Kinda freaked out if one of my hermit crabs...?

Question

Got out of its shell!!! Will it get out of its shell just by falling back, or me holding it wrong??? Kind of freaky!!!

Answer 1

hermit crabs change shells when they tire of their old ones, or molt and grow and become to large for their old ones.

make sure you provide it with plenty of shells so it can change as it pleases, it also may be getting ready to molt or needs more humidity. check out the humidity and see if your crab is lethargic, pale, and eating less, those are signs of molting.

if not, then it just wants a new shell home

Answer 2

So it's naked, doesn't have a shell, right? How long has it been like that?

Hermit crabs will come out of their shells for several different reasons. It could be that it has no shells that are the right size/shape for it, or that the shells provided are uncomfortable and/or have holes. You'll want to have about three shells per crab, so that they can change when they need to.

Could it have been in a shell fight? Is another crab wearing its shell? Has it lost any limbs?

It could also be that  the conditions are not right in your crabitat. Check and make sure. The temp and humidity should both be about 75. Can be a little more (can't be much less), but too hot or humid is not good for them.

Every once in a while you'll get a crab who'll streak for a little while and then pop right back in its shell like nothing happened. However, you should consider all of the above first.

Answer 3

Hermit crabs do that all the time.  Make sure you have other shells of different sizes in the tank with it and it will move from one to the other depending on what it likes.  Nothing to worry about.