Something killing my hermit crab?

[ReefGirl50]

I have 3 scarlet hermit crabs in my tank. One appear to have perished and the second one looks like something (parasite?) might be killing it? Anyone know what this might be?

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Sorry, I can't view the videos. Maybe someone else can view them, but can you try posting them on YouTube, then pasting the link here?

 

[ReefGirl50]

Sorry, I can't view the videos. Maybe someone else can view them, but can you try posting them on YouTube, then pasting the link here?

They are quite large files. I tried including one here, but will also post to YouTube and come back with the link.

 

[ReefGirl50]

Sorry, I can't view the videos. Maybe someone else can view them, but can you try posting them on YouTube, then pasting the link here?

Hi again! Here’s a YouTube link to one of the videos

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I have 3 scarlet hermit crabs in my tank. One appear to have perished and the second one looks like something (parasite?) might be killing it? Anyone know what this might be?

A couple of things from me:
1 ) I can see the video, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary.

2 ) The feathery looking things between the eyestalks are antennae (Edit: also called antennules, more specifically).

 

[ReefGirl50]

A couple of things from me:
1 ) I can see the video, but I don't see anything out of the ordinary.

2 ) The feathery looking things between the eyestalks are antennae.

That’s a relief to hear! I’ve never looked this closely before so I never noticed all the white specks on the body, or the fluttering antennae

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Yeah, I agree. Looks fine to me.

The hermit dying could be because of multiple reasons. The 3 things that come to mind are these:

- Starvation
- Old age
- improper molting conditions

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Just to add since I forgot earlier - are you sure the hermits are dead and you're not just seeing their molts?

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Just to add since I forgot earlier - are you sure the hermits are dead and you're not just seeing their molts?

I was just about to say that lol.

OP, when I first got hermits, I definitely thought they all died, but turns out it was just their molts. Typically, If a hermit died, it will still be in the shell, but if it's out of the shell, then it's probably just it's molt.

 

[Cthulukelele]

They also sometimes get stuck on their backs in that position. Oftentimes when they do at least mine seem to wait til lights out to right themselves. My assumption would be it's in an attempt to not expose their softer sections until the cover of night

 

[ReefGirl50]

Hi @everyone! Thanks for all your feedback so far… here’s an update of where things are at today.

Crab 1 (the one I thought died) is in the video attached. And a photo as well.

Crab 2 is the one I posted about the other day. In shell, but hasn’t moved in 2 days

Crab 3 hasn’t shown any signs of problems and is in shell this morning.

But…. There’s an extra crab with no shell in the sand. And carb 1 may be molting?

Any ideas what I’m seeing?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Hi @everyone! Thanks for all your feedback so far… here’s an update of where things are at today.

Crab 1 (the one I thought died) is in the video attached. And a photo as well.

Crab 2 is the one I posted about the other day. In shell, but hasn’t moved in 2 days

Crab 3 hasn’t shown any signs of problems and is in shell this morning.

But…. There’s an extra crab with no shell in the sand. And carb 1 may be molting?

Any ideas what I’m seeing?

Since the "extra" with no shell seems to be laying there like it's dead in the pics, I'd guess it's a molt.

You can check this by opening it and seeing if there's any meat inside or if it's just a shell.