Question about hermit crabs? New hermits? Babies? What!?

Beezwax404 · Nov 21, 2019

So about 3 1/2 months ago I put 5 hermit crabs (2 red and 3 blue leg) in my 29 gal BC. It was a new setup with 25lb of dry base rock seeded with biospira. All of my rock has light or dark green coraline with small specks of purple. Anyways. Over the last 3 months Ive pulled out 4 dead hermit crabs that were out of their shells. Magically, I still have 4 hermits left. The research ive done is that its super hard to raise baby hermits in a home aquarium? The dead bodies were the same size as the ones I initially purchased. There is noway I could have brought them in as hitchhikers unless they could hide inside a torch coral or a hammer coral? Are these babies that Ive raised in the tank. All the dead ones were blue legged.

Firemanreefkeeper · Nov 21, 2019

I believe hermits molt like all shell fish do so they are probably molts, not dead crabs.

Peach02 · Nov 21, 2019

I think what you found where molts not dead hermits. I got fooled by it twice as well but yea it is very hard to breed hermits in a reef so I doubt it could be done accidentally

flsalty · Nov 21, 2019

And they wouldn't grow to that size in that short of time anyway. I think the first time something molted got us all lol.

Bret Brinkmann · Nov 22, 2019

If you find what looks like a dead hermit, leave it in the tank. It could also be the hermit itself mid-molt. Sometimes crustaceans look dead during a molt. But they are very much alive. I'd hate for one to be dumped in the trash on accident.

The molting process can last days in my experience. I almost tossed one of my snapping shrimp this way. Luckily the "molt/dead shrimp" jumped away last second. It's really hard to tell if it's a molt or the critter. The molts never caused any issues with my 29 gallon tank if I just left them in.