Don't always smell *that* smell when they die?

[springgreen]

My medium-sized hermit crab (can comfortably fit in the palm of my hand, if that helps size him up), whom I've had for several years, has been molting for awhile now, possibly 2-1/2 to 3 months. I'm worried that he has died, but I don't smell anything unusual. I've read that some don't smell if they're buried, but I don't want to dig him up, if he's just molting.

Any advice? Should I just be patient or try to dig around? Is it true that sometimes you don't smell anything?

[emberfusion]

It's true. Sometimes there's really not much of a smell at all.

I find that the bigger they get the longer they take to molt. Sometimes they just spend a while chillin' under ground and sometimes they spend a while explorin' underground.

Personally, I'd wait it out.
I've had some buried for 6 months before only to have them randomly pop up one day. I mean, 6 months and I think mine are dead, but they come right back up happy as a crab can be.

[DragonsFly]

I've read several people's posts about crabs that took as long as 6 months. Frankly, I don't see the advantage of digging. I go by the doctor's creed of "first, do no harm." Since you can harm the crab by digging it up if it is in mid-molt, and since it won't do the crab any good by digging it up if it is dead, I'd say just wait and embrace the opportunity (so very rare in our modern culture) to practice the virtue of patience. Crabs are marvelous tutors of that virtue.