My boyfriend's brother came home from the mall the other day with a hermit crab, he was keeping it in a small tupperware container with no food. So we took it away from him as he was not properly caring for it. Niether my boyfriend or I have ever owned a hermit crab before, so we searched the internet trying to find information on them.
Im going to tell you guys what we've done for them and maybe you can tell me if were doing everything correctly:
We have moved the crab into a 10 gallon aqaurium, we bought sand from the pet store for the flooring. We put a couple rocks for climbing and hiding. They have a shallow water dish, with non chlorine water. The food we are feeding them is called hermit crab variety bites made by HBH, is this all they need for food? I've heard that we should have an under the tank heating pad, but all as we have in there right now is a heating rock used for reptiles, is this okay? The lid is a wire screen mesh, I've heard that it should be a solid top to keep moisture in. Is the wire/screen top okay or do they need a solid top? I also purchased 2 aditional hemit crabs to keep him company since i read that they are social and shouldnt be kept alone.
Okay on to the problem. The first hermit crab seemed active last night. This morning when I checked on them, he was in his shell and everything seemed fine. Tonight when i got home from work he was out of his shell. The shell was on one side of the cage and he was on the other. He's lying completely motionless. There doesnt seem to be anything wrong with his body, so i dont believe that he had a fight with another crab or anything. I tried misting him with water but nothing happened. There doesnt seem to be any odor coming from him. But he is still lying completely motionless. His color does seem a bit lighter than the other hermit crabs though. Do you think he's dead? Should I leave him in the cage? or remove him?
New Hermit Crab...Dead??
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Wai
- Administrator
- Posts: 2910
- Joined: 01 Nov 2004, 14:12
- Gender: Male
- Hermit crabs: 6
- Total gallons: 45
- Total tanks: 1
- Location: Victoria, Australia
- Contact:
Hermit crabs need to be fed a wide variety of foods just like any other pet. I don't blame you for not knowing, it's just that pet shops try to make them so different that it puts people off.
The crab may be dead, having abandoned his shell like that. Is the body lose or feels lighter than usual? If you notice a smell after one or two days, then he probably is dead.
The crab may be dead, having abandoned his shell like that. Is the body lose or feels lighter than usual? If you notice a smell after one or two days, then he probably is dead.
Wai
