2 small crabs moulting - burial time?

[Ginger]

Hi all,

Two of my small crabs (20-50c piece) went underground at the bare minimum of 2 weeks ago (more realistically approx. 3-4 weeks). Those 2 weeks ago, I removed my other two crabs who were above ground into a 10g isolation tank so that they would not be able to bury while I was waiting for the 2 buried crabs to come up (doing some renovations to the tank including a substrate change, need all crabs out for this). I have removed everything from my main tank, except the sand, but kept it humid inside. I have been checking for the two crabs at least twice per day, but no sign of them yet. They have never been down this long, and through reorganisation of the decor in the tank in previous weeks, the top layer of substrate had been turned, smoothed, pushed down lightly (this may have not been a good idea at all in hindsight - I will definitely not be repeating this). For these two reasons, I am becoming very worried, and weighing the options of either digging up possibly suffocating crabs, then deal with the potential stress, or wait it out where they will either be fine, or in the worst case scenario, passed on. These two particular crabs have moulted at least three other times each with me, but I have not recorded the amount of time they were down for, so does anyone have an approximate amount of time for when these crabs are underground?

I am worried sick about these two little guys, and in any outcome I would have learnt from my mistakes, but for now I would much appreciated any advice given.

[appps]

If I remember correctly in the early days I had some down for 6 weeks. I wouldn't panic just yet.

[appps]

Oh and there is an unwritten law a bit like a watched pot never boils that goes something like "a crab you are waiting on to move will hibernate 10 x longer than one you aren't" ;-)

[Ginger]

Thanks very much appps, I know what you mean about the saying - it certainly feels longer since I'm at home this week! 6 weeks - wow that is seriously long! Makes me feel a bit better

[emmac350]

How big are the crabs in question?

Is there still food and water in there for them, plus a few spare shells?

The bigger the crab, the longer they'll stay down. The longest I've had my medium/larges down so far is 3 months at a time. And trust me, all of that time is questioning/panicking. Can't rush them - I had one molt in the 4 days from when I saw her to when I did a substrate change...immediate panic getting the ISO ready and putting her in it. I was really glad she survived but it was really scary. Give them lots of time!

Are you positive that they aren't coming up at night? Even if they aren't coming up, they will need those things when they do surface almost immediately. Molters are living off their stores and need to replenish as soon as they can. Plus molting helps them to grow and they will likely have a renewed interest in getting a new shell.

[Ginger]

As I stated in the first line, their size is between 20-50c piece (halfway between a macadamia nut and a walnut). I have smoothed out the sand completely, and there has been no break in the sand to indicate a coming up. No, I have not been leaving anything at all in the tank except the sand (checking the tank 2-3 times per day for crabs). I understand that the larger the crab the longer they stay down (I have a larger crab who was down for over a month) however my smaller crabs have only ever been down for around 2 weeks, which is why I was worried - they have been down for about 3-4 weeks.

[emmac350]

Even as tiny as they are, I'd say give them at least 2 months to come up and please do put back the food, water, and shells in case they come up when no one's around to put those things back in for them. You can do all dried foods so you don't have to change it as often and just keep an eye on things.

[Ginger]

Ok, I will do that thanks emmac.

[emmac350]

You're welcome! Good luck with your moulting!

[Ginger]

SUCCESS! Last night I was half-awake, half-asleep (the 10g beside my bed has made Cadet restless - it sounds like hes tearing the whole thing down!) when I head the TINIEST, QUIETEST tap on my 40g across the other side of the room. Literally bolting out of bed, at 3.30am, I flicked on the light and there was Gilly, climbing on the roof. Still waiting for Sal, fingers crossed, but i'm feeling much more hopeful now!!!

EDIT:
Sal still hasn't come up, it has been just over one month. I wet the sand again tonight, and checked that the sand at the base of the tank wasn't too dry (poked my finger down) which it wasn't. Quick question, do you think it's ok to leave my other three crabs in the 10g with only a ground covering of damp sand for this long? I would like to avoid giving them moulting space in there because then I would be doing exactly what I was avoiding in the first place (moved crabs into smaller ISO tank to clean out big tank, expecting to return them within a week).