Just leaving them alone to molt?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 9:41 pm

4 of my crabs have been underground at least a couple of weeks (2 of them over a month), and every time another crab digs down, they do it at night when I don't expect it. I don't know if they're molting, but of course I don't want to dig them up to see. I don't know their positions so I can't partition them off with a soda bottle or CD case. Plus there's only just so much room to section them off when you have so many crabs under at once.

So is it okay to just let them be without possibly interrupting the process by digging around to find them or ISO'ing them when they're already dug down? Does anybody do it that way, and just cross their fingers that the other crabs won't bother them? In the wild they don't have people sticking them in ISO to molt but then they have a lot more space in the wild...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 10:30 pm

I've only had 4 crabs finish molting so far (2 more are almost done, they've eaten their exos but haven't come up). All of them have been in tanks with other crabs without problem. I plan to continue to let the crabs molt in their tank and only iso in cases of streaking or illness.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:17 am

How do you know when a crab has eaten his exo? I know the general location of Ginny, who has been down the longest - going on 2 months! She used to have a little window cleared off the glass so I could peek in on her. She'd clear it off every day. She hasn't cleared it in weeks and I'm worried. I shined a flashlight in that area and can just make out a sliver of white behind the thin layer of EE, but I don't know what it is.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:57 am

There was a window and I saw the exo disappearing a little bit day after day. And, well, the other one in the tank was accidentally uncovered by me. When I found him I sifted the sand with my fingers to make sure his exo wasn't left behind. The sand was clear, but he looked a little pink still so I put him back down in the same area and covered him with some moss. His color is coming back and I expect both of them to be up and moving around soon.

I want to remodel that tank and it's really hard being patient! I suppose I can make myself wait it out. *sigh*

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 2:08 am

It would be really hard to wait! I'd like to take out some of the EE and put in a little more sand, but I don't know where the crabbies are! It was hard enough replacing the water dishes today. LOL

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:34 am

We allow our crabs to molt in the main tank unless we disturb them while cleaning or something. While we've never had a problem, we do feed a diet high in animal protein (lots of fresh fish, meat, etc) and calcium, especially when a molter's down..

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 1:05 pm

Only a very few of my crabs have been moved from the main tank to ISO for molting. My hermies generally molt in the main tank, and as you said,they dig down at night & it is impossible to tell who is where. I leave them alone, and so far, the other hermits do, too. I have never had to use CD cases or other sectioning devises.

I think a key to not having the other hermies dig them up, is to have fairly deep substrate. Since I use play sand, perhaps they dig down far enough (often to the bottom) and maybe the other hermies are less apt to smell the exo.

My hermies play games with me when they molt on the bottom. They let me watch them UNTIL the actual molt occurs. Then they close my "window". Sometimes I will see a BP and nothing else. Sometimes I see only the toe tips or the abdomen of the exo. Usually, once they molt, I have found that it averages about a week for them to eat the exo. Then, they seem to rest-up for a few days or even a week before they start their ascent to the surface.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 7:11 pm

This is a big relief for me, since I didn't know if my decision to let them molt in the main tank was a good one or not. Thanks everyone!