Any harm to others when a hermie dies underground?

[Crabby Abby]

Can a hermie's passing underground that isn't discovered immediately jeopardize others?

[Crabby Abby]

Some hermies pass underground and since we try to wait patiently for the molters to return, sadly it's quite a while sometimes before they are found. I'm just wondering if that contaminates the tank or jeopardizes the health or lives of other hermies.

[KittyCaller]

I think she means bacteria and/or disease the crabby might be carrying. Well, a cadaver could attract bugs, but if you haven't had any problems with infestation, it's probably pretty low risk. I think it also depends on the substrate you're using. EE breaks it down really quickly, so it'd probably be okay, but sand, on the other hand, would probably just dry it out and you'd probably not want that in your tank at any rate. In short, I don't think so, really, but you'd probably want to get it out of there regardless.

[Jedediah]

I've had a few crabs die while being buried, one of them a jumbo. It didn't smell at all and I never found any leftovers, only the shell and maybe the BP. I use coconut fibre substrate, so I don't know about sand.

[NewCrabber]

I use sand and with sub-level deaths some didn't have an odor and others were just putrid smelling, but not always noticeable until uncovered. Those were usually the ones in sand that was really damp on the bottom of the tank that went undisturbed because of the molting. In that case I cleaned the entire tank. Otherwise, I just scooped up the area around the hermie. It's not been a problem for my other hermies, none that I know of anyway. I have had maggots with one death. It was a horrifying thing to find. He was a big guy and had been down for quite some time before I discovered them, but they were contained in the area the hermie passed in and didn't really present a problem besides giving me the heebie jeebies.