollyclyff]

Yes, hermit crabs will steal shells from other crabs. Especially if there are not enough empty shells to choose from.

 

[Kevin565]

Are they in a secluded area? The legs most likely did indeed fall of from stress. I've never raised a Hermit Crab but I'm pretty sure he should moult new legs.

 

[cate0404]

A hermit crab can steal another's shell, you need to make sure there is some spare shells laying around - have some the same size as now and some a little larger. The hermit crabs legs will grow back but it should be kept in a dark quiet area as it may now molt. Hope it all goes well, its pretty upseting when something happens to one of our pets.

 

[jayharris]

Thank you so much. I will get some other shells in there. I had 1 empty shell in there but I guess he didn't want that one!

 

[GreatPyrLover]

They are really tricky though....we have five of them now and we had one that did the moulting thing....we found his whole skeleton in the 10 gallon tank...so we took him out and put him by himself like they say to do....but he died like a day or two later...not real sure why....his skin was crazy looking once he moulted! So far all of ours get along and if they change shells its to a empty one laying in the tank....we like to experiment with snacks and treats for them...they like hard boiled eggs!!!! I also heard that you could put a dead fish in there and they would eat it....they like the smell of stinky things

 

[Nike]

A crab his supposed to eat his molt, you shouldn't really touch them when they are molting. They need to molt underground too, so it's reccommended to have the substrate 3 x the size of your biggest crab. I've had hermit crabs for 7 years... and my oldest is seven right now. I use play sand from Menards. You can get a 50 pound bag for 3 bucks so it's super cheap. It sounds like his legs are falling off from stress.

What are you feeding them? You can give them fresh fruits and veggies, they love that. Also Wal Mart sells baby brine shrimp in little cans by the fish food that my hermies just love!! And another food my guys love is dried coconut. Oh i forgot are you offering them saltwater?? They need that. In the wild they live by the ocean and they need it for molting even.

What is your temp/humidity in the tank? Both should be between 70% and 80%. To get my humidty up I mist the tank every day with a squirt bottle.

 

[Nike]

Oh since you are getting different shells, there is this shell called turbo and hermit crabs prefer that kind over others. Painted shells are really bad for them too! They can rip off the paint and eat it and it's toxic. Also some crabs get glued into the shells from the paint and can never get out so they die.