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Hermit crabs molt regularly as they grow, but it’s surprisingly easy to confuse a molting hermit crab with a dead hermit crab.
A molting crab will appear quite limp and lifeless, and the body is often already partially out of the shell.1 Sometimes, if you observe very closely, you can see small twitches on the hermit crab’s body as it molts, but otherwise it can be very difficult to determine whether it is still alive or not. Additionally, if your crab has buried itself in the sand and you haven’t seen it for a while, it’s natural to wonder if it is molting or has died where it buried itself.
If you’re not sure if your crab is molting or dead, how you handle the situation can make the difference between your crab’s life and death if it is actually just molting. If you find your hermit crab in any of the above situations, it’s safest to assume it’s just molting. Disturbing a hermit crab in the middle of molting at a critical time while trying to determine whether or not it’s still alive can have devastating consequences.1
Assuming your hermit crab is molting until proven otherwise, if it appears lifeless and is in an isolation tank, you should leave it alone and observe what happens. If your hermit crab is in the main tank with other hermit crabs, especially if they’re at the surface, cut the ends off a two-liter soda bottle and sink it in the sand to surround the crab with a clear protective barrier.
Don’t disturb a crab that’s hanging limply from its shell, but protect it from other crabs. If it’s molting, you should continue the process if you have the time. If it has died, it will start to smell foul within a few days. A hermit crab can take up to two months to complete the entire molting process, so you’ll know well before then whether it’s still alive or not – and smaller crabs don’t take nearly as long to complete the entire molting process.
If you find a seemingly dead crab on the surface next to an empty shell, take a closer look to see if it’s just an exoskeleton. If it’s hollow and crumbles easily, it’s an old exoskeleton and your hermit crab has already molted and moved into a new shell. Take a quick look inside a nearby shell and you might find your molted crab hiding in its new home.
A crab that’s buried in its bed is a little harder to care for or determine whether or not it’s molting. Smooth the sand around its hiding place and look for tracks to get an idea of whether or not it comes out to feed at night. Many crabs often disappear during the day, but the tracks around the cage in the morning will tell you that it is still active. If your crab has been burrowing for several weeks and you are still not sure if it is still alive, you can gently sweep away some of the sand around the hiding place to see if there is a rotting smell.