Video: How to Tell If a Hermit Crab Is Dead

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To tell if a pet hermit crab is dead, move a hermit crab around their shell to see if it's limp, or smell the shell for any pungent odors. Hear about the reasons why a hermit crab may not be moving in this free video from a exotic pet specialist on hermit crab care.

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Video Transcript

How do you tell if your crab is dead? Well, crabs can often look dead, but not be dead. For instance this guy, he's been sitting here, he's not moving. He doesn't seem to respond to anything, but I can assure you he's not dead, and I can tell you how I know why. There's two tests I like to do, to find out if the crab is dead. There's the limp test, which is, is the crab limp? Does he move around easily? No, he's in there hard. He doesn't want to move. He's just being kind of a stinker. He doesn't want to have anything to do with me. He's not limp, he's not falling easily out of his shell, his legs don't move around easily, if I push on them. He's in control of his own body. The other test is the sniff test. Give him a sniff. Trust me, if he's dead, you'll smell it. There's nothing quite like the smell of a dead crab, and it's pretty pungent, and it's pretty obvious, so if he doesn't smell, and he's not limp, he's alive. He may be shy, he may be grumpy, but he's alive.

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How to Tell If a Hermit Crab Is Dead

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