dead hermit

my hermit died, i havent seen him for 2-3 days and now i found him, shelless. He is right behind the rocks. So in order to get him out I would need to move all the rock works. Should i get him out now or can the corpse just stay there?

 

if you have or can get some other clean up crew types in there theyll just feast on him. i have 4 nassarius snails in my tank that move like race cars whenever one of my herms molts.

 

what do you mean molt

 

molting is like the shedding of the herms skin(exoskeleton). your crab may not be dead actually. the molt looks just like a dead guy and they usually stay hidden after a molt for a while. are there other shells in the tank for him to switch to? and did you see his body next to his empty shell? if its just a molt he'll still be lugging his shell around so if you dont see it, thats a good sign.

 

my guys dead i believe. His laying side way and i have no clue where his shell is.

 

Give it another day or two. It may have molted.

 

im thinking molt also. dont be too upset yet. like i said, a molt looks exactly like a body.

 

and i dont have extra shell for him..Should i buy them as soon as possible?

 

you should have plenty of shells for him to choose from. especially if you have snails. If he likes a snail's shell, he will jack it.

 

I would put in a couple of extra shells. Keep in mind that hermit crabs have their own exoskeletons and then on top of that climb into old snail shells as extra protection.