HCA: Hermit Crab Association

we have 2 crabs both went underground end of November the little bigger one has come back on Christmas but the smaller one still hasn't surfaced worse part is they went under 1 did one day than the smaller the next but I have absolutely no clue or sign where the smaller one went down at. The bigger one was easy you could tell. How much longer should I wait before going to look.

I would suggest waiting longer, it has only been a couple months. If it is a smaller crab, it will probably be up soon.

Crabs can stay down for up to 6 months or more depending on their size. I had a small crab stay under for 4 months. You really want to avoid digging unless you absolutely have to (flooding, bacteria, fungus, etc etc) because if the crab is molting and you disturb the molt, the stress could kill the crab. I know its hard not to worry though! Your crab friend will probably be fine and show up looking bright and new when its good and ready

thanks for the reply's I will wait longer and give the little guy some more time

Ok So are one small crap is still down and my daughter is very concerned and at this point I am too. Since the beginning our other small crab has now went down to molt and came back up twice. I have been waiting for the other small crab to come down as I want to dump sand into bucket and re moisten the entire sand as the misting the sand seems t only wet the top and tiny bit underneath. So I am just curious what everyone still thinks if its a good chance the crab has died underground either from natural causes or cave collapsed or whatever and if at this point I should just go ahead with emptying cage and do a search mission for missing crab? Thanks for your help

How big is the crab? (Quarter, egg, etc.) Waiting another month would be the normal course of action. 4 full months is about the time to start being concerned, although smaller crabs do generally take less time than that.

If the sand has dried out at the bottom, then I personally would dig now. They cannot have a successful molt in dry sand, so it's more helpful than harmful to go looking if there's a problem with the substrate.

Ok so oddly enough this morning I found our missing crabs shell just sitting in a small dug hole. it looks like our other crab maybe dug the shell up but IDK for sure. Just that our other crab has dug himself back under ground as he usually does. But anyway the shell of the missing crab has somehow surfaced but the crab itself is not around anywhere nor are any shells missing? So what to do now

Missing crab is small Maybe quarter size definitely not bigger

If you are absolutely positive there are no other shells missing then it doesn't sound good. If you need to fix the substrate do it now since it'll still be okay to dig your other crab up within a day or two of him going down. I don't really expect you to find anything if the shell came up to the surface empty, but there's always the chance the miss crab is underground naked - I have had that happen several times, and it is something where we need to intervene - so go slowly and use your hands to remove the substrate so as not to injure him if he is.

Well Thanks for all the help everyone, Unfortunately I emptied out all the sand into 2 buckets as I was emptying from cage I was going as slow as I could slowly pushing sand out of corner of the cage as to let it waterfall into bucket using my hand to guide the sand but I found no body dead or alive... So I am guessing it decomposed??? into soil if possible this was a very small crab dime ish size and went down in November that or other crab ate him.... either way all I know is I didn't find or see any body and I went through the sand twice emptying it and putting back into tank but I guess I could have missed it as it was small but I think if it was a live or there I would have seen....

I'm so sorry!

Any Idea's what might have happened if he decomposed or other crab ate it? Always have good food and constantly eating it always see that crab in food dish in evenings or near it? or did I simply miss the body?? There is no smell coming from crabs tank

A small crab can decompose almost entirely in just a few weeks under the right conditions. Given his size and that there was no shell by what would have been left to alert you to look there, I'm really not surprised you didn't find anything. There may be some small bits there somewhere, but short of sifting the sand I don't think you'll find them.

How new were the crabs? Did they have regular molts with you before this? It's always a possibility that the other crab found him, but it's not likely. Bad molts do happen, and they can't always be explained. The only time there is a smell is if one passes on the surface, underground the substrate is enough to block off the odor.

The crabs are actually my daughters, She took one crab from a friend (we called Superman) he had a superman shell. Needless to say the friend wasn't allowed to have the crab back and here we were stuck with it. I wasn't too happy not at all... After some punishment for bringing home a pet and realized we were now stuck with it I had to look to do some research about them as I knew nothing. I stumbles across Hermit crab patch site and then onto here. And realized very quickly what these crabs needed so the small plastic cage her friend said was good and small sponge for water and little food wasn't good enough at all. So I went ahead and got Big plastic cage/substrate/food and dishes etc...

Anyway once we had everything since I read they really like company we got a friend. As I learned more I realized what I had gotten from pet store still wasn't good enough issues with hygro... So I bought Glass cage, substrate from hermit crab patch and food. After putting that all together Superman went under 1st night in new proper substrate and our other crab Shelly went under the next.

Sorry for long story but we had shelly for maybe 1-2 weeks....My daughter was little upset when I told her I couldn't find shelly that she probably died but that we would get another crab today know that we know for sure and superman will have a friend.

Thanks for all your help

So sorry you lost a crab!
You sound like you've learned a lot about taking care of hermit crabs. Sometimes these things just happen! Even the most experienced crabbers have lost crabs in the same way! Good luck!

Thanks, Yeah 1st time they Molted or went to molt and 1 went down next day the other did and we only had crabs maybe 2-3 weeks but the 1st day we put in the correct substrate and proper depth down they went. We went out and she picked out another new crab today so she has 2 again and superman has another new friend. They both have been walking all over and around the tank past 2-3 hours. Looks like she found one much like our original this neither seem to shy or hide away until dark as its on 7pm here and they both have been out and about