HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So my bigger guy, Gatsby has been buried for about 4 days now, and nothing is smelling funky yet, so i'm assuming for the time being that I've got my first molt. I am concerned however, because my other E, Drexel is insane. Not just your average insane, but like padded cell insane. Today i saw him climb to the ceiling of my tank and backflip into the saltwater pool, not once, but 5 times... anyway, I digress... I'm concerned because Gatsby is buried under their hidey log which is cut at an angle, I'm afraid to lift the log because a) I don't want to collapse anything, and b) I don't know how close he is to the surface.

so now that I've gotten all of that out, whew, my question i guess is what do i do with Drexel? is it ok to leave him in there and just let it go? I mean they're in a 10 gallon, so theres a little room but not a ton...

I don't know... But if someone could help me out that would be awesome! Thanks!

It sounds like Drexel is acting like a perfectly normal E! How deep is your substrate? If it is at least twice the height of your largest crab, preferably more, then they should be OK. Most crabs will respect the molting space of others. Since you only have 2 crabs in the tank it isn't over crowded. One thing you can do is provide lots of protein. That helps prevent anyone (Drexel) from going looking for an easy meal if Gatsby is molting. Scrambled eggs (I mix and egg in a cup and microwave it) are an easy protein. Also, any meal that has not been seasoned (I cook ground beef and pull some out for the crabs before adding seasoning) is fine. Other options are freeze dried foods like crickets, bloodworms, krill, or plankton.

should i crunch up the crickets and bloodworms?

I don't on the bloodworms, but they seem to do better with the crickets if they are crunched up just a bit.

E's are generally noted to be extremely active and "climb-y." Since you only have a 10g, I suggest making plans to upgrade to a larger tank that can provide both deeper substrate (for safer moltings) and more space for climbing apparatus. A 29g gives some good height for these purposes, and is a good size for 2 crabs to have molting space, climbing space, and just roaming space on the substrate. You can often find used tanks at flea markets or offered on craigslist or other places for not too much. If you have "freecycle" in your area, you may even be able to get one for free, if you are patient. (That's how we got a 29g for the rescue).