It's Been a While...

[BlookittiePC]

Hey all,
I have had two small/medium crabs, Jarvis and Friday for almost a year and a half now. Jarvis came up from a molt today that had started in early January, which is awesome. But Friday has been buried since before Christmas. Her last molt before this one was about a year ago, which I know is a long time. I know that two months is not a long molting time for some crabs, but she's still about ping-pong ball sized and has never taken this long before. My two have never shown true aggression so she isn't regrowing limbs or anything. My dad's optimistic theory is that she's taking longer because she hadn't molted in a long time, but we both know this is unlikely.
I guess my question is: what should I do? Should I wait a little while longer or should I dig?
I appreciate any and all advice in this nerve-wracking situation.

[curlysister]

Wait. Two months isn't long. It could be two more months, or more, before he comes up!

[Xenocrab]

Don't dig! Be patient. Crabs come up when they are ready. Make sure they have proteins, calciums and waters.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

[DevilNDisguise]

Never dig, unless it's an emergency. Emergency as in tank flood or bacterial bloom, for example. Otherwise, 2 months is not long at all. I've had crabs down for half a year before.

Digging will just cause the crab harm if it is still molting. Just leave it be. I know how nerve-wracking it is, but all the little guy needs is patience right now.

[BlookittiePC]

Thank you all for your responses, they've made me feel better since last night when I was hopelessly convinced of the worst. I know not to dig unless it's an emergency but the weird circumstances just made me unsure. She's a weird little crab who doesn't eat as much and is not as big as her friend who I got at the same time as her, her molting schedule is all over the place, and I just never know what to expect from her. I also think I'm anxious to have her back up because her molting is one of the few things keeping us from upgrading the tank. Since my other crab is back up, is there anything that I can do as well as feeding him properly to keep him away from my molting crab? Also, I've done the trick with poking a chopstick into the sand to test for a flood, but my dad is wondering if there's a way to tell (other than the smell) if there's a contained bacterial bloom that we can't see, because my humidity is always really high and we're always on the lookout for excess moisture.
Thank you all again, and cross your fingers for little Friday!

[BlookittiePC]

This is just an update that it has been another month (over three total) and there is still no sign of Friday, or any smell. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

[Crabby7Crabber]

Yeah, just be patient I'm sure all of us crabbers have worried about our hermies at LEAST once. I know I have!

[AwesomeHermit]

I wish I could be as optimistic as you, I had a molter down since November

[BlookittiePC]

Since I don't remember exactly the day she went down, I can be pretty sure it has now been four months. I know everyone is very, very against digging, but it's becoming more and more tempting because she's been holding back the tank upgrade since she first went down. Four months seems like an insane amount of time for a crab smaller than a ping-pong ball. Even if she hasn't molted yet, or just started recently, wouldn't she have needed to come up for food earlier? I have a lot of free time now and the thought of upgrading has made me impatient. I know everyone will tell me not to dig, but it's worth asking if four months is too long for a small crab.

[CrabbyLover77]

Since I don't remember exactly the day she went down, I can be pretty sure it has now been four months. I know everyone is very, very against digging, but it's becoming more and more tempting because she's been holding back the tank upgrade since she first went down. Four months seems like an insane amount of time for a crab smaller than a ping-pong ball. Even if she hasn't molted yet, or just started recently, wouldn't she have needed to come up for food earlier? I have a lot of free time now and the thought of upgrading has made me impatient. I know everyone will tell me not to dig, but it's worth asking if four months is too long for a small crab.

You can still do your upgrade while your one crab is under. I upgraded from a 20 gal L to a 55 gal. Out of 4 crabs, only 2 were up. So I moved those 2 into the new tank. I have the 20 gal with the bare necessities in it waiting for the other 2 to pop up. A large coconut hide, piece of Cholla wood, food, water, and calcium powder. If you wait until all the crabs are up to do an upgrade, you'll never be able to do it. There will always be one popping up and one going under to take its place.
I def wouldn't dig. I think Curlysister might have said this elsewhere, but not sure. If the crab is already dead and you dig, nothing happens. If it's molting and you dig, you could potentially kill it.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[BlookittiePC]

Thank you for your advice. Unfortunately I need the sand from the old tank for the new tank, and I also don't have the space in my room to have two tanks running at once. Since I only have two crabs, it's more logical in my situation to wait for them both to be up. I know I'm not supposed to dig, but I can't understand how she could be surviving only on her shell water and exoskeleton for four months...
I have heard about crabs being down for months on end, or even a year, but I have to assume those were very large crabs. My crab is only the size of a ping-pong ball, maybe even smaller. She has also had a mostly normal molting schedule before this, so it's just weird that she would suddenly be under for such a long time...
Assuming I can convince my dad to not dig, I will continue to update at the month marks. I know it might be a little annoying, but I've seen so many of these threads just end with no conclusive update.
Thank you all again while I continue to wait.

[Hermielover121]

I am actually in a similar same situation as you. One of my hermit crabs has come up and I’m trying to upgrade them to a 20 gallon I’m getting tomorrow but the other one is still molting has been molting for five weeks which is definitely not as long as yours but I’m sure yours will come up and I’m sure mine will too we just have to be really patient it’s going to be hard though because I really really want to do a upgrade and I need some of the eco earth from the 10 gallon to move to the 20 gallon so basically in the same situation as you. I think yours will come up sooner though what you can do is if you already have the tank get it ready wipe it all down wash it and boil a lot of accessories that you want to put in the new tank then when you have all that ready you just have to wait it’s so annoying!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BlookittiePC]

Ok, everyone. I know you are all very against digging, but Friday has now been down for five months and Jarvis went down for his molt a couple weeks ago. I expect Jarvis to be back mid-late June or so, and I plan to dig after the six month mark. I know that everyone is very, very against it, but I will plan and have the proper materials ready to iso Friday on the chance we find her alive. Six months seems crazy long for a crab her size, and it's not fair to keep Jarvis in the 10-gallon, because he keeps growing. I know you all will try to discourage me from digging, but my patience is worn thin, and I have a lot of time on my hands because of covid and summer vacation. Again, we will dig very carefully, as well as having materials on hand for a possible iso. I will update again after I dig and upgrade.
Thanks again everyone. I did my best to keep your advice for as long as I could, but the time has come.

[craboloading]

Ok, everyone. I know you are all very against digging, but Friday has now been down for five months and Jarvis went down for his molt a couple weeks ago. I expect Jarvis to be back mid-late June or so, and I plan to dig after the six month mark. I know that everyone is very, very against it, but I will plan and have the proper materials ready to iso Friday on the chance we find her alive. Six months seems crazy long for a crab her size, and it's not fair to keep Jarvis in the 10-gallon, because he keeps growing. I know you all will try to discourage me from digging, but my patience is worn thin, and I have a lot of time on my hands because of covid and summer vacation. Again, we will dig very carefully, as well as having materials on hand for a possible iso. I will update again after I dig and upgrade.
Thanks again everyone. I did my best to keep your advice for as long as I could, but the time has come.

There's really no reason to dig at all. From the sound of your post, you just continually try to justify why you are wanting to dig.

I totally get worrying. I had a crab that was in smaller than a 1" opening shell stay underground for 6 months!! I thought for sure they were dead, all their other molts were only about 6-8 weeks. It makes no logical sense to us humans how they are surviving underground - but obviously they can! They're crabs! Think about it, they can eat their exo and even the substrate & pieces off their own shells! They breath through modified gills - they can obviously continue breathing underground (barring tunnel collapse, obviously).

I really encourage you to not dig. You say you have to because you can't have 2 tanks set up, yet you have room for your upgraded tank and a potential ISO? You say you have to dig because you need to use some of the substrate in the new tank...but you can buy sand/EE for easilyyyy less than $10. Is your crabs life potentially worth $10 in substrate savings for you? Just wait. You have nothing to lose in waiting, your crab has their whole life on the line...and they have no choice but to trust you to keep their best interests in mind.

[curlysister]

I think it would be reasonable to dig at the six month mark, or when your other crab comes up.

One thing that is beneficial to having both of them down, is that you can smooth out the surface and be certain the nobody is coming up at night.