I'm having an odd problem with a molting crab, please help!

[KelseyDanger]

Hello all! My crab Bumblebee went down to molt over a month ago. He chose to molt near the glass of our tank, and I can see one of his legs and a small part of the shell. The "window" is about the size of the dime.

A few days after he went under, our tank had a small mold problem. But it is under control now, or so I thought.

We keep a small piece of black card stock over the 'window' so that he has privacy. But I can't help to check it every once in a while to see if he has moved or what not.

He hasn't moved at all for the last few weeks. But today I noticed that a white mold started to grow on his shell. The tank doesn't smell like death at all, but now I'm really concerned that he has died.

We keep our tank at 80° and 80% humidity.

Does anyone have any advice for me? Thanks!

[StarWarsHermitCrab]

This isn't recommended, but you could carefully dig him up, and check to see if he's alive.

Only do this if you're sure that something is wrong.

[KelseyDanger]

How will I know if he is dead? I mean, if he is just molting as usual, will he still react if we disturb him?

I am still relatively new to crabbing, and he is my first to molt, so I'm not sure what usually happens.

[KelseyDanger]

I went ahead and checked on him, and unfortunately he didn't survive his molt

Our first crab lost...

[KellyCrabbieLove]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

[Asheka]

So sorry <3

[rf9661]

I am sorry for your loss and I am sorry I could not reply faster!

[Kleinerhejhog]

So sorry, Kelsey.

[StarWarsHermitCrab]

I'm sorry that bumblebee died.

You could stop your mold problem by mixing salt water into the substrate,
and soaking your hides and stuff in salt water.