Advice for finding PP who escaped 6 weeks ago

[Nutcracker]

Hi, everyone, I received some helpful advice about an escaped hermit crab in another thread about a tankmate who is molting (http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 3&t=104741). I am copying that advice here, and welcome more!

Original post (Nutcracker) »
Blondie sadly escaped when I mistakenly overfilled the substrate about 5 weeks ago, and we cannot find her.

wodesorel »
Blondie may still be in there, dug under somewhere. Don't give up hope yet! If you think she'd gotten out, leave stinky food in the middle of rooms and check on it in the middle of the night after it's been dark and quiet for a while to see if it lured her out. Also check anywhere there is a heat source- they like under stoves and under dryers, or anywhere there is something that is producing any sort of warmth. They can also get up and down steps, so don't assume she'd be on the same level of the house as where the tank is!

Nutcracker »
Wodesorel, ... Thank you also for your advice for enticing Blondie out of hiding. I put dry food and drinking water out for several nights after she disappeared, with no luck. I'll look around in the warm places you mentioned. I did look down our carpeted stairs and near them at the time, too. What would you count as "stinky food"? And how many weeks missing is time to sadly give up? We've smelled no bad odors anywhere, so I hold out hope. She's in a naturally bright teal turbo shell (not painted), so she'd be easy to see from a distance.

soilentgringa »
What Wodesorel said is spot on; also check the bathrooms. One of ours escaped months ago and was probably out for a week or so and we found him behind the toilet.

wodesorel » I think someone went 8 months before finding their crab under the dryer in the laundry room. They kept the dog bowls in there, so it had water and a food source. Anything stinky like fresh fish, shrimp, fish or reptile pellets and flakes. Something that has an odor and will emit it for a while.
She could be hiding inside of pretty much anything that touches the ground. They are expert climbers, and any hole big enough to squeeze their shell will fit them. People have found them inside of box springs, hidden in curtain folds, inside of appliances. They are basically spiders with hard shell. Keep trying, don't give up hope! You've seen what they're like in a cage, some days they don't move. They'll do the same out of the tank as well.

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[Nutcracker]

Just wanted to post a quick thank you to soilentgringa and wodesorel. I feel much more encouraged now! I thought she would have suffocated from dry gills by now.
Because we are leaving town, I will leave out some dry food and a bowl of fresh water on both levels, making sure she climb to both on something like a towel. Then I'll try the "stinky" foods when we get back.
Thanks!