Hi!
We are a newer crab family. My daughter purchased one (Mr. Krabs) in July at the boardwalk and after research we realized there was a lot to know about them and they couldn't live in the mesh cage we got with purchase. Since then we purchased another one (Pearl) from a pet store. They are now in a 10 gallon tank with coconut fiber substrate about 6 inches deep. Mr Krabs has gone through a molt and Pearl seems to be doing well. My daughter is on a mission to save all the hermit crabs from terrible conditions. We were in VA Beach over Columbus day and she found that a souvenir shop had 10 crabs left a the end of the season, she picked out a smallish one that was incredibly active. We brought LilB home and introduced him to our current crabs. He was very active for a few hours and then he went under the substrate and we haven't seen him since. It has been about 2 weeks. He did not eat anything before going under and the conditions he came from were not the best. Should I be concerned yet? Or assume he is still destressing or molting. HELP!
New Crab
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- Administrator
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- Location: Manitoba, Canada
Re: New Crab
Welcome to crabs and to the site!
Assume he is molting or de-stressing. Don't dig to look for a crab underground unless there is an emergency like a bacterial bloom or a flood. They can stay underground for a few weeks or a few months even, depending on their size - and sometimes they might come up in the night or when you aren't watching the tank. I am of the opinion that if a crab has passed away underground, there is nothing to be gained by digging it up - but if a crab is in a critical stage of molting, there could be serious and even fatal consequences of digging it up. So better to wait it out!
Assume he is molting or de-stressing. Don't dig to look for a crab underground unless there is an emergency like a bacterial bloom or a flood. They can stay underground for a few weeks or a few months even, depending on their size - and sometimes they might come up in the night or when you aren't watching the tank. I am of the opinion that if a crab has passed away underground, there is nothing to be gained by digging it up - but if a crab is in a critical stage of molting, there could be serious and even fatal consequences of digging it up. So better to wait it out!
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." -Will Rogers