How long to wait before checking on buried crabs?

[dterrell]

My son is 10 years old and has 2 hermit crabs. One of his crabs has been buried for over 2 weeks and the other one just buried 4 days ago. He is very worried about them. It does not smell fishy in the tank. The temperature ranges from 75-85 and the humidity ranges from 75-99%. How long should we wait to check on the one that has been down the longest?

[CrabbyLover77]

My son is 10 years old and has 2 hermit crabs. One of his crabs has been buried for over 2 weeks and the other one just buried 4 days ago. He is very worried about them. It does not smell fishy in the tank. The temperature ranges from 75-85 and the humidity ranges from 75-99%. How long should we wait to check on the one that has been down the longest?

Hi there!

You should never dig for a buried/molting crab. A molting crab smells yummy to other crabs, and they may be attacked. Not only that, the stress of digging a crab up can lead to death. Depending on the size, a crab may stay under to molt for weeks to months. Some also dig just for fun.

I've had a couple of crabs in my 55 gal that went under but I've never seen again. I can't look for them since I have 5 other crabs going up and down all the time. Also, I have one other crab that looks similar to those two, so I can't really be sure if they have passed or they are rotating being above ground. I always say I have 7 crabs in that tank, but more likely I only have 5 or 6. There's nothing gained by digging for potentially dead crabs when you have live crabbies in with them.



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[HermieBingo]

I agree with CrabbyLover.

One of my hermits, Charolette (medium-large), was down for two months and came up very healthy! And my other hermit, Bingo (large, almost jumbo), has been down since Dec 6!

So, let them do their business and just wait. I know it is hard being patient.

[crabbycasey]

I agree! Biggest thing I learned was never dig up a crab. If they’re molting, it could cause death...if they’ve already passed, there’s nothing you can do anyway. I worry too when mine go under to molt, but tell him it’s part of what they do and he should trust their little crabby instincts! Depending on the size of crabs, it can take weeks to months before they come up...but this is perfectly normal.


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[mool]

I would say, if absolutely no activity after one year go digging. Otherwise wait. My biggest is currently up top, but has been out of site (molting and/or doing whatever) for well over a year.

[Mel70560]

Good Evening,
I’m new to the “crabbie” world & my question: is what about cleaning or changing the substrate. I was going to change out my substrate when all 4,pp, went missing. 2 are deep, 1 med sized is burrowed & 1 (the smallest I found dead yesterday, he was on top of the sand in his hut for 5 days. Then I saw the shell with no crab. I pray every night for guidance, but my patient is thin.
Tks in advance.

[curlysister]

Welcome to crabbing! If you have proper substrate, it does not need to be fully changed out very often. Some crabbers do every year or so, but some of us never do. I have never thrown out all the sub and started again - I have added more as I have upgraded tanks and as my crabs have grown, but that's it. You will want to 'spot clean' on the surface - remove any bits of food crabs have dragged around, and remove poop if you can see it. Crabs bury and dig to de-stress, to molt, or just for fun sometimes. We never know which one they are doing. If they are in a critical point in their molt and they are dug up, it can be very harmful or fatal. So we recommend leaving them alone, unless there is an emergency like a bacterial bloom or a flood.
If you haven't already looked at our 'care sheets', be sure to check them out - there is a ton of info there. Start with the 'basics' one, and go from there!

[margova]

We brought 2 purple pinchers home from the beach two months ago. They both dug under approximately a week ago and neither have come up since. We don't think they are very deep because we can see the bump in the sand. Our tank temp/humidity is in the same range too. The temperature ranges from 75-85 and the humidity ranges from 75-99%. So, I see from the posts that we have no choice but to wait. My question is, while they are "under", is there any need to change their fresh or saltwater pools or to put food out for them? Or just maintain temp and humidity for now.

[KyMart]

We brought 2 purple pinchers home from the beach two months ago. They both dug under approximately a week ago and neither have come up since. We don't think they are very deep because we can see the bump in the sand. Our tank temp/humidity is in the same range too. The temperature ranges from 75-85 and the humidity ranges from 75-99%. So, I see from the posts that we have no choice but to wait. My question is, while they are "under", is there any need to change their fresh or saltwater pools or to put food out for them? Or just maintain temp and humidity for now.

You should still change the fresh and salt water and out food out for them, they may come up at night to eat and drink (once they are actually done molting and just down destressing/hanging out), this can be important to help them gain their strength again.