hermie the homeless hermit

[saltydad]

I found one of my hermits sticking out of the live rock--apparently, he lost or left his original shell which I don't see anywhere.
Suggestions?

 

[buckeye88]

are there any other shells in there that it can move into. It probably just outgrew its old shell

 

[saltydad]

I just called the pet store around the corner. They say they have many different shapes and sizes, so I guess I'll get an assortment.

 

[saltydad]

Just found hermie dead--doesn't seem to have been eaten or attacked. That's the third one I've found the same way, and I can't find any empty shells anywhere they may have come from.
I'm heading to the store anyway to get extra shells.

 

[kclester]

may just be molts

 

[saltydad]

Thanks, all. It does look like they are simply molting after all. I had expected the molted exoskeletons to be clearish and not having the same colors they did when they were still attached. I was really concerned there for a while!

 

[buckster71]

It is wild....
The molt appears to be the actual crab gone through a thresher....

 

[renogaw]

looks like the claw monster that breeds from the eggs in the alien series.
don't feel bad... everyone thinks their first hermit molts are dead hermits

 

[b-baby80]

The first time my large hermits molted.I thought one was dead.Then saw they were all still their.You can only imagine my mind that day.Trying to figure out were this extra crab came from

 

[saltydad]

Thanks for all your encouragement.

 

[schmidthouse]

When we had gotten a Coral Banded Shrimp, a week later there was another one! I called my husband at work, all excited of course, I was telling him that I thought that the store must have given us a pregnent Shrimp!!!! Wow...I felt like a stupid-head when we figured out that it just molted