New-ish crabs, New here!

Please post here if you are a new crab owner and someone will be along shortly to welcome you to the HCA! This is also the place to welcome new crabbies to your clan!
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diggers_mom
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Aug 05, 2019 6:18 pm
Location: WA

New-ish crabs, New here!

Post by diggers_mom » Mon Aug 05, 2019 6:35 pm

Hi there! I inherited a hermit crab (Digger) about 5 years ago from my 6 y.o. stepdaughter. She didn't have much interest in it, and I'm a total animal lover. I did a ton of research and over the years have completely overhauled the tank, so that now he is in a 20-gallon tank with about 6" of sand in most of it, plus lots of stuff to climb on, stuff to hide in, bowls for food, fresh water, and salt water. Digger has been alive for all these years and has successfully molted several times, so I felt like I knew what I was doing.

For my birthday in January (this year, 2019), my husband got me 3 more crabs! They all dug down into the sand within the first week, and I wasn't concerned. Since then, I have seen one of them - it emerged for a few days and was around the tank, and now is gone again (but hopefully just hiding/digging). The other two I have not seen, and there are no noticeable holes in the sand. I'm starting to wonder if they are all goners :cry: . The general advice I've seen on this forum is "4 months is when you start to worry" - well, it's been EIGHT! I don't want to dig them up if they are molting or just hiding, but I do feel like I should dig up bodies if they are dead... right? There is no bad smell, but would you really smell it under all that sand?

A bit more background: I did get two friends for Digger about two years ago. One of them disappeared immediately, and I found pieces of him many months later when I re-did the tank. He had buried down and died somehow. The other one, a tiny little guy, ended up drowning in a water bowl (huge lesson learned). Digger has always been EXTREMELY active and absolutely loves me and climbing on me. So I really do want him to have friends, but have just had really bad luck... or am doing something very wrong. Any advice appreciated! Thank you!!

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Hermiesguardian
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Re: New-ish crabs, New here!

Post by Hermiesguardian » Mon Aug 05, 2019 7:27 pm

I assume since Digger has molted several times your substrate is sandcastle consistancy. Is it? And is it minimum 6 inches across the whole tank? How is your heat/humidity? You may have done this but when introducing new crabs, dip the new on in the freshwater pool so they don't smell different. I would think most people will tell you you can gently look for him. Although if he's already dead there's nothing you can do for him.
raising son's dog, Dante. Husky/hound.
Raising daughter's hermit crabs, Shelder, Paras and Derek. Added 2 more of my own (of course) Pete and Stryper. Former mommy to 2 guinea pigs and beloved cat, Nissi

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