Bulley Crab??

[marandashermies]

OK, so I have had this PP for about 3 weeks or so. Almost every night he changes shells. I have never had a crab that changes as much as him. All of the ones he has had on fit him perfect (as far as I can see) but he is just down right picky!

The problem is, my larger crab Blue, has now disappeared and this smaller crab is sporting his shell. It is HUGE on him too. I really am wondering if he kicked blue out of it so he could try that one on too and decided to keep it? But where did Blue go? He is a big dude and hard to miss so he has to be buried? Other case scenario, Blue went down to molt and Mr. Crabs followed him waited for him to be vulnerable and stole his shell?

Also, I am 99% sure Blue is not in another shell, as the larger ones in that tank are all still there. So I feel like he is naked somewhere..

Has anyone ever had this happen and what do I do! Its driving me crazy. I really just want to know that Blue is OK. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Here is Mr. Crabs the culprit


This is Blue- almost double the size of Mr. Crabs- so how could he get him out of that shell?!

[landlubber]

If you are seriously concerned and have good reason to suspect Blue has dug down w/o his shell-I would do some very gentle digging, see if I could see him on the bottom of the tank......he won't live long naked!

[megmaholm]

If you're sure he's naked, I agree, digging is the right choice - a naked crab won't live long. Just dig VERY carefully since if he's naked, he's extremely vulnerable to injury.

[marandashermies]

ok that's what I was thinking too...I also have one down for a molt so I don't want to disturb her. As of today, still no sign of blue. However, Mr. Crabs did dumb that shell (Blue's) last night and took another one...again. Has anyone else ever had a crab that literally changes its shell each night? Maybe I have too many choices in there! lol

[KellyCrabbieLove]

I have some that changed nightly. Especially when new. He has since passed due to bad molt but I had one that I named Goldilocks because of the constant changing. I have watched a crab change into one shells and then immediately change back even without spending more than 3 seconds in a new shell. They can be picky or just little fashion diva crabs when it comes to shells. In the wild with the shell shortage the supply of suitable shells is very limited so to be dropped into a situation with tons of great shells they are overwhelmed in a good way.

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[me n my hermikids]

I have a sister like that

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[Bonk]

I too have had experience with new crabs changing shells near constantly! I brought a rescue home once and he was in and out of nearly every shell - I think they just want to make sure they are in one at the very least more suitable than their current shell. Then in contrast I've brought some home where they don't even look at new shells yet after the first moult go crazy for the exact same ones that were in there before. They certainly have preferences!

[landlubber]

I've mostly had pre-molt crabs do this. Some swelling and growing of the new exo may start in part before they even dig down, and I wonder if that just makes them feel uncomfortable, or they just want the best shell to molt in they can find. Also, in the wild shells are a huge, big deal, and there are not enough of them, so I would think the option to try on a bunch of potential prime real estate with out having to evict the current resident (energy they won't want to spend if they don't have to) might look pretty good to a new crab.

[marandashermies]

Perfect, that makes me feel better!

landlubber: I think you might be on to something with the pre-molt, constant shell changing. Mr. Crabs has not been seen for the past 48hrs and last nights food was not touched, even a little. So if he did go down, that means all the crabs are down in that tank now. Just when my other 3 in my 20g came up (still waiting on one, big fella), now the other tank has them go down, lol. Must mean my straws are next in the 55g!

I feel like I may have to stay up late tonight and see what if anything is happening in this tank so I can stop worrying!

[Laurie LeAnn]

Did I miss it? Did you find blue? If you haven't went looking you have to be very careful if all your crabs are down now.. digging or bothering crabs can make them stress. You cave in their air pocket you can harm them..I was going to say if you were just digging at it was only blue down I would have a old butter dish that is clean handy and a shell put it by him and put the dish over him making sure he has enough room to dig under and cover the dish lightly. I did this when I discovered a crab starting to molt under my water dish..p.p. if they come in mag pie shells and ditch them generally won't go back to them if their life depended on it! They love a tapestry type shell. Once they find that perfect one they usually stick with it for a long time..you have the shopping around but the usually go back to their own..normally if a crab wants wants a another crabs shell they fight for it.they will rock the crab back and forth and might rip the crab apart getting him out. Your blue might be under ground with injuries..I hope he is o.k...

[marandashermies]

Did I miss it? Did you find blue? If you haven't went looking you have to be very careful if all your crabs are down now.. digging or bothering crabs can make them stress. You cave in their air pocket you can harm them..I was going to say if you were just digging at it was only blue down I would have a old butter dish that is clean handy and a shell put it by him and put the dish over him making sure he has enough room to dig under and cover the dish lightly. I did this when I discovered a crab starting to molt under my water dish..p.p. if they come in mag pie shells and ditch them generally won't go back to them if their life depended on it! They love a tapestry type shell. Once they find that perfect one they usually stick with it for a long time..you have the shopping around but the usually go back to their own..normally if a crab wants wants a another crabs shell they fight for it.they will rock the crab back and forth and might rip the crab apart getting him out. Your blue might be under ground with injuries..I hope he is o.k...

I have not gone digging since now Mr. Crabs is down, which means all 3 of them are down and no crabs are up in that tank. I really don't want to disturb the molting crabs and cause all of them to die. I am just praying that Blue found a new shell and went down. I don't feel like its worth stressing or potentially killing the other crabs digging around for blue. I can also see some tunnels and don't want to cave those in. Hopefully in a month or two I will have 3 happy healthy freshly molted crabs. Just a waiting game now..

[cRABB3R&w[]FE]

Maybe it is just the pictures making it look that way but I swear those crabs are in different shells, one looks like it has been banded and one looks unaltered???

[marandashermies]

Maybe it is just the pictures making it look that way but I swear those crabs are in different shells, one looks like it has been banded and one looks unaltered???

haha yes they are in completely different shells! I was just showing pictures of each crab, so everyone could see the size difference. Because Blue is double the size of Mr.Crabs and I thought it would be awfully strange to bully a larger crab out of this shell.

[marandashermies]

I am happy to report that Blue came up from his molt last night! Finally after 2 months! He doubled in size and is spunky and beautiful! I am so happy nothing happened to him. I guess Pearl was in a shell similar to what he was wearing when he went down. It must have been the heat wave of 35 degrees yesterday, because he came up as did my other little guy little fella in my 20g. He pulled a back to back molt on me. They were both the last ones in both of those tanks (20g and 35g). Now I can take them down!

I but both of them in the 125g. Lil fella was trying to climb all over me and didn't make it easy to get him off of me and put him in the 125g. Those sharp little toe nails are perfect for sticking into your clothing! Blue went in and immediately found a new shell. I watched as he tossed the shell about, stuck his arms and head in it for about 25 min. Finally he swapped into it and got comfy. He was NOT shy about letting me stand there and observe him fiddling with the shell and switching into it. He stuck near his old shell for a bit, but then went off to have some dinner. His old shell is still empty this morning, so he must have found it to be a good fit

I didn't get a pic of lil fella cause he is a zoomer. Seriously, this little dude lapped the tank before I even knew what was happening. But here is my baby Blue. This guy is just so special to me for some reason. He tugs at my heart strings.

Here he is checking out the shells


Here he is walking away from his old shell feeling pretty confident in that banded turbo

[AutumnHermie]

Yay! Glad he's alright