2 in the same cave?

[Squeaky]

All 3 of my hermies are buried under right now. Chirps went down 2-3 weeks ago, Rufus went down about 6-8 days ago, and then 3 days ago Firefly went down. None went down in the same place, but I was checking "the view from below" tonight (they seem to like to go down to the glass so I can see them if I slide the side of the tank off the edge of the table) and I see Chirps and Firefly in the same hole!

I'm a little panicked right now but I haven't touched anything because I don't know what to do or who could be hurt. There's no death smell but they are under 3-4 inches of sand/ee so I'm not sure I'd be able to smell it yet? Or would there even be a smell if one ate the other?

They are both borderline sm/med so in the 2+ weeks Chirps was down he might have been able to finished most of his molt? He started out in a cave about six inches over from where the two are now (peeked in on him during his first week under) so I'm thinking he was finishing up and maybe "found" Firefly while tunneling back out???

Rufus is still clearly visible on the other side of the tank at least 10-12 inches away.

Do I do anything or just wait and see if one or both resurface eventually? If it was just taking a while I'd go with the wait and see game, but does two in the same cave ever end well?

[DragonsFly]

I have two that went down in basically the same location; had the same question and got the opinions of several of the long-time crabbers here. My ultimate decision was to let nature take its course; I knew that I could cause harm if I interrupted a molter; I decided to "first, do no harm." The other crab may or may not cause harm to the other; but this might happen in nature, as well. Some of the long-time crabbers here watch for signs of molting and separate BEFORE the crabs go down; others say they have crabs molting in the same tank all the time with no problems. The fact that you are certain they are in the same space does make it a bit scarier, but since you can see what they are doing in there, perhaps just keep an eye on them and make sure you don't see one eating the other? If you do, then you might dig them up, but remember that then you will need to provide proper isolation environments for each crab, and if they are not finished molting, digging them up is extremely stressful for them (although, of course, likely NOT more stressful than, you know, being eaten by another crab while molting. . . ). In the end, get as much info as you can from as many experienced folks as you can, and then do what you feel is best. Best wishes to you, and your crabs.

[Squeaky]

Thanks. I'll have to see if I can take a picture without a flash and still be able to see what's in the cave, then post the picture. I can see the entirety of one shell, but no legs (kinda looking from the back of it, away from the opening). At first I thought "Cool, I can watch Firefly now too" - and that's when I noticed a tiny bit of light blue, which is the color of Chirps' shell (he went down in his painted shell I got him in). I don't see any crab parts in the hole at all, so I can't tell how it's going so far.

I'll play it safe and only interfere if I see something definitely wrong unless I hear otherwise from those more experienced than myself.

[Squeaky]

Well, I don't know if I disturbed him with all my peeking, but Firefly came up tonight. He hasn't molted (he was the last to go down) so maybe he was just being a copy cat?

In the tunnel he climbed out of I could see Chirps' shell - I used a spoon to pull it out and the only thing in it was sand. This means Firefly was likely not attacking or eating Chirps - but it also means I now have no idea if Chirps is naked underground. Ugh.

I suppose it's possible Chirps came up, changed shells, and went back down but when he went down I didn't even have the shell shop yet. I only had 3 extra shells and was still waiting for my order from Naples. Now I have plenty he would like but how could he have known that from underground?

I'm still not digging but I am probably going to peek under the bottom of the tank every day until he surfaces??? (I use a red light so I don't disturb them)

[DragonsFly]

Is one of the shells that was on the surface (before the shell shop) missing now?

As for how he could have known from underground, that is a good question, but there are anecdotes that indicate that they really can be more aware of what is going on aboveground that you would think they could be. Also, he may have just come up in the middle of the night, when you didn't notice, and been exploring around and found the new shells. They don't always dig under and molt; sometimes they go under for a day or several, just to destress or just "hang out" under there, apparently. Mine went under every day for several days, coming up only briefly at night, before finally going down and staying down to molt. The only reason I knew they were still coming up at night at all was because I smoothed the sand over each night before I went to bed, so I could see tracks in the morning and know whether they had been up or not.

[Squeaky]

I'd been watching the sand, the food, and the water levels. There's no telling.

I am still waiting it out and just hope he's not naked under there. All three are down yet again.

[Squeaky]

He's up! Chirps was up on top last night!

I'm still convinced he was naked underground - I have a large, odd, decorative shell that was in with a bag I got at Michaels and knew it would never be a shell they would want to change into. It looks like some kind of spindle shell, with an opening at least twice the size of my largest crab. Knowing they wouldn't ever want to wear it, I have it wedged into a fake plant in the tank up against the glass.

My theory is that he crawled out and hopped into the first thing he thought he could be protected in, even if he couldn't move the shell from it's position. There's no telling how long he was in there either - the shell is so big on him, he retracts and disappears inside and is completely invisible unless you look into the opening.

I got the big shell out from being stuck and laid out a few shells his size and laid him on top. By this morning, the big ugly shell has been vacated and a green turbo is missing. He probably went back under, but at least now I know he's safe in a shell!

That big ugly spindle came out of the tank too...

[DragonsFly]

I have a large, odd, decorative shell that was in with a bag I got at Michaels and knew it would never be a shell they would want to change into.

LOL! Never assume. . . . .