Crabbie Update

Kirrie · Post by **Kirrie** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 3:05 pm

Three of my 4 crabs disappeared near the beginning of January. Strangely enough, the largest one (bigger than a golf ball) reappeared first only 3 weeks later. The last crab disappeared on the same day she came back. Now I am a little worried for the other two that have been missing since the beginning of January since they weren't nearly as big. While she's been up (for about 2 weeks no2) Hera has been eating like a little pig! I've never seen her eat this much. In the past, I could hardly tell she was eating, and now she clears out almost all the food I put in the tank, and it's just her eating it! At first I thought it was just because she had just molted, but it's been 2 weeks now and she hasn't slowed down. She looks great though and is pretty active through the night and even during the day sometimes. When I was changing the water today, I lifted one of the dishes and found that she had somehow buried a shell under the water dish. It was one of the shells that no one was using. I don't know how she got it under there because the dish with water in it should be too heavy for her to lift. Luckily all of the new foods I just ordered should be here tomorrow and I'm very excited to try them While I am worried about my other crabs, I know I will just have to wait and see. But I do have a question. Hera is fairly large, I thought larger crabs took longer to molt, maybe a little longer than a month for her size. Why did it only take her 3 weeks?

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:41 pm

She could of just been a fast molter or something was stressing it out and it dug down for awhile. I have had crabs molt for 2 months. They were about ping pong size and larger. Crabs can go in spurts. They also don't like eating the same thing over and over. Mine will do this to some times it like why did I put anything in the tank, looks like they didn't touch it. Then other days it's gone or they drag food all over.

Kirrie · Post by **Kirrie** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 4:56 pm

I believe she molted because when I rescued her from one of those cages on the boardwalk this summer, one of her antennae was broken and half the length of the other. Now they are both the same length and I can't tell which one was the damaged one. I know they can only regrow their limbs through molting, is it the same with their antennae?I make sure to have at least two different foods in the tank everyday. She usually eats all of her favorite right away, and then picks at the other until it's gone within the next 24 hours. For example, I gave her a few meal worms about 2 hours ago and she ate all of them. Then I just saw her in the shell where I left a little organic peanut butter and a few oats. She eats that slower than anything else, but still manages to finish it.I also just noticed there are a couple spots where she has been digging little holes. I hope she's not looking for the other crabs!She was my first hermit crab to molt and it appears to have been a successful molt so I am very happy with her right now and probably just a little too excited because I was really worried about her for a while.

Shelbykay246 · Post by **Shelbykay246** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:50 pm

Does she have points at the end of her legs? the little black points? if they're pointy, that's another sign.

Kirrie · Post by **Kirrie** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 3:45 am

I'll have to check. She's been a little more shy than normal. She used to not care if I was there or not, but if she sees me now, she runs. She doesn't hide if I pick her up though, she starts flailing around. I don't think she likes me anymore, so I've been leaving her alone

Kirrie · Post by **Kirrie** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 4:11 am

I just discovered 2 deep holes in the tank. Both are too small for Hera to have dug. She couldn't fit in either one of them. They are both a couple inches deep, and if you look down in one of them, I can see part of the shell of one of my crabs. It is the tiniest one that went down to molt just 2 weeks ago when Hera came back up. Should I cover the hole back up? Is he going to have a hard time molting now? Or I guess he's not molting if he's the one that dug that other hole plus the one he's sitting in... I kind of want to see if he's ok, but I don't want to disturb him if he actually is molting. What should I do?

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 4:38 am

Cover the hole with a sea shell. If its molting it will create that protective dark hole again. If its not molting it should be able to move it easily and come back up or dig around it.

Kirrie · Post by **Kirrie** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 5:43 am

Ok thanks.If you can't tell, I'm new to molting crabs haha

Kirrie · Post by **Kirrie** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 4:01 pm

I now have a second crab on the surface! It's my second largest female, Aphrodite. She's been gone since the beginning of January. I noticed a much smaller hole than the other two I shared pictures of, near the log. When I looked in it, I could see a little of her shell, just like the little guy that I posted about earlier. I left her alone, and I just now found her sitting in a little hole towards the back of the tank. I picked her up just to make sure there was a crab in the shell still, and she moved, but won't come out. Do crabs often dig a second hole after they come up from molting? It looks like that's what my little one did, and now Aphrodite is digging or at least sitting in another hole.Hera is also worrying me because she's been sitting right next to Aphrodite for a while. She'll leave and go eat, but she comes back and sits next to her. It looked like she was digging right next to Aphrodite and making the little whole wider (it's less than an inch deep, so I don't know if you would call that a hole), but now she's just sitting there watching her. I hope she's not bothering Aphrodite...

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Sat Feb 08, 2014 2:40 am

My crabs have come back up, ate, drank, and went right back down. Sometimes crabs will act like a yoyo up down up down. Make sure the temp and humidity is good sometimes they go down if they aren't comfortable up top.If the crabs seems to pick on each other you can give both of them a bath in room temp/warm dechlor crab water this way they smell the same.Sometimes they will also want to change shells but not always so make sure there are plenty of shells. Egg, shrimp w/ tail, peanutbutter, and honey are all good things to provide.

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Sun Feb 09, 2014 4:00 pm

Sometimes they will go dig back in holes they have came out of. They smell of molting and might still have bits and pieces of the shell down there. Also if you have molters still down and they are not down deep your new fresh molter will go digging them up. I don't even wait any more as soon as I have a molter come up, they get dunked..

Kirrie · Post by **Kirrie** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 3:24 am

the two that just came up have been going up and down for the past few days. I see them out at night, and they are gone most of the day. The temp is a few degrees above 80, and the humidity is always between 70 and 80 according to the meter, but I don't know if I can trust it. I still have to test it. Without knowing the exact humidity, it does feel pretty humid in there and the sides of the tank get a little foggy at times. Could it be TOO humid?I don't think the last little one made it. I thought I saw him today, but it turned out it was just the other little one in a new shell. I'm not sure where he could be, but I won't look for him until the other two stop going up and down.The smallest one that is out right now, was the last one to go down and was only gone for about 2 weeks. He is between quarter and half dollar size. I know smaller ones molt faster, but is 2 weeks enough time? This one still seems pretty pale in color compared to the other two that I know molted for sure. But of course, I did have them longer so they had better food for a longer time.

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 1:20 am

New molters will be hairier and have very sharp/pointy black tips on their legs kinda like claws on a cat or talons on a bird of prey. Sometimes they are hard to see unless you pick the crabs up. Most of the time your crabs will also have more of a vibrant color, but that depends on the nutrients it was able to get before molting.

Kirrie · Post by **Kirrie** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 3:10 am

I have noticed that my 2 big girls are definitely much harrier. I can't tell with the little guy because he hides from me. I'm thinking he probably molted, and just isnt showing bright colors because I haven't had him very long. It's been a little over a month since I brought him home. I've had the other 2 for half a year.When I just had the 2 girls in a 10 gallon, they barely ate. I almost couldn't tell they were eating anything. For the past two weeks, Hera has been eating like a little pig! I put 2 different foods in their tank everyday and she eats most of both by herself. Then I have to put more food in for the other two because the only seem to want to come out at night. Yesterday she ate a whole dried shrimp, it was a little over an inch long. I was only able to find one little piece of it left when she was done. She finishes off just about everything I put in the tank. Do your hermit crabs eat this much?

jenok · Post by **jenok** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 3:22 am

Some times they eat more than others but since they just come up they seem to eat more after they molt and right before they molt. Also it depends on the food some they eat more of then others. If you really want to know I wouldn't be afraid of picking the little one up just to look. I have 1 crab that has so far stayed light colored kinda orangish in color even after it molted but it still has a prettier almost polished look when it comes up along with the hair and nails.