Hermit crabs are nocturnal, so it sounds like your hermit must have gone to sleep. Mine has slept for a week, once! If you get home and you find your hermit crab out of it's shell and looking see-through, then it has molted. Hermits usually molt on their 'birthday' but stay in their shells a while prior to molting.
that measn it's molting. if you have other crabs then move the molting crab to a different cage, handling it as little as you can. then put about 5 shells of different sizes in it. also put several inches of sand and food and shallow water.
It depends who the Hermit Crab borrowed its shell from.
take the dead crab out of the shell.
in the very back section of your hermit crabs back look to see if it has 4 holes if it does its a girl if not a boy
It may be happy with the shell is has on. NEVER force a hermit crab out of its shell. but over time it will molt and change to a diffrent shell.
Just pull on it, it should come out.
Only if no one is around!
Your hermit crab cam go fast depending on the whieght of the shell on the hermit crab. If the shell is light the speed of the crab will increase, if the shell is heavy on the crab the speed will decrease.
When a hermit crab outgrows its shell, it will move into a larger shell.
The relationship between a hermit crab and a shell is that thy are mutualism.
a crab with a shell
If your land hermit crab's shell gets to small get a new shell. The shell hole should be the same size as your crab's big claw or bigger Make sure your crab's new shell is clean. DO NOT FORCE YOU CRAB TO COME OUT! All you have to do is set your crab's new shell in it's cage and wait.
When a hermit crab sheds you will see something come out of the shell and it looks like its dead it only sheds halfway and if you look inside the shell it will still be there.