PPS or molting?

[Amandafrancis]

I am brand new at this, and need opinions. I just got my 3 PPs yesterday, and when I put them in the tank 2 out of 3 were active (the other one went and hid in a flower pot). Then this morning I could only find two, and I panicked thinking one had escaped during the night, although that would be really hard given the snug fitting glass top I have. But I dug around and found him, much to my relief. I covered him back up carefully.

Now I am back home in the evening time and I only see one above ground... I'm not sure what to do! Should I just leave them, assuming they are chilling out and getting over PPS? Or are they perhaps molting? I know I am supposed to separate them out when they are molting to avoid cannabalism, but somehow avoid disturbing them at the same time...

All three crabs are pretty small, with shell openings 1/2 to 3/4 inches across. I do have an ISO tank ready to go. Any ideas from all you wise people out there? Thanks so much!

[DustAndEchoes]

De-stressing can take a while (a few weeks is not unheard of). As long as your temp/humidity is where it should be, it's best to leave them alone except to change out their food and water.

[wodesorel]

As someone who has dealt with cannibalism - it's very extremely rare. Even now I still try to leave as many of my crabs to molt in the main tank where they choose. Unless you have a crab that is known to cause problems, moving a molting crab is more of a risk then leaving him be.

I really think it's likely that since all three of your crabs are new that they'll bury down and molt at the same time. Just make sure to leave food out (especially proteins) for when they surface, and there should be no problems.

[Amandafrancis]

Thanks so much! I'll stop stressing so much and just make sure I do what you said about crabitat conditions and food & water.