Thought for sure he was dead!
Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 4:06 pm
I recently got a two new crabs and one of them buried himself in the sand immediately after getting home and putting him in a temporary tank while I got the main tank set up and cleaned. It was a 5 gallon tank with only play sand and two shells, one with salt water and one with freshwater. And a smaller shell for food. I got the other tank set up a day or two later and moved the other crab, Sheldon, into it where he seems to be adjusting quite well. Mr.Krabs, on the other hand... He stayed bured so I left him in there. And my God, I thought FOR SURE he was dead due to the smell that eventually started in there. It smelled like rotten, stinky, dead fish. And it was a very STRONG smell. It hit you in the face as soon as you lifted the lid. There was also no sand movement and I eventually stopped leaving food in the tank because it would just go bad and started attracting flies, even after changing it daily. Despite the smell, I left him alone JUST IN CASE. And I'm so glad I did because today, 4 weeks later, he was up on the surface, climbing up the side of the aquarium! I was so happy to see him as I thought for sure he was a goner. I was gonna leave him for a full 3 months just to be absolutely safe, thankfully that wasn't needed! Well. Anyways. I just wanted to post that as encouragement for anyone out there who is wondering if their crab is dead or just molting! It's definitely possible for a crab to stink to high heavens and still be alive! (My ten year old daughter says he was probably just farting and that's why it smelled) 