Hermits jumping ship

[trying4reef]

I have had some red hermit crabs for a while now and this morning one was out of his shell on the LR. any one know why he would do this? the rest seem ok (for now) water conditions are below nothing has really changed except the new lights I added.
Thank for the help

 

[lordofthereef]

it could have just molted, thats all.

 

[trying4reef]

maybe but it is realy bright and it looks like his inside are waving in the curreny

 

[chinnyr]

Is he still alive?He might have outgrown his shell or something could have pulled him from his shell.Possibly another hermit crab.Is the shell he was in lying around near him?

 

[trying4reef]

I looked around and couldn't see a shell. I couldn't tell if he was alive or not, but the current had it look it hes was. Unfortunatly I didn't have much time to mess with it before coming to work. He was fairly big so he may have out-grown his shell. I was thinking of getting more crabs to offset the few that I have lots since i bought the crew 8months ago. should I also buy empty shells?

 

[chinnyr]

You could try to put in a few new shells.I did this a while back and only one of my crabs switched.Sometimes they will check out new shells for a day or two and go back to the original.

 

[brianf01]

Are you sure you're not just looking at its old exoskeleton?

 

[jacksonpt]

one of my bluelegs did that the other day. I saw him wandering around the sandbed

[hr]
. Yes, I'm sure he was alive, and no, it wasn't a molt. I was watching him walk. There was another blueleg about 6" away checking out an empty shell. I guess the

[hr]
blueleg was waiting for the other one to move so he could claim the empty shell.
I'd make sure you have some extra shells of appropriate size in the tank for him to move into.

 

[debbers]

I thought I had lost some hermits in the same way you're describing... but I got really confused when, a few days later, I could count every last one!! I learned that their molts look very much like a little crab carcass... even with little "meaty" pieces waving in the current.
Adding the shells are a good idea for when they need extra growing room.
~D~