hermit crab out of shell!

[kismetsh]

the only potential candidates that could have probably eaten him was the bristle worms in my tank, my emerald crab, or maybe my clownfish. but all three probably would not eat the hermit crab and so far i have no agressive fish or inverts or crustaceans in my tank

Wrong. The other 5 hermits are highly likely to eat a hermit out of its shell. It's the nature of the beast.

 

[PAnanoguy]

1: Quit poking it with a syringe.

lol :lol:

 

[PAnanoguy]

I dont think it crawled out of its shell and died/dissappeared instantly because it needed a bigger shell. Moving to another shell is done when the other shell is very close by and done very quickly. Make sure your tank is cycled (0 ammonia or nitrite) and water parameters are good (temp, ph/alk, nitrate) and take your time when acclimating new inverts, crabs, shrimp and snails especially.

 

[PC_LOAD_LTR]

I got a pretty large scarlet hermit from Reefcleaners, big enough that my wife named him Butch. it actually came in a piece of rock instead of a shell. Rock was about 1.5" long and 1" around. he had no issue moving around though. even saw him scaling the back wall of the tank!
I recently spotted him in a crevasse of my base rock. But couldnt get a clear picture. By the next morning, he had moved again to one of the large spare snail shells.