Empty shell found, hermit crab missing/dead?

[jazane]

I found Sandy's empty shell today. She isn't in any of the empty shells lying around and I sifted through the sand on the side of the tank I found her empty shell, which she wasn't in. I have another crab, Aeneas, who is usually shy and lethargic, but lately he has been very active. He also sleeps in the spot where I found Sandy's empty shell. Sandy is almost two times as big as Aeneas. I haven't sifted through the other half of the sand yet because I did not want to stress her out if she is naked and buried underneath the sand. Should I be concerned? Could Aeneas, half her size, have eaten Sandy while she was molting? I have a 10 gallon tank. It's been about two weeks since I've last seen her. Thank you in advance.

[CrabbyJo]

Jazane,

It's really hard to know without more details.

how many spare shells do you have in the tank? Is there a chance she picked up another and has buried herself, and that's why you can't find her? Molting can take a month or longer with some crabs, up to several months.

We can't really tell you what might have happened, I don't think one crab could eat the other overnight with no traces left, but if you didn't check on them for several days, who knows?

Do you feed them plenty of proteins and calcium rich foods?

How was she behaving before she disappeared? Did she possibly have premolt symptoms?

[ladybug15057]

There are times too that a hermie can pull so far back in their shell it is next to impossible to see them. This happens too when they molt, they can fit further down in their shells.
For eating a whole hermie, tank mates can do this overnight depending on how many you have. But one thing hermies will NOT eat is the others soft curly abdomen. So one would find the abdomen somewhere in the tank. But as CrabbyJo said, without more info it is hard to say.