Fighting and not eating

Where we discuss the behavior of our hermit crabs, as in fights, pecking orders, shell swaps, etc. Please post all naked-crab posts in the Emergency forum.
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kath_p07
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Location: AZ

Fighting and not eating

Post by kath_p07 » Fri Sep 20, 2024 3:51 pm

I have two PP Hazel (bigger) and Honey (smaller). When I just got them, Honey went immediately under to molt, that same night but Hazel stuck around for a while then she also went down molting. About a week and a half later Honey comes up and though shy she seemed to be doing all normal crabby things (new to crabs but from what I've read seemed normal). Then Hazel came up from molting few days ago and first morning together, found one crab on top of the other, don't know which one it was since both had same color and kind of shell and I panic because one of them was chirping so I went into the tank and separated them to opposite sides of the tank but Honey came back running trying to climb on the basket were I had placed Hazel. Separated them again and seemed like they both went to sleep through the day. Next morning woke up to the same situation, only difference was that agyer separating them the first time they both seemed to stay where I put them but ever since Honey seems to be very afraid of Hazel, thr next night she spent the whole night on the tip of the log while Hazel ran around and only ate something after Hazel had gone to sleep. The next day Honey just digged herself in and didn't come up the whole night and hasn't eaten or drank anything. I have a camera on the tank that's why I know she hasn't touched the food. Is it normal for crabs to not eat for a while? Should I be worried that Hazel bullied Honey and now she feels intimidated and scared?
Adding new info to the post, Honey went down on Thursday and I haven't seen her resurface ever since. Hazel has been out and about but not Honey and it's been 4 days now, could be gone back to molting?

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curlysister
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Re: Fighting and not eating

Post by curlysister » Sat Sep 28, 2024 9:41 pm

Crabs will dig underground to molt, to de-stress, or just to hang out. We have no way of knowing which when they go under. It is normal for them to not eat anything while underground. You can try offering food in a couple of different dishes around the tank, so there isn't any competition over one bowl.
"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." -Will Rogers

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