HELP! My Hermit Crab has left its shell! What Do I Do?

A hermit crab that has left the protection and life-sustaining seashell home is either:

a. very stressed
b. another hermit crab has taken its shell
c. there is an irritant such as a pest or fungus in the shell
d. it is overheated
e. it may be moulting, although it rarely happens
f. it was changing shells and let go of the old one, which was shell-napped
g. the pet store hasn't suitable shells in the tank for its size

There are a few reasons known as to why a hermit crab will leave their shell and they are all stress related.

A. Something may have got into his shell and is irritating his soft abdomen. One can rinse the shell out with dechlorinated water, but many times if something is lodged within the shell this doesn’t help much. Boiling the shell in dechlorinated water and giving it a good shake will many times dislodge anything that may be within it. There maybe pests or a fungus within the shell that is irritating his abdomen and will cause him to leave the shell.

B. The humidity level is too low in the crabitat and they feel as though they are suffocating. In hopes of relieving the discomfort they are experiencing they leave their shells. If they had been subjected to a too low of a humidity percentage, too many times it has already caused irreversible gill damage. For a more accurate humidity percentage reading level, the humidity gauge should be located close to substrate in the middle of the tank away from water sources that can affect the gauges reading. A relative humidity percentage should be 70-80 percent. Please calibrate your humidity gauge to ensure how accurately it is reading:

Calibration

C. A hermit crab will also leave their shell due to a too high of a humidity percentage. A high humidity level makes it difficult for the hermit crab to breath due to the ‘thicknesses of the humidity. If subjected to a too high humidity level, this can promote a gill infection that may cause irreversible damage.

D. If the hermit crab is too warm, to try to cool off a hermit crab will leave their shells. To prevent over heating it is very important to monitor the substrate temperature as well as the air temperature from the thermometer that is located on the inside tank wall. There is normally a difference of anywhere from a couple degrees to several degrees between the two temperatures readings. The substrate temperature of the warm end of the crabitat should be approximately 78-80 degrees Fahrenheit. (25.555-26.666 Celsius) At 82 degrees F, (27.777) or higher this is getting to be too warm of a temperature for the hermit crab to be comfortable at. There needs to be a cooler side to the substrate as well of (72-73 F (22.22-22.78 C) Hermit crabs are cold blooded creatures and must have the variance of temperatures.

E. If there is not a variety of appropriate ‘styled’ and sized extra changing shells in the crabitat for the hermit crab to choose from, there may also be shell fights. This is normally dangerous for the hermit crabs within the crabitat due to the fact that hermit crabs would rather let themselves be pulled apart as opposed to giving up their protective home. Many times this leads to a hermit crab being seriously injured or even killed by the aggressive hermit crab in search of a comfortable shell. There are times too when a hermit crab is shell shopping and may of let go of his original shell to try another on and had his shell taken by another tank mate.

F. And even though it is rare, he maybe in premolt or be molting.

How to gently coax a hermit crab back into their shell:

1. Rinse or boil the shell and shake it to remove anything that maybe lodged within it and tip most of the water out of the shell.

2. If the hermit crab is not in mid molt, gently pick the hermit crab up and carefully examine the abdomen for any signs of irritation being very careful he does not attempt to escape and injure/kill himself. Examine for any molting symptoms as in transparent eyes, lifting of the old exoskeleton, water sac, etc. (for photos of molting signs, please see “molting” located in the Care sheets of the Crab Street Journal)

3. Being very careful and gentle moisten/mist or dip the hermit crabs abdomen with dechlorinated water and try to slide the tip of hermit crabs soft abdomen within his moistened shell making sure it does not scrape or injure the hermit crab.

4. If you have tried once or twice to slide the stressed hermit crab into the shell, lower him with the shell into a closed area or isolation unit where the temperature and humidity are within proper ranges. Place the hermit crab next to his shell, with alternate choices of moistened shells to choose from. Attempting any more than twice to get the hermit crab back into a shell he has left very possibly could create him to become even more stressed than he already is.

5. Leave the hermit crab in darkness and quiet for a while and it may return to the shell. If it doesn't, give the hermit crab a gentle spray mist from a fine mist facial mister bottle with tap water conditioned-water so that it keeps hydrated if the environment calls for it. Hermit Crabs use modified gills as lungs, so in order to breathe these gills need to be kept moist.

6. If the attempts fail keep the environment within proper humidity and temperature ranges and mist the gills a few times a day to keep them moist that are located on the sides of the hermit crab.

If you need any further help, please email the the Local Reps at The Crab Street Journal at

emergency@crabstreetjournal.com

Happy Hermit Crabbing!

Vanessa