crabs buried for over 2 weeks?

[kansas]

I brought home 2 new crabs over a month ago. They were both very active and eating well and seemed normal and healthy for the first couple of weeks. Since then they have both buried themselves and I have not seen either one come up. They are both under separate water dishes so when I pick up the dishes to change them, I see that they dont appear dead. Also, there is no smell. My first crab remains very active and healthy. I feed fresh foods and have a sand substrate. Also, the temperature and humidity is normal and stable. I know it can be okay for crabs to bury themselves for a little while after coming to a new home, but I am concerned since it has been so long. I miss seeing them! Is there anything I should do?

[CrabbyJo]

Kansas,
it sounds as if you (as most new crabbers) have not been acquainted with hermit crab molting.

Many times we will purchase hermit crabs from a pet store with bad conditions. When the crabs get to your home and you give them the nutrients, water, and rest that they need, they will then decide to molt.
Molting is shedding their old exoskeleton (that's their hard outer "skin") so that they can grow. They will usually bury themselves during this time, for several weeks up to a few months. They like to make little caves for themselves under the substrate.
It is extremely important not to disturb them during this time. They are extremely vulnerable and the stress of being disturbed can kill them. Never, ever, dig up a buried crab.

If you have one under the water dish, I highly recommend that next time you take out the dish to clean it, fill it up with shells or even leave it empty, place it back over the crab, and set up a new water dish somewhere else. Or, you could set another dish of water inside the original dish. This way you are not constantly disturbing what may be a molting crab.

When your crabs do finally come up, they may look somewhat pale and slow moving. Do not try to pick them up or disturb them. Again, they need to be left alone. Make sure they have fresh ocean and fresh dechlorinated water available at all times, and some nice fresh food rich in protein and calcium, such as freeze dried shrimp, shrimp with the tail still on, crushed cuttle bone, and maybe some honey for a little treat and extra energy.

Your crab will have eaten it's old exoskeleton while it was buried. This is necessary, as they very much need the nutrients the old exoskeleton will provide them to help recover from their molt.
Their new exoskeleton at this time is extremely soft, like jello. It is so soft that if you were to touch the crab's claw, it would leave your fingerprint on his claw.

After about a week or so, after he comes up, he should have regained most of his color back, and should be acting pretty much normal. If he is, then it will be okay to hold him. Don't bother him until he's back to normal, though.

I hope this helps, and if you have any more questions, you can look in the molting section of the forum to see what others have experienced and to find out any more tips about what to expect.

[kansas]

Thank you for the info. One crab came up about a while ago, and after reading the section on moulting, I can tell he has moulted successfully! I am still concerned about my other crab. He is still buried and last time I picked up the water dish that is over him, it looked like he had thrown up his body! There is not a foul, fishy smell and I dont want to disturb him, but when should I be concerned?

[CrabbyJo]

First, don't pick up the water dish again. If you disturb a crab during molting at the wrong time, the stress of it could cause him to die.

You say it looks like he's thrown up his body - to me that sounds like he molted. Molting is when they shed their exoskeleton, which is the hard outer covering of their body. They shed this exoskeleton so that they can grow bigger. The shed exoskeleton, if you see it, looks exactly like your crab, except that the crab looks dead. If you were to pick it up, it might fall apart, legs everywhere (don't do this though, you don't want to disturb your molting crab!). Don't worry, this isn't your crab. He does need to eat this exoskeleton, so it must be left with him.
When he sheds his exoskeleton, he is smaller than before, and is very very soft. His new exoskeleton is almost like jello, and he is extremely vulnerable. If you disturb him during this time, you can frighten him to death.
As his new exoskeleton begins to harden over the next few days, he will begin to eat his old exoskeleton.
This is very important, as he needs the nutrients present in the old exoskeleton to give him energy and to help his new exoskeleton to harden. His new exoskeleton may appear very pink, or pale. He will regain his color over the next week or so as his new exoskeleton hardens.
Because your crab buried himself to molt, he may not come up again until his exoskeleton has hardened all the way. Don't pick him up, but wait until he stays up and is acting normal for a few days before you handle him again. Make sure to have some nutritious foods for him, like freeze dried shrimp, or fresh shrimp with the tail on (steamed or saute'ed in olive oil), some coconut or a little honey, and some seaweed is good too, like spirilina or kelp or even the kind they use for sushi.

To avoid disturbing your molting crab, if you have room, add another fresh water dish so you don't have to move the one he's under. Make sure to change the water out every couple of days so the water is always fresh.

Congratulations on the successful molt, and good luck on the second one!