I seem to have lost a crab UPDATE All 3 now below

[appps]

Ive got one that had been digging little shallow holes and sitting in them so I added a coconut hut for him to hide in and he has been hanging out in there since (though Id seen him come out for food at night).

A couple days ago I noticed a pile of sand near the entrance so thought he must have started to dig one of the shallow holes again in the hut. Well I havent seen him at all since so tonight I lifted the hut and there is no sign of him. Just a raised level of sand in the hut which is flattened on the top.

Id sort of assumed from what Id read that when they molted Id still see a hole. Do they cover them selves totally like that?

Well crap I guess, we are only a few weeks into having him so Im thinking this is not a good thing. Id kept meaning to take some of the sand Id put in out after reading the PPS article, but we were so close to moving them to their new permanent home I thought it would be okay a few more days and it was one less upset for them to leave it till then.

Now what, just cross fingers I guess. So much for being able to get rid of the temporary tank for a while. How long does an Aussie crab stay buried?

[Wai]

Leave him alone for now. Most hermit crabs do indeed bury themselves out of sight to moult, though some will moult on the surface instead. The length of time spent buried can be highly varied. I have had moulters surface after two weeks, while others took over a month.

[CrabbyJo]

Appps, the same thing happened to me. I got a new tank set up, and a crab buried to molt. He ended up taking 3 weeks, so I had to improvise to keep TWO tanks warm and moist. He was little, so I feel his molt was fast. He's an Equadorian, and I understand they are more like the Aussie crabs. I wouldn't worry too much, keep fresh food and water available in the iso tank. change the water every few days, food more frequently, you never know if he might sneak up for a snack or drink and go back down. I took to putting in dried foods that I had (seaweed, dried meats, organic worm castings, freeze dried shrimp) so I could leave the food for several days at a time.

Good luck, don't wear out the pacing slippers!

[appps]

Well he did come back up! One of my kids discovered he was out wandering around yesterday over near the water dish and he is still up now hiding back in the coconut hut.

So thats a max of about 5 days below I think? Thats too short to have moulted isnt it? I cant see any sort of skeleton lying about.

Maybe he just wanted a bit more privacy? lol

[CrabbyJo]

Yes, that is too fast, and you wouldn't see an exoskeleton lying around. When they molt, they eat the exo, which is very important for helping them regain strength. It takes about a week for them to harden and regain color completely.

I would move him out of that tank then if he is up, so you can have the whole family together! Often new crabs will bury for some time to help them destress.

[appps]

Well he is under again. I think he just likes the extra level of hiding. Hopefully he will pop up again soon.

[CrabbyJo]

Watch for signs of ashy patches on his exo, dull or ashy looking eyes (instead of bright and black) and lots of eating and drinking/spending time in the ocean salt water dish. Lots of digging is sometimes a sign that a crab is feeling like it's getting close to time to molt!

[appps]

Well he went back down again, followed by one of the other two, they stayed down about 24 hrs and then both came up again and now he is back down again. The other two were hanging out in the salt water shell this morning so hope that isnt a sign they are all heading under!.

I have a nice new tank due for habbitation some time next week. After all this work Id hate to have to wait weeks for them to finish a molt before they can move in!! argh!!

Oh and here is Mr Lazy who only spent about 24 hours under, he was rather sandy but other wise looks pretty much the same I think?

[appps]

Just thought I'd update, have moved the other two to the new tank but fili remains burrowed so at the moment we are running two tanks which is a pain especially as I've only got one thermostat and have had to move that to the big tank with the ceramic heater.

On an aside, the other two seem to have lost the urge to burrow under which makes me think it had a lot to do with lack of hiding places in the small tank.

Week one down and counting!

[appps]

Well the two in the new tank have now gone below as well.

A little nervous as we are so new to this, and hoping they all come back up again