Digging

[Slach]

One of my hermit crabs I believe has recently passed away. I’m not 100% sure if she’s dead yet but it looks like there may be mold growing on her limbs. I recently got another hermit crab (including the possibly dead crab I now have 3 crabs) and now my other crabs won’t stop digging. The older one digs towards the top of the soil and i can see is eating and the newer one digs towards the bottom and does not come up to eat. I know the new one is not molting because I had a sand problem and had to go looking for her and she is fine just likes digging towards the bottom. But I do not see her ever go for food or water. I’m not sure if this is normal or not I’ve just read that some newer crabs do this thing under the sand which leads to their death and just think it is weird that both my crabs are staying underground so much since they have never before. Also my older crab seems to be more scared of me which is new because whenever I walk near the tank if she’s out she hides. Am I doing something wrong?


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[curlysister]

Crabs like to dig, some more than others. Sometimes it is to molt, sometime to de-stress, and sometimes just for fun.
If a crab is underground, you do not know which of those reasons it is for. If a crab is molting and you dig it up and disturb it during a critical point in the molt, you can injure and possible kill a crab. So DO NOT dig them up unless you have an emergency like a flood or a bacterial bloom. They know when they need to come up to eat and drink. Crabs eat very little when they are small, you might not even notice that they are eating.

Not sure what you are referring to when you say that "some newer crabs do this thing under the sand which leads to their death"....where did you read that?

[Slach]

Crabs like to dig, some more than others. Sometimes it is to molt, sometime to de-stress, and sometimes just for fun.
If a crab is underground, you do not know which of those reasons it is for. If a crab is molting and you dig it up and disturb it during a critical point in the molt, you can injure and possible kill a crab. So DO NOT dig them up unless you have an emergency like a flood or a bacterial bloom. They know when they need to come up to eat and drink. Crabs eat very little when they are small, you might not even notice that they are eating.

Not sure what you are referring to when you say that "some newer crabs do this thing under the sand which leads to their death"....where did you read that?

Post purchase syndrome https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/P ... ndrome.doc


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[curlysister]

Ah, okay. PPS. Yes, unfortunately there is no way to run diagnostics on crabs, or to know if they are sick, or know how much they have gone thru prior to coming to us. Digging them up won't prevent them from dying underground. All you can do is to keep your conditions idea, and give them a varied diet that includes protein and calcium. Be sure to check the 'nutrition' care sheet for info on what to feed them.