is this normal

[neah84]

i turned on my lights cause i thought i saw something and i noticed that one of my scarlet hermit crabs was crawling on the sand but without a shell. this crab has been missing for like a week. i just got some new LR 45lbs worth and i dont have any fish yet. do u think that when i was placing the rock in the tank i might have placed one rock on his shell by accident and now he is shelless? his body looks messed up. 4 legs, the claws and head but the rest of him is somewhat gone please let me know what u think of it. i wish i had a camera right now.

 

[cboyfan2020]

it could just be that he is looking for a new shell because he outgrew his old one but its kinda hard to tell w/o a pic. Throw another shell bigger then the one he had in there and see what happens.

 

[neah84]

this scarlet was the smallest one in the tank. i know that his shell that he had was too big, u could put two of him in that shell. ill go to the lfs in the morning and get some more shells to put in there. i just thought it was wierd how after a week of not seeing him at all he shows up without a shell

 

[cboyfan2020]

scarlet like to stay on the rocks so he may have been just exploring the back of you new rocks. At least you know he is still alive and you dont have to go searching to pull him out. Good luck

 

[neah84]

well the thing is, is that he was next to the glass in the front a goot 6 inches at least away from the rock trying to climb it without a shell. haha i have no clue where the shell is

 

[mightyoxjuice]

I had a small blue leg that was spinning in circles on the sand bed with no shell. This one had clumps of eggs attached to it. Maybe it was trying to release the eggs so it was out of its shell.

 

[neah84]

i woke up this morning and i found my blue leg i have in there that was the same size as the scarlet was dead and laying upside down without his shell. so i have figured out that the scarlet too his shell then dissapeared again.

 

[sea goblin]

its probably more likely that what you saw was the molt of the blue leg, and he still has his shell just now he has gone off to hide while is carapace hardens up. Blue legs are much more agressive than scarlets tend to be, most people report having a smaller blue leg take on a larger scarlet and take his shell. But i supose that it is posible that the scarlet took the blue's shell, keep an eye out and let us know.
Sea Goblin

 

[neah84]

lol i forgot about the molt. i took it out and 5 minutes later he showed up. but now the scarlet is gone but he always hides anyways. but thanks for the help