Is My Hermit Crab Asleep or Just Dead?

Was my hermit crab dead?

• So for the past few days, my hermit crab has been laying mostly out of his/her shell, no movement at all. The crab wasn't pale at all; it was the normal dark red-purple color, so I thought that maybe it was just molting or something, but when I went to smell it, it had a slightly strong odor, making me believe it was dead. I just had a few hermit crabs die (All within the same day due to a crab fight that I believe this hermit crab caused and killed the others) and to be sure they were dead, I would shake the shell and try to pull the lifeless body out to make sure it wasn't just a sheded exoskeleton, which they weren't; They were their actual lifeless bodies. Some of them were difficult to remove and required a yank (keep in mind that they were obviously dead and had a horrible odor). I wanted to make sure this hermit crab was dead before I buried it so I attempted the same thing, except when I went to pull it out of the shell, I ripped its abdomen and it bled everywhere :( So I'm freaking out and can't sleep now knowing that I either murdered a healthy hermit crab or I caused a healthy hermit crab to suffer and it will die soon because of me. If it were alive, would it have died right away after accidentally ripping it apart? I do not want the poor thing to suffer. This happened a few hours ago and I did bury him/her and gave him a good funeral. Please help, as I don't want the crab to suffer.

• Answer:

  If your hermit crabs were marine crabs, I want to tell you about my experience. After bringing hermit crabs home from the beach, they started dying on me. I spent the better part of a day, researching what went wrong. Marine hermit crabs are impossible to keep in an aquarium for two reasons: 1) they need temperature fluctuations that match the seasons; and, 2) the terrarium must match the environment of the sand bar, not a reef. If your crabs were from the ocean, there was nothing you could do to save your crabs. I feel your pain! I put one shell I thought was empty on display on my bookshelf. Overnight, the little crab I somehow overlooked crawled out and died. I still have him there to remind me never to bring hermit crabs home from the ocean, again. Your crab died as soon as its abdomen was torn, because you interrupted its circulation by opening its aorta. It didn't feel anything since its blood pressure suddenly dropped. The crab did not suffer at the moment of its death; it simply lost consciousness. Keep in mind that the crab would not have held your actions against you. Any carnivorous/omnivorous animal would have done the same thing. Totally understandable from the natural perspective. Your reason was nobler than any predator's. Joe, please be at peace!