Hermit crab it crawling around without his shell

[jiggsaw123]

I don't know whats wrong with my hermit crab for the past 4 days hes been out of his shell. I put in 4 other empty shells to choose from but he hasn't even touched them. ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0. gravity is 1.024. He's a new addition to my tank I've had him two weeks he hasn't been very active since I've had him. anyone have any insight onto whats going on here??

 

[jester]

out on a limb,,,what's the PH level?

 

[jiggsaw123]

Ph is at 8.3... hes lying on his back now. I dont' know if he'll last much longer

 

[gobylover]

I don't know much about it,but I once had one that wondered around for 2 weeks without a shell.Is he eating?I know how you feel.I was worried about mine.All I can say is good luck.Sorry I couldn't help any more.

 

[jiggsaw123]

did your hermit crab live it??

 

[beth]

Are the shells you offerred just a bit bigger? You don't want to give the crab a shell that is too big or HEAVY for him to carry. It should be just a bit bigger than the one he had and certainly not much heavier.
Did you post this problem over in the Reef Forum? I'm going to move it over there so that you can get some input from the invert keepers.

 

[jiggsaw123]

The shell he had seemed too big for him. so I put in a variety two that were a little bit smaller one about the same size and one a little bit bigger