Hermit Crabs keep coming out of shell

[Nano Saltyy]

My thin striped hermit crabs keep coming out of their shells. Is this normal behaviour or something to be concerned about.
Parameters seems to be nominal.
Amm - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 30
Salinity - 1.022

 

[CanuckReefer]

They are looking for new shells....no emergency.

 

[Nano Saltyy]

They are looking for new shells....no emergency.

I see...
Sorry. I just panicked when I saw this was happening the second time and added the Emergency tag.

 

[CanuckReefer]

I see...
Sorry. I just panicked when I saw this was happening the second time and added the Emergency tag.

All good, my suggestion is provide them with a few shells bit larger or similar to what they have. Purchase them from your LFS, rather than a dollar store sort of thing that some do. Watch them try on the new digs! It's entertaining to say the least.

 

[Nano Saltyy]

All good, my suggestion is provide them with a few shells bit larger or similar to what they have. Purchase them from your LFS, rather than a dollar store sort of thing that some do. Watch them try on the new digs! It's entertaining to say the least.

Okayyy..!
I shall do that. I should buy the shells a little larger than their current ones, right?

 

[CanuckReefer]

Okayyy..!
I shall do that. I should buy the shells a little larger than their current ones, right?

Ya, or just a mix, some same size too, they sometimes want a new outfit like you or I would lol. Thin stripped are actually a pretty cool little hermit, always active.

 

[MaxTremors]

Okayyy..!
I shall do that. I should buy the shells a little larger than their current ones, right?

Try to get the same kind of shell it had previously, only a little bigger. Most hermit crabs are specialized to use specific types of shells (for example Halloween hermits will only use conch shells, Mexican red legs will only use cerith snail shells, they’ll use something else in a pinch, but they won’t be comfortable).

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I watched one of mine switch between the same three shells about 9 times before he settled on the one he was already wearing. But I need to buy some hermit shells myself

 

[Powahfull]

My red legs favorite Astera? The pyramid snail shell and cerith snail shells. I do have one in a big turbo now I swear he has trouble moving around but he likes it I guess. One uses a margarita snail shell and NONE want the conch shell.

The only time I have seen a hermit get out of their shell besides testing new shells is when the shell gets stuck like when they fall after hanging upside down on the live rock not all the snail shells are easy to flip back over in live sand.

 

[iMi]

It may have been said already but it looks like he's looking for a new, bigger home. Real estate market has been hot lately. Seriously though, I'd get him a bunch of shells to choose.

 

[Tankkeepers]

Toss in a bunch of shells various shapes and sizes and it'll be fine but if it's out of its shell looking for a new once it is an emergency as it'll dye very soon while they can survive without a shell iv never seen one that has they usually die in a day or 2 one out of its shell means it's way to big for any of the shells u have as hermits don't come out of their shells and go looking for a new one they find one while currently in a shell check it clean it and switch on the spot they don't come out and run around the tank looking for one

 

[Tankkeepers]

They are looking for new shells....no emergency.

Sorry you are wrong see above as this is an emergency if they want it to live

 

[CanuckReefer]

Sorry you are wrong see above as this is an emergency if they want it to live

Lol, wat? This place is something else some days....mine have changed shells often, and ya they run about for a bit. Get ahold of yourself....

 

[dyno]

I've never seen a hermit leave its shell untill it has found a suitable upgrade. I have seen hermits bail when something wasn't right in the tank.

 

[Tired]

Yeah, it's not really normal for them to come out of their shells and randomly wander around. Normally they'll find a possible new shell, poke into it, and switch over quickly if they like it, because being out leaves them exposed. Being out of the shell won't kill them (unless something eats them), but if they're out for more than the second it takes to swap to a fresh shell, something is wrong.

 

[SaltwaterRookie]

My thin striped hermit crabs keep coming out of their shells. Is this normal behaviour or something to be concerned about.
Parameters seems to be nominal.
Amm - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 30
Salinity - 1.022

I know this is an old thread, I'm still taking a chance here. I just setup the tank for my thinstripe HC and it's doing this. Plenty of shells, hasn't gotten in any, including his old one. Luckily he's by himself in the tank for now and I intend to keep things this way until he's stable but I'd like to know if this behavior changed once your crab found a new shell or there was something else going on. Thank you!

 

[Christopher Marshall]

I know this is an old thread, I'm still taking a chance here. I just setup the tank for my thinstripe HC and it's doing this. Plenty of shells, hasn't gotten in any, including his old one. Luckily he's by himself in the tank for now and I intend to keep things this way until he's stable but I'd like to know if this behavior changed once your crab found a new shell or there was something else going on. Thank you!

we have one that just did this tonight - there are other shells in the tank, and it checked out the new ones too...but seems content to move around without a shell (for now). What did your's finally do? did it go back into it's old shell?

 

[Christopher Marshall]

we have one that just did this tonight - there are other shells in the tank, and it checked out the new ones too...but seems content to move around without a shell (for now). What did your's finally do? did it go back into it's old shell?

we have one that just did this tonight - there are other shells in the tank, and it checked out the new ones too...but seems content to move around without a shell (for now). What did your's finally do? did it go back into it's old shell?

update, I put two empty shells -- one which was the same species (moon snail) into the tank but a tiny bit larger -- it investigated both, but then continued to crawl around the tank without a shell -- when I woke up this morning, the crab had moved into the new (very slightly larger) moon shell I had put in...

 

[zach_jb]

They are looking for new shells....no emergency.

Mine did the same, found some dead, pretty sure they weren’t molts either…

 

[SaltwaterRookie]

update, I put two empty shells -- one which was the same species (moon snail) into the tank but a tiny bit larger -- it investigated both, but then continued to crawl around the tank without a shell -- when I woke up this morning, the crab had moved into the new (very slightly larger) moon shell I had put in...

Sorry, I had not seen your question. I know it's been months but I'm glad yours eventually chose a shell and went in. I hope it's still doing well!
Mine didn't make it. In retrospective, I could have done some different things to better the little guy's chances of adapting but it was all a series of unfortunate mistakes/events.