HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hello everyone! I have a molter down right now- Mona. She's been under the sub since 9/16/17. So...as of today, she's been down for five months!! She's medium-ish in size, maybe a little larger than a golf ball. I'm starting to get worried since we're on month 5 now, and the other crabs have been digging profusely, down maybe four inches or so out of the 7.5 inches of sub in the tank. My biggest concern is that they will find Mona as they dig, especially since they have been digging on the side I suspect she is on (I don't know where exactly she is located). I've been feeding lots of protein with every food change and calcium is always provided 24/7. I haven't heard any sounds or activity that could be from Mona nor have I smelled death smell (I check every day). Anything I should do or keep in mind? I just hope she's ok. Thanks!

Hi Leah! So...a few things to keep in mind. It is quite possible that she is only coming up at night, or that she came up and then went back down. Don't forget these guys are nocturnal. Even though they dig down in one area, their tunnels are so crazy and random - they can be anywhere. It is also possible that you have seen her...and that she looks different When we obtain them, and then feed them great food, their colors can change.

Keep up with the protein and calcium, but more importantly, please follow all aspects of the food pyramid viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92554

Try to be positive.

Hi, thanks for the reply! I am very positive that she hasn't been coming up at all. I monitor my other two misfits very closely and all activity is from them. (they are such creatures of habit, I find them doing routine tunnel maintenance every morning, LOL!) Plus, Mona is significantly larger than my other two, so it's very easy to distinguish between all three crabs. I know everything should be fine, but there's always a chance that something could be wrong- which makes me a total nervous nellie! :roll:

leah610 wrote:Hi, thanks for the reply! I am very positive that she hasn't been coming up at all. I monitor my other two misfits very closely and all activity is from them. (they are such creatures of habit, I find them doing routine tunnel maintenance every morning, LOL!) Plus, Mona is significantly larger than my other two, so it's very easy to distinguish between all three crabs. I know everything should be fine, but there's always a chance that something could be wrong- which makes me a total nervous nellie! :roll:

Did she ever come back to the surface?

Lorne_Clawstrong wrote:

leah610 wrote:Hi, thanks for the reply! I am very positive that she hasn't been coming up at all. I monitor my other two misfits very closely and all activity is from them. (they are such creatures of habit, I find them doing routine tunnel maintenance every morning, LOL!) Plus, Mona is significantly larger than my other two, so it's very easy to distinguish between all three crabs. I know everything should be fine, but there's always a chance that something could be wrong- which makes me a total nervous nellie! :roll:

Did she ever come back to the surface?

Nope. Still no sign of her


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Be patient. She will come up when she is ready!

Seven months is a long time, just be prepared for a bad outcome. I hate how many unknowns there are with these guys.

Update: After 8 months of waiting and the opportunity to finally churn the sub with both of my crabs up from their recent molts, I dug down. Unfortunately Mona passed. I found her shell at the bottom of the tank buried and completely encased in sand along with a few ashy hollow leg segments. I'm not sure what went wrong with her molt, maybe the cave collapsed, maybe she was too weak to survive. I'm sad, but I expected this outcome..she will be missed


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I am so very sorry!

I'm so sorry.