HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I've been a little bit worried the last month or so regarding my largest crab, Pumpkin.
Background info: Pumpkin is my largest crab- I don't know what "official" size she can be classified as- I'd say at least XL, maybe bigger. I got her a few months after I got my first crab (In 2020- so, she's been with around 2yrs now.) Never had any issues. She's always molted fine.

Her longest recorded molt, to my awareness, was close to 5 months. That was probably a year plus ago. I'm VERY regretful that I didn't record the date that she went down this time, as it would have been a lot helpful. I can say, though, that she's been down at LEAST 4 months- give or take.
All my other crabs are currently on the surface right now. I don't think any crabs have been down with her recently, and if they have, it's been a while. So that excludes any attacking.
I lost one crab, Blackberry, 5 months ago. The substrate was getting to be too dry (as it didn't have any eco-earth in it at that time) which was my own mistake. I stumbled across her body as I was prepping to mix in the eco-earth- she was at the bottom/near the bottom of the tank. (Please note: I do NOT agree with digging crabs up. I will only do so in moments of extreme emergency. )Blackberry looked as if she could have been cannibalized, which opened my eyes to see that I'd been neglecting protein in their diet, which I have been heavily bulking since then.
What should I do? Keep waiting? How long do XL/Jumbo crabs usually molt for? For the record, no, she has not been coming to the surface overnight, from what I can tell.
I'm very worried and losing her would be heartbreaking. I love my crabs so, so very much and only want the best for them. Thank you all.

Hi!

If you have other crabs in the tank, the only thing you can do is wait for her. My XL crab Beau went missing last year for 5 months. I've had him now going on 11 years. (He's in a tank with a few buddies). I was totally bummed and thought he might have passed. Then BAM! There he was after 5 months of being MIA. Now he's out constantly, even sleeping out in the open during the day. So it's def possible Pumpkin is still around, and she's just super good at playing hide and seek like Beau. Don't give up hope yet my friend!

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I agree with CL77. And she very well may have come up and gone back down without your knowing it.

Thank you both. You're right, maybe she did come up. I'm just not sure. I will keep waiting for Pumpkin! Thanks again!

My Cher is smaller than Sonny, and I thought it was odd that she was always down longer than he was. I don't usually keep track of when they go down and come up. But there was one time a couple of years ago when they went down within a couple of days of each other - so I took note of it. I just happened to be in the room one evening and noticed that Cher was up - she had not been that morning. It had been 3 1/2 months, so seemed like about the right amount of time. I put in fresh food, then went to check on her a couple of hours later - and she was gone back down! And didn't come up for another two months! So if I hadn't been in the room during those two or three hours she was up, I would have presumed she was down for all that time.

Sorry for not replying- it's been a busy week.
That's encouraging to hear! And yes, it's completely possible that that has happened with Pumpkin. I only scale my attic stairs to see them once or twice a day, if that (some days, not at all- if I know they have what they need)
I've been waiting still, and nothing yet. (From what I know). I've been hoping that she would come up soon- mainly because I want/need to do a tank cleanout, as it's been a while (and the tank is kindaaa gross now) and the other 3 are still up.
When is the cutoff mark for when it would be deemed "too late" for molt times? What would I do then- still wait?
Thanks Curly, and CL77

The options are to either dig or not dig. If a crab is molting and you dig it up, it could be harmful to the crab. If it is dead, there is nothing to be gained by digging. If you are able to be 100% certain a crab has not come up (ie- 24 hour cameras, or only crab in a tank and no substrate disturbed), then 4 or 5 months is kind of the cut off. But in your case, you can't be certain. Unless there is a bacterial bloom or a flood, your substrate doesn't really need to be changed.

Hmm. Yes, that's what I've been considering. I'll give it some more thought before making my choice.

What I meant by "cleanout"- I don't mean change the substrate. I wait until it's been a while and all the crabs are up and can be moved to my other holding tank temporarily, so I can rearrange the decorations and give the substrate a fluff.
Thank you Curly!

Good news:
Pumpkin has made her return! All 4 crabs are now up and active (Pine, Pumpkin, Koda and Sunflower.)
Seeing as they're all up, today I moved them out of the tank for about 20 minutes, so I could fluff substrate, clean it up a bit, and rearrange. It had been a while...lol. Hoping they like everything! It's such a blessing to see Pumpkin again. I thought for sure she was dead.

Yay!!

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