Molting?

Hermiesguardian · Post by **Hermiesguardian** » Mon Oct 23, 2017 10:39 pm

My daughter's 2 crabs were is a store bought small plastic cage. Maybe less than an inch of sand. No salt water. Store food. For 3 months. I'm taking care of them now. First moved them into a 10 gal tank. After about a week one buried and hasn't come up. I have since moved them into a 15gal and with my daughter's help carefully moved buried carb in his cave to new tank. He hasn't come up yet. Would he be molting so soon after the first move? I didn't see any signs of eating, let alone eating alot. About 3 wks ago we added a 3rd. I'm planning on moving them into a 40 gal. But I know I'm supposed to leave the buried guy alone. They are small. About the size of a quarter. He's been down now at least a month. Could he be dead? I can't afford to get double everything to move the other 2 and leave this guy till he comes up. I just want to transfer them before another one goes down.

doth · Post by **doth** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 7:42 am

mine are small and their molts lasted about six weeks! the wait was agonizing, lol. hang in there!

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daws409 · Post by **daws409** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 7:57 am

I have jumbo's and they usually take 4-6 months. We have someone here (can't remember who) that had a medium stay buried for 8 months.... They orginally thought the worst because he usually took about 2 months to molt. Then one day out of the blue, he just decided to pop up - 8 months later. He did a back to back molt cause he was missing a few limbs.

Never give up hope and never dig for them! They'll come up when they're ready.

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Hermiesguardian · Post by **Hermiesguardian** » Tue Oct 24, 2017 9:05 am

I was hoping there was some way I could carefully, keeping him buried, transfer him.

Happyhermiehome · Post by **Happyhermiehome** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 12:56 am

I'd just leave him be. If you accidentally disrupt him he can become disfigured or if the sand collapses down on him he could suffocate. You don't really need to get 2 of everything. Just leave a small dish of water and a small dish of dry food for when he comes up. As long as the sub stays moist and the tank is warm he'll be okay. You could maybe use an inexpensive heat lamp and mist a few times a day (being careful not to over saturate the sub) and keep a close eye out for him to pop up and transfer him straight away. When I got my first crab from a Family member he had no heat source and was in a ten gallon and in a pinch I just used a bendy desk lamp that I already had on hand with a 25 watt bulb. Unless your house is super cold this should be okay for a while. I know that lamps zap humidity in a small tank but if he's under and the sub is the right consistency I think it's okay.

Or u could just wait till he comes up to do the move but there is a possibility someone else might go down also before he comes up.

YouTube · Post by **GotButterflies** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 8:35 am

Hello...wait a second...did I read that right? You moved the buried crab with his cave? If so, I would dig him up...more than likely his cave would have collapsed which would cause him to suffocate. If he is still alive...be prepared to isolate.

Da_Stos208 · Post by **Da_Stos208** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 9:31 am

It's important not to disturb them when they're molting. Sometimes they'll go under for so long you might be tempted to dig around for their remains. Don't do it! Just be patient, they'll show up eventually. Sometimes I think they just want to stress us out lol!

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Hermiesguardian · Post by **Hermiesguardian** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 10:08 am

Happyhermiehome wrote:I'd just leave him be. If you accidentally disrupt him he can become disfigured or if the sand collapses down on him he could suffocate. You don't really need to get 2 of everything. Just leave a small dish of water and a small dish of dry food for when he comes up. As long as the sub stays moist and the tank is warm he'll be okay. You could maybe use an inexpensive heat lamp and mist a few times a day (being careful not to over saturate the sub) and keep a close eye out for him to pop up and transfer him straight away. When I got my first crab from a Family member he had no heat source and was in a ten gallon and in a pinch I just used a bendy desk lamp that I already had on hand with a 25 watt bulb. Unless your house is super cold this should be okay for a while. I know that lamps zap humidity in a small tank but if he's under and the sub is the right consistency I think it's okay.

Or u could just wait till he comes up to do the move but there is a possibility someone else might go down also before he comes up.

Ok. I'll leave him in there and just set up the new tank and move the other 2. Just have to find a spot for it.

Hermiesguardian · Post by **Hermiesguardian** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 10:09 am

Da_Stos208 wrote:It's important not to disturb them when they're molting. Sometimes they'll go under for so long you might be tempted to dig around for their remains. Don't do it! Just be patient, they'll show up eventually. Sometimes I think they just want to stress us out lol!

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Well, he's doing a good job of it. Could he have been so desparate to molt the second he had substrate he would have gone down? Without eating tons first?

Hermiesguardian · Post by **Hermiesguardian** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 10:15 am

GotButterflies wrote:Hello...wait a second...did I read that right? You moved the buried crab with his cave? If so, I would dig him up...more than likely his cave would have collapsed which would cause him to suffocate. If he is still alive...be prepared to isolate.

Yes.

At this point I'll just leave him. I'll set up the new tank with the other 2. I just have to find a spot for the 15 gal. My husband is threatening to drive down to Florida and releasing them. He won't really do that but he's not a happy camper.

YouTube · Post by **GotButterflies** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 10:50 am

Cherylco55 wrote:
GotButterflies wrote:Hello...wait a second...did I read that right? You moved the buried crab with his cave? If so, I would dig him up...more than likely his cave would have collapsed which would cause him to suffocate. If he is still alive...be prepared to isolate.
Yes. At this point I'll just leave him. I'll set up the new tank with the other 2. I just have to find a spot for the 15 gal. My husband is threatening to drive down to Florida and releasing them. He won't really do that but he's not a happy camper.

Okay, number one - you cannot release captive animals into the wild. Even though those were wild crabs at one point, they now should not be released...it could harm the wild population.

Number two - do what you want - but if you moved the molting cave with the crab in it, more than likely that cave collapsed.

Hermiesguardian · Post by **Hermiesguardian** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 11:01 am

GotButterflies wrote:
Cherylco55 wrote:
GotButterflies wrote:Hello...wait a second...did I read that right? You moved the buried crab with his cave? If so, I would dig him up...more than likely his cave would have collapsed which would cause him to suffocate. If he is still alive...be prepared to isolate.
Yes. At this point I'll just leave him. I'll set up the new tank with the other 2. I just have to find a spot for the 15 gal. My husband is threatening to drive down to Florida and releasing them. He won't really do that but he's not a happy camper.
Okay, number one - you cannot release captive animals into the wild. Even though those were wild crabs at one point, they now should not be released...it could harm the wild population.

Number two - do what you want - but if you moved the molting cave with the crab in it, more than likely that cave collapsed.

I know we can't release them.

Hermiesguardian · Post by **Hermiesguardian** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 11:08 am

Cherylco55 wrote:
Happyhermiehome wrote:I'd just leave him be. If you accidentally disrupt him he can become disfigured or if the sand collapses down on him he could suffocate. You don't really need to get 2 of everything. Just leave a small dish of water and a small dish of dry food for when he comes up. As long as the sub stays moist and the tank is warm he'll be okay. You could maybe use an inexpensive heat lamp and mist a few times a day (being careful not to over saturate the sub) and keep a close eye out for him to pop up and transfer him straight away. When I got my first crab from a Family member he had no heat source and was in a ten gallon and in a pinch I just used a bendy desk lamp that I already had on hand with a 25 watt bulb. Unless your house is super cold this should be okay for a while. I know that lamps zap humidity in a small tank but if he's under and the sub is the right consistency I think it's okay.

Or u could just wait till he comes up to do the move but there is a possibility someone else might go down also before he comes up.
Ok. I'll leave him in there and just set up the new tank and move the other 2. Just have to find a spot for it.

Since we moved him once and it's possible his cave collapsed, should I leave him at this point or check on him? And if I check on him what should I be looking for?

Happyhermiehome · Post by **Happyhermiehome** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 2:53 pm

Ohhhh okay I also missed the fact that u already moved him. I'd take Gotbutterflies advise and Find him to see if he is okay. She is very experienced and knows best.

Hermiesguardian · Post by **Hermiesguardian** » Wed Oct 25, 2017 4:18 pm

Happyhermiehome wrote:Ohhhh okay I also missed the fact that u already moved him. I'd take Gotbutterflies advise and Find him to see if he is okay. She is very experienced and knows best.

Ok. If he's still alive should I then leave him half buried? Will he burrow down again? Or just leave him on top.

HCA: Hermit Crab Association

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