Hi, I'm new to this site & I need some info!

[mlj29]

Hi.

Well, I am not sure what I should do. I bought my daughter a new hermit crab on Sunday and I didn't look too closely at the little guy when I was in the store since it was kind of darker back in the fish section (where the crabs were also kept). I thought he looked like he may have just molted not too long ago since he has nails on his feet. When I got him out into some brighter light I saw that he had indeed molted not too long before this. His shell on his defensive pincher has a bit of a crack in it so I wanted to see how bad it was and tested it with a slight push from a toothpick to see if it was cracked or just creased. When I did this, I saw his shell gave a bit, so it was in fact still soft. Now, when I saw him in the store he was in water and standing there checking the world out, but when I reached in he pulled back inside of the shell (normal). Now since then he hasn't moved much, if at all, and I am wondering if he is just going to die, or if this is normal lethargic post-molt stress behavior. I am concerned for "Lilac" because he did looks so beautiful in the store and now I am scared that he isn't eating and hasn't since I got him home (he is always in the same spot). Can someone advise me on this? My other crabs aren't bothering him and they are just carrying on with their lives. I just bought all the crabs for my daughter about 5 weeks ago and everyone is fine, but I have never had anyone molt so this is new to me. I have been searching the internet for info about post molts but that is a bit limited. If anyone can help me, I would be very grateful. Thanks!!

[nu_butnotso_nu]

The only thing that I could think of that might help is if you put him in an isolation tank, to cut down on some of the stress he is probably going through.
Also, just make sure that he has easy access to the water dish (easy in and out) and that whatever food you are giving him is already ground into "bite size" pieces (also spinkle some cuttle bone over this food to help with shell hardening). If his exo truely has not hardened yet, he would have a difficult time trying to pinch off or crush food.
Other than that I'm not sure, maybe someone else might have more input, but I hope that this helps.

[Hildegarde]

I believe that you need to know more about moulting.

There are 2 sites you can go to for excellent information
cabbage.com
www,hermit-crabs.com

These sites aren't forums but the info they have about crabs and the way they tell it is great.

You can also look at the moulting site on this forum after you read the above sites. IMO

[mlj29]

Thanks for the help, but Lilac went to the big beach in the sky on Saturday. I thought he would. Too bad. He had such beautiful coloration.

[nu_butnotso_nu]

Oh, thats to bad, I'm really sorry to hear that he didn't make it.

[Lukems]

Awww... I'm sure he's living a very peaceful life.