sick or dying hermit crab?

[Engloid]

I bought an aquarium recently, and included with it was a hermit crab. He was the largest I've seen before, and is about the size of the land hermits sold in pet stores.

I noticed the other day that he had seemed to get a bit inactive. He would stay in his shell for hours at a time, and sometimes the shell wouldn't move for most of a day. I then noticed him snacking on a colt coral. Since then, his inactivity has continued, maybe a little worse.

Last night, from a distance, I saw something that I thought may have been a crab, something like an emerald, but a little larger (there's 2 in there that I have only seen once). As I got closer, I found it was this hermit....without his shell!!

I pulled him out of the tank and separated him for fear that the fish and smaller crabs would go after him. I put him in a smaller container with a few shells, but he shows no interest in getting in them. He's very lethargic acting, moves slow, and doesn't show much interest in eating anything.

I'm afraid this guy is dying. Is it time for me to consider ending it for him, rather than letting him suffer?

 

[donya]

If you haven't already done so, it's worth keeping him alone with the shells in the dark. Don't bother the hermit at all for 2-3 hours. I have on occasion seen hermits get so stressed out that they will not take a new shell until left to sit quietly for a while. Unfortunately I've also seen very large/old hermits have no interest in shells when having difficulty molting, but isolation is useful in those cases too to avoid harassment and additional stress.

You mentioned smaller crabs. Were these the emeralds, or other hermits?

 

[Engloid]

Perhaps he is molting. this is the first time I've even seen a crab out of its shell.

I have just installed a new sump and I put him in it with a few shells. I figure if he dies, at least that way I can pull him out easily.

There are at least two crabs in the tank that are not hermits. They were hiding in the rocks when I bought the setup. They look similar to emeralds, but they aren't green and are a little smaller. One is about 3/4" across and the other is about1/2" across (shell size, not counting legs, and theyre both grey, and colored similar to an algae blenny. I have only seen these guys one time.

The other crabs are all small hermits. I have probably 30 of them, and none are anywhere near even half the size of this guy that's not doing well.

 

[donya]

Hmmm...does sound more like old hermit leading up to a molt then given the inactivity and lack of competition for shells. Still, true crabs can turn nasty towards other crustaceans as they grow, and sometimes hermits will bolt if they feel they're about to be dragged out of their shells (either by another hermit or another predator like a true crab). The sump sounds like the best move; hopefully the hermit improve and/or have a successful molt with some time in isolation.

 

[AJSTITAN14]

Our big hermit got caught under a large hammer coral frag he knocked over. he aws under there for about 3 days without our knowledge. I saw that the hammer was knocked over but I didn't move it since none of its polyps were being damaged and I figured the hermits would probably just knock it over again. After 3 days I saw him out in the tank without his shell which he must have had to leave behind to escape. We surrounded him with shells including his old shell which I found under the hammer and he would take a weak interest in them and act like he was thinking about getting in but never did. After a day or two we never saw him again.

Hermits are very unhappy without their shells and any that go for very long without one are dying IMO.

 

[Engloid]

Yip, this one didn't make it. I left him alone in the sump with several shells and he didn't pull through. I dumped him just today.