Hermit crab death

Hi

i have seen a dead body of a hermit crab that had it's long part (where they hide it inside the shell all the time missing!, do hermit crabs kill each other??

for my clean up crew i have a small mix of hermits, snails and a brittle star (that couldn't of killed that crab IMO)

would that raise ammonia levels? help please!

 

The death of a regular size hermit should not affect the water quality.

Hermits just die sometimes, but yes one hermit will kill another. Maybe a molt went wrong, do you have other shells in the tank for the hermits to move to?

And is this a molt you are looking at?

 

TBH i don't know weather it's a molt or a dead crab, it looks like a dead crab, i have seen pieces of hermit crab legs that i know is a molt but... Does a molt look exactly like an actual body of a hermit?

i have one empty one which was laying around, i will buy some shells to put on there soon.

Just for references , this is a picture of a tarantula molt that looks exactly like the body, is it the same with hermit crabs?


Thank you for your quick reply

 

Hermit crabs kill each other all the time. Sometimes one kills another one for its shell and sometimes they cannibalize each other. I wouldn't worry about it though, if one did die, your clean up crew would make short work of it.

 

The hermit molt will indeed look like an exact replica of the crab. The only way to tell is to see if it has meat in it. Of course if it is indeed a dead one your cuc will make short work of them.