My hermit crab crawled out of his shell and died. Why did this happen my others are fine?

Question

Did I do something wrong? What was wrong with my hermie?

Answer 1

did you have another shell for it to go into? they grow out of their sells and need to go into bigger ones so if you didnt have one then he had no where to live.

Answer 2

It can be difficult to tell when a crustacean is sick or stressed. The hermit crab might have had parasites or been diseased in some way. It might have been attempting to molt unsuccessfully. Lots of things can go wrong during a molt.

Had you recently brought that hermit crab home from a pet store? It's always a good idea to keep your new hermit crabs in isolation for a time before introducing them into your larger hermit crab population, just in case they're diseased or parasitized.

As long as you are providing the right kind of care for your hermit crabs you shouldn't blame yourself that one died. It's only natural that you feel sad about it, but don't blame yourself.

The first link below is to a hermit crab care sheet. Check out the info on the second link as it might apply to your situation.

Answer 3

hermit crabs are weird. If they are ready to upgrade and they dont like the shells available they wont take a new one.

Answer 4

Rhea T is wrong, hermit crabs can't get diseased rather than mites which are almost harmless

Your crab may have died due to the stress he/she has been through. The hermit crabs are shipped from the wild to the stores where they're in life threatening conditions. If the hermit crabs were very recently placed at the pet store, the stress the crab is going through is over the top. Thats probably the number one reason.

Did you supply enough shells for the crab to switch into? If you have a Purple Pincher crab, you should provide more shells to switch into.

If the other crabs are fine there's no need to check your temperature and humidity. Another reason may be because he is over eating. When your crab finds food it is his first instinct to overeat, as in the wild the supply of food may be scarce. And if food is readily avalible each day, they will keep eating which can be bad for them. Skip a day at least twice a week, they will bury they're food anyways.

Good Luck and happy crab raising!