Almost certain large crab is molting. A few questions

[llmercll]

I'm glad the E made it =)

I'd say mine has a shell opening the size of a dime, but the shell itself with him is probably closer to the size of a quarter. I don't think my large PP is getting ready to molt because he just came up from one about the same time I put the E in the tank, 3 weeks ago. He was down for a little over a month, and he's almost the size of a tennisball (although not quite)!!

[llmercll]

How long do you guys think I should wait before removing the barrier? I'm wondering if I need to wait for the crab to surface, or if it can be removed earlier, since the fresh scent may be gone and exo hardened.

Is it also possible he had a bad molt and died? and that scent attracted my large PP?

thanks!

[Wai]

Remove the barrier once the crab surfaces. Don't worry so much.

[CrabbyJo]

Be patient, even small crabs can take a couple of months sometimes. He may have even surfaced a few times before staying under for good. My crabs tend to take 3-4 weeks, that I've noticed.

A couple of things - dont' feel around the substrate to see if your crab is there. That alone can stress him, you really want to leave him undisturbed. Hence why Ladybug said it's not a good idea to slide the tank out to peek underneath, despite the huge temptation.

I agree, leave the barrier up until you see your crab out and about. Make sure he's got food and water at all times though, in case he surfaces when you aren't around. Keep them fresh. When I have a molter, I tend to switch to dried foods so I can leave them longer.

I agree with your thought that you should get them deeper substrate, Your substrate looks rather shallow from the picture you posted a little while back. It should be at least twice as deep as your largest crab is tall. I like to make one end of my tank quite deep so the crabs can dig to their heart's content, and they do. They trash that end unmercifully. Decorations are pointless there, but I know they like solid surface over their "heads" when they're underground, so I do have a coral rock and a little statue that lies on it's side over there. They like to pull shells down into it too. I only move the items when I know I don't have a molter.

Good luck, keep the pacing slippers on, you may see your crab again soon!

[llmercll]

Hey everyone!

My small E finally surfaced! 5 weeks. I saw him poking around near the water dish, and sure enough, he was right where I thought he would be. He looked very hairy, and his antenna were going CRAZY fast. Like, I've never seen any of my crabs antennas go anywhere near as fast as his were going. Unfortunately I couldn't really see black fingernails. I'm not sure if E's have clear ones or maybe he's just so small I really need to search. It was hard enough to see them on my large PP.

Anyway, I made a big mistake and took him out. I thought maybe holding him would make him less skittish and he would trust me more, because every time I walked by he immediately retreated into his shell. Instead he freaked out even more and has been burying a lot. He was out this morning, but when he saw me he buried and has been down all day =/

Guess all I can do now is wait for him to adapt... hopefully I didn't do any permanent damage by taking him out...and now I know to NEVER take out a freshly molted crab (at least I suspect he molted. I won't be positive till I see his fingernails)

[llmercll]

Well, he came out tonight and is climbing on the net. Much calmer and less skittish than he has been =)

I also saw the fingernails on his legtips, they are just so small compared to my larger crab that I realllly had to get a good angle look.

[llmercll]

Out of my three crabs, 2 have molted since I've owned them. One a medium/small PP has not, and from what I can tell, by his almost complete lack of hair and fingernails, he hasn't in a looong time. Compared to my other 2 crabs his antenna don't go as much and he isn't quite as active either. I wouldn't say he's sick, he's just not as "healthy" as my other two, at least IMO.

That being said, I'd really like for him to molt (can't believe I'm saying that). I've become somewhat concerned that he may have held off molting (from inadequate conditions) for so long he may have lost that hormone.

I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to encourage him to molt, maybe with certain foods, or simply wait and see?

thanks!

[ladybug15057]

A hermie needs certain conditions to molt, and the more exercise they get the better their appetites are. (like all creatures) A hermie will only molt when they want, if they want, where they want, and only then. Not much one can do other than to provide them with the essentials they need.

[llmercll]

Ironically, my medium PP went down to molt 3 days after your post ladybug!

The only problem is, I think my small E got to him. I had the tank separated but he somehow broke through (hes really really tiny) and I think he was buried over by my PP (whos molting) for close to a day.

I'm horrified at the possibility that my E cannabilzed my PP, what should I do?

[Wai]

Find and move the E away immediately - preventing a case of cannabalism (or at least exo theft) is more important than anything. Try your best not to touch or disturb the PP though.