Missing Crab

[4happycrabbers]

Hello all, My littlest crab Anne Bonnie is missing. I thought she was molting. I had not seen her in 4 months which would be a very long molt for her she is pretty small. I was waiting for her and calico jack to come up to switch every body to the new 55 gallon. Calico came up and I expected that Anne Bonnie may be dead, likly victimized so I made the switch and started to dig in the old tank expecting to find my first crab attack. To my suprise I found nothing. No shell, no mutilated crab... Anne Bonnie has never been much of a climber. I have never seen her on the tank lid. So I post this questions for the masses. Is it more likly the she either came up or was dug up and eaten, shell cleaned out and mixed in with the others (hers had come from the craft store with several other very similar shells) or did she escape and nobody thought to go looking for her. I fear her fate is the same either way, but I want to learn from this expereince. So... What happened to Anne Bonnie?

[CallaLily]

Triple check all of your extra shells. I once thought a crab was missing, only to discover she was just tucked waayy back in a shell.

If not, do you have locking clips on your lid or is it weighed down at all? They are excellent climbers and can easily push up an unlocked lid.

Is the shell she was wearing missing?

[wodesorel]

Triple check the sub you removed - I once missed Firefly twice! He almost got tossed outside in the trash because I thought he went missing.

Another possibility is that she was hiding in something you moved over, like a plant or decor item. They can disappear and hang on tight when they want to.

[4happycrabbers]

Thank you for the advice, I will double and triple check everything tonight. I have no idea if the shell she was wearing is missing. We have several (maybe 6 or 7) that came in a pack from the craft store, all very similar, she was wering one of those, she is a hider, but 4 months is a long time to hide. I will triple check shells, moss pits, and old sub tonight.

The tank has locking clips, the crabs are a joint venture with my 12 year old son, other parents will not be suprised that the clips went missing some time ago, I ask repeatedly that he weight the lid, but again... He will need to be in and out of the new 55 Gallon alot less so hopeful security will tighten up

Send positive vibes for Anne Bonnie!

[Laurie LeAnn]

I had to go looking for a crab..I did the slice method with my substrate. Did find a crab dead, all the limbs just fell off .I made sure there was no live crab behind..but was pretty sure it was dead..stinky fish smell. Then I have almost chucked a crab in the trash.. saw parts of crab.. was going to throw it away but then thought hey save the shell..that when I saw a claw way in the back..