Crab not growing?

[emmac350]

Okay, I don't think this belongs anywhere else, so I'll post it here.

I first started crabbing in September of 2008. I got 3 crabs but one died the first night and I had 2 (I got another one but he died quickly as well, so I was back to 2). These two crabs were about the same size, both PPs, both a lighter pink with bright violet on their claws. Both immediately dug down and molted, coming up in January (after I got back from Christmas break) and changing shells before I could learn who was who. I decided to call the one Benny, and the one Rack, even though I'm pretty sure that the one I call Benny now is actually the original Rack, and the other way around. I've just gotten used to calling them that. All that aside...

I just got to see Rack (who is a very shy, elusive crab that I only rarely see) last night. I've had him for a year and a half (a few days short, but close enough). I've seen him so few times that I could count them on my hands. And he hasn't grown! He is wearing the same shell that he changed into last January (a year and two months ago). It still fits too - he isn't bulging out of it, he can hide in it just fine, and it doesn't look strange. You'd think if he was buried that often, he'd molt and grow, but not this guy. He was wearing a .25" shell opening shell when he came up from that initial molt, and he still fits in it.

Meanwhile, Benny's size has exploded. He's gone from maybe a tiny bit bigger than Rack (still wearing the same size shell though) to wearing a shell with a .75" opening in the same time frame that Rack hasn't grown at all. Benny is at the small end of medium now, or at least the big end of small.

Has anyone else had a crab just not grow? Should I be worried?

[ladybug15057]

As long as they are healthy, getting exercise, and eating well I wouldn't worry. IMO hermies are like people (children), some grow at different rates than others.
I have had Squirmy for 9 years this coming May. She is STILL in the same shell and it is WAY too small for her. She cannot even pull her head into the dog gone thing. When she molts, her large pincher is able to cover the opeing of the hole.

[emmac350]

I guess what has me worried is that he's always been a tiny crab. He's been 'tiny' (.25" shell opening) and still fitting in the shell (I will say that he fills the shell a bit more than he did, but he's still very small, as is the shell) for over a year. All of my other crabs who started out his size have since grown a lot; most of them are at least a solid "small" size at this point.

[linda]

I bought 2 micro E's within 2 weeks of each other from the same pet store in Aug/Sept of 2008. One named Sandie, and the other named Kelp. Sandie grew but extremely slowly he was still a tiny when I lost him a couple of months ago from an unknown cause. Kelp is now a small. He seemed to grow overnight after a couple of moults last year. It was unbelievable! Both had changed shells many times. I agree with Marie that they all grow at different rates.

[CrabbyJo]

You gave him coffee when he was a baby, didn't you Emma!

[emmac350]

You caught me, CJ! I was doing an evil experiment on him...or something...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47797623@N05/4439755406/

If that link works for you (still trying to figure out flickr), you can get an idea of the size difference between the two crabs.

[emmac350]

Okay, so update on this situation. It's rather humorous.

Rack had changed from his nutmeg to a green turbo with an opening of .5". It made him look a little bigger somehow. But yesterday, he changed into Rocky's old fox shell (if you remember, Rocky is a medium crab...his fox shell's opening was somewhere between .75" and 1"...and he's bigger than Benny, who's in the picture in my previous post of the two crabs). When I picked him up to see if it really was him as I couldn't believe it, he pulled back into the shell. He's so small compared to that shell, though, that I couldn't see him at all. No sign of the little guy. I would've thought that the shell was empty if I didn't know he was in there.

I guess he really hates having to shell shop!

[Wai]

Ixion (small) here even goes for Eris's (medium) shells... she seems to like showing off how "big" she is. I've seen Ixion in shells that were bigger than the ones that Luna (medium) was wearing.