prefers to live underground?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:00 pm

A couple of months ago, one of my crabs dug to the bottom of the tank and stayed. I assumed she was molting and let her do her thing. A month later, she was still down there, so I dug her up and she stayed surfaced for a few hours and dug back down. I figured she, maybe, wasn't done yet, so I again let her stay. Another month later, I was changing out the substrate and dreaded finding her, because I assumed she'd died at this point. Surprisingly, she was still alive. So for two days she's been surfaced and has now dug back down.

So does she just prefer to live under the surface? I don't think I have it too warm in the tank.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:38 pm

Yep, some hermies just prefer to live under ground. You can call them gopher crabs.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:49 pm

Since you only have two, it's somewhat easier to see if she's digging down just to hide during the day. Smooth out the substrate near her and see if it's disturbed in the morning. If so, you know she's coming up at night or when you're not there to eat/drink/soak. That'd probably be the easiest way to tell when she's molting.

Cynderella727 · Post by **Cynderella727** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 12:15 pm

They can be elusive little buggers can't they? I only see one of mine on the surface for a short time every two or three weeks. I can't seem to figure him out.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:19 pm

Frustrating, isn't it. Especially when you have just two crabs. I have about 15 in my main tank, but almost never are more than 8 up at any given time. And I know only a few are moulting so I guess the rest are just chilling.

I have several who are down most of the time. It seems they'll come up to check out what's going on, hang around for a few weeks and then just go down again.

It's a good idea to smooth out the substrate. These little buggers think they're so smart so it's great when you can outsmart them...which doesn't happen very often!

evre1's-mom · Post by **evre1's-mom** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 1:27 am

I know my 2 large PP's are alive because I hear them. However, they are staying in pretty much the same spot unless my med PP starts digging. (I put an end to that today, tho, when I moved her to a new tat.) My biggest one was VERY friendly and the other one wasn't really bashful, either. Wish I knew if they were molting, or just chilling. Guess time will tell.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 4:22 pm

I have a PP that might be doing the same thing. I haven't seen him in 6.5 wks. I can tell you the dates I've seen him this year. I saw him on Jan 8 and 19, Feb 1, 3, 4, and 10, and not at all yet in March. I'm to the point where I fully expect to find his body, or what's left of it, when we move and change tanks next month.

I hope he's down molting since he is pretty big and is working on getting his regrown leg back to 100% . He is VERY shy when he is up, so I hope he is still alive and just prefers to be underground where he can be alone. His tank is right by my head while I sleep, and I'm a night owl. I doubt he is sneaking up in the middle of the night w/out me knowing.

Why do they like to worry us so much?

Tremors · Post by **Tremors** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 6:10 pm

Some of my crabs like to spend a lot of time underground, too.

Your crab might be molting, or getting ready to molt, though. How big is she? Mediums and larger crabs often stay down for more than a month.

Another way to get your crabs to spend more time above ground is to have lots of hiding places and fake plants in the tank. I think it makes them feel more hidden and secure, so they don't always want to hide underground.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:41 pm

I have a couple just like that as well. Odd little boogers they are

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:16 pm

I have one that does the same thing. I have had it for almost 9 months and in that time I swear it has been above ground for less than 15 days. And, when it does surface, its only for about 12-18 hours to grab something to eat and then back down like a mole.

jarratthead · Post by **jarratthead** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 8:13 pm

My last four have been underground for over 2 weeks. I'm not sure I'll ever see them again! But I've promised myself that I wouldn't dig...so I just wait. Since I haven't smelled anything fishy, I am guessing that no news is good news.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:02 am

oh no dont say that ive started stressing that ive not seen one of mine for a week, i bought it last wed put it in the tank... it dug straight down from where i put it and has not surfaced again since.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 12:09 pm

I think they love to keep us stressed....

I have a 100 gallon, with 8 PP's from small to Jumbo's... so far I have seen 2... Phillips is up and running all the time... Tommi came up today after being down for 3 weeks...

In my 10 gal, I have 1 Jumbo that was to be moved but went down 5 weeks ago, and I haven't seen her since....

No smell means she is ok....

In my ISO 10... I have 2 smalls.. that still haven't surfaced since I brought them home....

My 30 is waiting for new occupants.... I have got to go shopping.....

jordan.eth · Post by **jordan.eth** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 1:41 pm

Yeah, some of mine prefer to be underground. My two micro ruggies I see every now and then, but it's rare. They aren't molting, they'll come up for food and water but when they do they're pretty stealthy about it