Why does my hermit crab smell like fish? Is he molting or dead?

It could be molting. If so, leave him alone as it is a stressful time for him. Leave the other shell in the enclosure, just in case. If it isn't buried, move him to a different area of the tank and monitor for movement. If there is no movement, monitor for a fishy, rotten odor. This is the surest way to determine if the crab has died.

sample The odor may be from dirty water. Turtles can quickly overwhelm a tank leading to foul water. They need powerful filtration and/or filtration. His vent may be open due to illness. Monitor for soft stool or even prolapse. Examine his limbs for signs of injury or infection. Look over his she'll for trauma, pitting or soft spots. Maintain water quality and temperature to decrease stress. Submit a stool to your veterinarian to diagnose intestinal parasites.

This is one of those situations where I would say you have a couple of options. Depending on how confident you are about your dog's digestive abilities, you have the option of inducing vomiting. It typically takes at least a few hours for food to move from the stomach into the intestines, so we still have time to prevent most digestion from occurring. If you decide to just take the wait and see approach, it's possible you might not see anything. The most common thing to look out for here would be diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy. Monitor feces for any distinct blackness or redness. Inducing vomit would likely prevent these from occurring if done soon. Because this is seafood and, by your question, I am assuming was spoiled, we cannot completely rule out the possibility of some pretty nasty viral and bacterial infections residing on the crab. If this were the case, it can cause pretty serious illness that would likely require hospitalization. This is not likely but worth mentioning. Hope this all makes sense.

Cats and dogs have scent glands on either side of the anus called anal glands. The material in the glands is very stinky and often described as smelling fishy. Most wild animals can empty these glands voluntarily for scent marking or in self-defense (like a skunk might do), but dogs and cats have largely lost their ability to empty these sacs voluntarily. They normally release these glands during defecation, but can also release with excitement or stress. So, if Ariel struggled or got excited when you moved her, she likely expressed her anal glands. It is not anything to be concerned about, but can certainly be stinky, so you may need to clean the area of the couch that she was licking to get rid fo the smell. I hope that was helpful and answered your question. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your cat. If he has a skin infection, greasy or oily skin, this will have an odor. If he is affected by dental disease, his breathe will have a very foul odor. This could be what you are smelling. Anal gland secretions have a fishy smell. He may need to see his veterinarian to determine the cause of the odor and to see if he requires treatment. I hope this information helps!

Hermit crabs need two types of water. Fresh and saltwater. Hermit crabs also cannot drink tap water. This water is treated with chlorine which can cause permanent blisters on the crabs gills (yes they have gills) which will be very painful for the hermit crabs. For this reason all water (including drinking and misting water) must be unchlorinated. Buy a small bottle of tap water conditioner in the fish section of your pet store. Follow the instructions for making a gallon of water. It's a lot easier to have a batch of water ready to use for the next few weeks or so rather than having to make a small amount every day. When choosing a conditioner, do not purchase "Stress Coat" as this is used strictly for bathing your crabs and keeping fish only. Look for a conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine and neutralizes heavy metals. Do not get a conditioner that stimulates a slime coat, other than for baths. After that, you have a batch of freshwater. Now simply make another batch of water and add some aquarium salt into the mix. Usually about 8-10 tablespoons of salt is enough. You may hear that only exotic species of hermit crabs need salt water, but this isn't true. All hermit crabs including the purple pincer (Coenobita clypeatus) need this. Many crabs drink saline water for hours prior to molting. And their shell water supply has a specific balance of iron. Providing salt water allows the hermit crab to choose what kind of water it would like to drink. Let the water sit overnight, so it comes to room temperature and the salt dissolves.

Hermit crabs should have a bowl of fresh water and a bowl of salt water available at all times. "Softened" water is not recommended due to the higher mineral and salt content. The easiest solution is to use bottled water for the fresh water bowl and distilled water with plain aquarium salt (NOT table salt) for the salt water bowl.