Molting question

[elocin444]

Question! Have one buried for 9 days and other one just starting digging near it overnight. Can hear clicking and moving from new digger, should I check to make sure he's not eating the molter?? I checked underneath and can see new digger at bottom still trying to dig but unsure if it's preparing to molt or scavenging current molter..

[curlysister]

How deep is your sub? How large are your crabs? How big is your tank?

Generally, if your sub is deep enough and yout tank isn't over crowded, crabs won't come across each other when they are under. Also, crabs move after they are underground, so you might not know where the first buried crab is, unless you can see it under the tank.

[elocin444]

Sub is about 4 inches (just added another few inches to one section) , crabs are about the size of a quarter and a nickel in a ten gallon. The bigger one resurfaced recently I guess but 9 day molter is still under there. Should I isolate bigger one in case they want to molt too? I just don't want the smaller one to be killed or injured...tia!

[Pumpkincrab]

No offense but I would recommend more substrate especially with a molting crab. I have 7+ inches right now and it works perfectly.I don't know about iso right now- but for adding more substrate, add about 1 inch every 24 hrs without packing it down. Substrate is so important, sorry if I'm ranting.

[curlysister]

The recommendation is that your sub is at least three times as deep as your largest crab. And your tank isn't over crowded. I wouldn't isolate anyone, it is generally better to leave them in the main tank. I have had my crabs for ten years now. The only time one of them dug up the other one, is when my sub wasn't deep enough. The crabs had grown quite a bit and I hadn't added any more sub since I had moved tanks.

[elocin444]

Awesome thanks so much for the advice, I rescued these two crabbies and haven't had any for years so I'm learning haha!