My Hermit Molted

[Key Of David]

The other night my scarlet hermit crab shed its skeleton. Its just laying there like a dead crab, the skeleton that is. Should I take it out? If I leave it in will it dissolve some calcium into the water?

[zhenya]

The other night my scarlet hermit crab shed its skeleton. Its just laying there like a dead crab, the skeleton that is. Should I take it out? If I leave it in will it dissolve some calcium into the water?

You can leave it in there but it won't provide any appreciable calcium for the water. In fact, some other crabs may eat it before any dissolution will occur.
I hope he got new shell to relocate to becouse if he won't...he's fair game for any other crab that comes along. :eek3:

[Key Of David]

Well I was wondering about whether I should even bother with a new shell for him or not....as I've read scarlet hermits don't get very big and this one seems to be the maximum size already. He went back into his same shell. His shell is about 1" maybe even a little more. I think I'm going to throw a handful of shells on the bottom to be on the safe side anyway as I plan on getting various more hermits in the future. Thanks for your help!