Missing Fiddler Crab

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Thu May 17, 2012 10:57 am

So i brought home a poor lonely male fiddler crab on monday. he was the last one at petco and i thought that since he was alone i would much rather have a an experienced craber take him then some kid with a kritter keeper, they wont be getting anymore fids so i took him. he was doing great tuesday, even sat in my hermit crabs fresh water bowl and did his "hey ladies dance" even though he had his own large pool of brackish water.
so wensday night when i got home from work i checked on everybody and he is gone... not in his pool, not in the hut with the hermies, nothing.... and there where no holes in the substrate to indicate if he dug. and no way that he could get out of my 10 gal tank.
im a bit confused........ has this happened to anyone else?

im not to worried but then agian i am.......

Post by **wodesorel** » Thu May 17, 2012 11:14 am

They're a lot like spiders in that they can squeeze into gaps that seem way too small for them.

Have you checked the empty shells? I sunk a bunch of non-hermit friendly shells (large heavy moon and murex shells) and my females and the small male love to hang out inside of them. I imagine the same would be be true even if it was above ground, and when they squeeze in there it can be hard to spot them. Another place to look would be between the substrate and the water dishes as that is the perfect place for them to slip in and feel safe.

I wouldn't worry too much, yet.

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Thu May 17, 2012 11:19 am

well i thought it would be possible for him to get inside the shells, and in my cleaning today i choose not to take them out for a rinse, but i literally took my whole tank apart. i have inspected everything in the tank, i even did alittle bit of digging but found nothing.... :crabblush:

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Fri May 18, 2012 9:32 pm

still havent seen Mr Fid.......

Post by **wodesorel** » Fri May 18, 2012 10:16 pm

Oh dear....

I would poke around a bit more in the tank and try to find him. They can be serious escape artists when they want to be. Mine have never tried even though they have ample places to get out and go wandering, but I had friends who had them years ago and they ended up finding them all over the house. I can't imagine they could be worse than hermit crabs, but without a big shell they might be able to squeeze out of smaller places.

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Sat May 19, 2012 8:05 am

i think it may be time to dig, honestly i dont know where else he could be.... i dont think he could have gotten out of the tank, my lid is very heavy, with a heat lamp, and light strip attached... and wouldnt i see him if he fell off when i was taking the lid off?

Post by **wodesorel** » Sat May 19, 2012 12:53 pm

The good news is that they smell worse than dead hermit crab when they die, so if something happened you should have been able to smell it. But yes, I think it's time to dig around a bit and see if you can find him. I would start in, on, and under objects before digging though. Mine have made little tunnels, but it took them forever to make and they are very visible, like someone stuck a finger straight down into the substrate. They aren't like hermits where they dig and cover themselves to hide for anything - they have to molt in the water and so are just hanging out on land.

I've checked over decorations extremely well, put them into a bowl while I was working on the tank, and then found two running around inside the bowl. They are really good at hiding when they want to!

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Sat May 19, 2012 2:53 pm

well im about to start my digging now, i mean i looked over the moss like a detective, and checked the bag 2 more times before i threw it out....i think ill go back to the trash can and find the bag agian if i cant find him in the substrate.
ill post agian after im done....

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Sat May 19, 2012 4:05 pm

i have no idea where this crab is.... i took apart the whole tank once agian, dug everywhere like a fine tooth comb.... i inspected everything, shells and all..... i even searched through my extra decor that is in a bucket... and around on the floor. and NOTHING......... i am so.... so... so worried.

Post by **wodesorel** » Sat May 19, 2012 4:32 pm

Woah.

I am so sorry he's freaking you out like this! I would think that you would have found him, but then again they really can hide. My gigantic male who has a claw as large as my thumb can disappear completely when he wants to, which I would have thought was impossible.

Are you comfortable placing "bait" out in the evening to see if you can lure him in? They're like hermits where they search for food. Putting shrimp on a plate in the room where you have the tank should be good to lure him out into the open during the evening or night.

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Sat May 19, 2012 4:41 pm

i am going crazy...... i want to put shrimp out, like raw shrimp or the freeze dried stuff? but im not sure how that is going to work becuase our dining room and living room where the tanks are, is huge. and i am not sure how my family is going to go for it.... and my cats may have gotten him already if he is out. ugh.......

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Sat May 19, 2012 4:44 pm

what about after you washed out shells? could he still be in there?

Post by **wodesorel** » Sat May 19, 2012 9:59 pm

They can tuck themselves in there and hang on extremely well. I had to really shake them out of the moon and murex shells when I was rearranging the tank this last time.

Do you have a picture of your latest tank? I might be able to point out some likely hiding places.

Hermycrabitat21 · Post by **Hermycrabitat21** » Sat May 19, 2012 10:55 pm

ok so this is a picture that i took on thursday, after taking the whole tank apart. so it is not completly the same as i had it on tuesday when he was last seen.
most of the decor are the same the only things different is, the hemp net used to have a long cholla wood peice hanging from suction cups right next to it. and the plant was right up next to the cholla peice touching it.
the log on the right was not there instead it was a coco hidy hut, and the drift wood ontop of the brown bowl was not there either.
but the shells are the same, as well as where the water bowls where. the green water bowl was where i had last seen him tuesaday night around 4 oclock.

oo and i just shined a flash light into all the shells that had been in there, and i can see straight through... so mr fid in there...

SoulLonely · Post by **SoulLonely** » Sun May 20, 2012 9:59 am

Are you keeping the fiddler crab in with the hermit crabs? Fiddler crabs need brackish water, and I'm guessing what you have in those two bowls is sea salt water and fresh water.
Other than that, I don't really know too much about fiddlers.

Here are some threads talking about maybe keeping them together:
viewtopic.php?f=55&t=77177&p=716729&hil ... er#p716729

Here's Wod's thread with her tank for just fiddlers (later added some fish and stuff). There is lots of info on their care in this thread

viewtopic.php?f=55&t=80873

Keep us updated and good luck!

HCA: Hermit Crab Association

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