Worried about Molting/Dying crabs

[POPPIT]

Hi All Again...I am worried about Gynaveeve as she has been buried for about 4 weeks now and a few days before the she just came up after a bury time of 18 days which i now think may have been a false molt as although she was pale she didnt seem to have sharp pointed legs or hairs like Gnome did when he came up..anyway the tank smells and has a fishy smell which i know can be a dead crap...i decided to dig where she went down and did find her shell and what might be either a exoskeleton claw or a dead claw though i didnt dig her up completely just in case she wasnt dead...what should i do as the tank has quite a strong odour and its not the food...Should i just dig her up and move her?....On another note my other crab Rebel has been buried in a different tank for 43 days but there is no smell at all...My smallest crab Gnome took 38 days to molt so as she is bigger then him should this time frame make sense?

[ladybug15057]

I learned through the years a time frame with hermies can change even with the same sized hermies. They are individuals same as humans. But the fishy smelling hermie, I have also noted some will get this odor prior to molting and some after molting? The claw you found, if you squeeze it, is it hollow? Exo is always hollow and crushes fairly easy.

[POPPIT]

Hi Ladybug This is a pretty strong smell..I barely uncovered what looked like a claw as i was nervous about disturbing her...so i didn't touch her at all..i did notice that the shell and claw were a bit apart as if she came out of her shell a bit..i might need to dig around her sand spot (or try to look under the tank) and maybe pull the sand and her out to have a look...can the smell of a dead crab distress the other crab in there or will he enjoy the smell as they will eat other crabs...he has not really been interested in her sand spot so far

[ladybug15057]

Hermies are cannibals, and will eat each other when molting. Some would say this pertained to diet, which in captivity it can happen more so if they are lacking certain nutrients. But it will still happen even if the hermies have a proper diet, and it does still happen in the wild. But in the wild they have the endless inland beaches to find a place to molt, whereas in our tanks the space is limited.
I know hermies can smell the premolt smell as I have smelled this myself. Whether the smell of death disturbs the other hermies, I can really not say!