small crab underground for 5-6 weeks?!

[hermiekk]

Hello everyone! I am new here so I apologize if I put this in the wrong place or if I do anything wrong. Anyways, one of my small hermit crabs (about 1-1 1/2 inches) has been underground for about 5-6 weeks! I am starting to get worried because aren't hermit crabs her size supposed to take only about a month to molt, and how long could it take for her to de-stress since she was fairly new?. Is it possible that she is doing both? Thank you!

[megmaholm]

Yep, she might be doing both. The guidelines on molting times for different sizes are just an estimate, so try not to worry! There's a chance she could be sneaking up at night, eating, and disappearing back underground as well. I've had tiny crabs come up for a single day, eat a ton, and then disappear for another month. When they're small, they molt frequently so it might seem like you never see them. I generally don't worry about any size crab unless it hits 3-4 months without any sightings.

[hermiekk]

Thank you so much!

[wodesorel]

One of my newest adoptees who is the same size was down for 9 weeks, one that was smaller was down for 8.

[hermiekk]

Wow! That's a really long time wodesorel!

[wodesorel]

I didn't realize it was so long until I looked at when I had brought them home. They went down February 12th. The teeny came up April 1st, the medium on April 5th, and another tiny came up April 18th. I'm still waiting on the large, but he's been up and down a few times over the past week or two. He won't stay up long enough for me to find him and move him!

[hermiekk]

She finally came up last night, I was so excited!