Cannibalism under ground?

[mamaturtle2000]

(I know, I post a lot, but I have a lot of questions )

While moving my unplugged heat rock this morning, I (actually it was my son who saw it-he insists I tell you that,lol), noticed a little hole where we could see legs. So, I moved just a little of the substrate. It was Larry Jordan; one that I hadn't seen since the 15th of this month. I was so relieved. I saw a red leg in the substrate and some more pieces down by where he was in his little pocket in the substrate. I was so excited, thinking that he had molted too! His color looks good and red, so I thought that must have been what he's been doing this last week and a half! But....since I still haven't seen Princess since that same day (they all had a bath that night & most of them buried right after ) I started thinking, "What if those pieces belonged to Princess?" So.....
My question is: is it possible that Princess died and LJ ate her under the substrate? or Is it possible for him to kill her underground?

I'm sure I'm just being paranoid (actually I'm not sure or I wouldn't be asking, huh?) but after having lost 2 in the last month and a half, I wonder......

[CrabbyJo]

So sorry to hear about the scare you're having!
All you can do is wait, hon. Likely you are being paranoid, best case scenario.

But it has been known to happen, and if it did, well there's nothing that can be done at this point, except maybe re examine their diet.
are they getting plenty of proteins, chitin, cellulose (from woods, like cork, cholla, coconut husk) and seaweeds? Plenty of calcium?

It is not usual that hermit crabs will kill another hermit. If a crab is already dead, though, they may go ahead and scavenge the body, as this is normal behavior, they are scavengers after all!

I would err on the side of thinking he's just molted and that is his exo. I do hope you covered him back up with something else (or set the heat rock back, unplugged of course). I wouldn't put substrate over him, as he has dug a tunnel that provides him some nice air pockets so he can breathe.

your missing crab may still surface some time later, and may be hidden well herself, being sneaky!

[mamaturtle2000]

Okay, I'll start first with their diet. I have some HBH Hermit Crab Variety Flakes, but I was only giving them those every few days after hearing that they may not be good for them after all. I haven't given them those in over a week. I don't give them the same thing 2 days in a row, but they have had: egg shells, cooked egg whites, scrambled eggs (no seasonings only veg oil), peanut butter, tuna, grilled salmon (again, no seasonings), apples, mango, pineapple, orange, strawberries and the leaves, carrots, green beans, corn, rice, cheerios, no salt crackers, lettuce, spinach, black olives, tomatoes, raw ground beef, boiled chicken, yogurt, plain cooked pasta, plain dry ramen pieces, mushrooms, one time a shred of cheddar cheese, honey, and I even once gave them a piece of my cat's food . As for seaweeds, obviously, not so much and unless there is cellulose in the veggies (is there? I'm not sure), I guess they aren't getting that either... They have wood in there (it isn't cholla, I'm not sure what it is; just cool pieces of driftwood we had laying around that I microwaved to make sure there weren't any germs), but I don't know if they nibble it or not; would I be able to tell?

The one that I found molting (Larry Jordan) wasn't under the heat rock (That was Ms. Cartman), he was a little away from it under the one piece of gnarly driftwood and I was worried that I had covered up his little "chimney hole" when I scraped the substrate back....but he came out a couple hours later and has been hanging out all afternoon-so he's good, yay! I can also see the tiniest piece of yellow (Princess, the one I was worried about) sticking out of the substrate in the place that Cartman re-buried herself then re-emerged (boogers!) meaning she (Princess) was right there near where Larry Jordan was (where I saw the exo pieces)....so I will just have to wait and see, as I am not digging her up! I have learned my lesson that one,lol!

[ladybug15057]

Being you mentioned taking the heat rock out and using it outside of the tank, would you happen to have a 2 liter soda bottle you can cut the top and very bottom off of and use as an iso? (push all the way to the tanks floor and remove all items the others can possibly climb to get access to the burrowed one) Do to the cramped quarters you can use the lids off of soda bottles, water bottles, etc. so there is a fresh and ocean water supply. If you do not have a 2 liter soda bottle, would you happen to have the glass from a picture frame you could use? Make sure too that you know where all hermies are when you go to section them off from the others.
For food, try to offer a food from each food group daily:

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... storyid=25

http://crabbywiki.com/tiki-index.php?pa ... tion+Table+

http://www.hermitcrabcuisine.com/

When able, there are also some freeze dried and dehydrated foods that do not contain preservatives too:
http://crabbywiki.com/tiki-browse_categ ... =off&type=

Edited to add a list of safe woods: (as long as you know for a fact there has not been any pesticides/insecticides used on or near the trees)

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... storyid=46

You may also be able to find some dried dead brown oak leaves... but one must know no pesticides were even close to any foods offered to hermies.

[mamaturtle2000]

Yes, I have plenty of 2 liter bottles, as we are big Pepsi drinkers and our recycling is only picked up twice a month,lol . That's what I used to isolate ButterCup. I didn't isolate Larry Jordan because by the time I found him, he was done; he came out just a couple hours later! I have 2 others that may be molting, so I may isolate them. I have also realized that I don't think my tank is as big as I thought, either . I had 2 people tell me they thought it was a 29 gallon. But I started thinking about it and just couldn't see 29 (milk) jugs of water fitting in there, so now I think it may actually be like 15-20. I hope that isn't too small for the 7 I have in there. 3 are on the small side, but not micro, 1 is a smaller medium and the other two are what I call jumbo-about half the size of my palm.

[mamaturtle2000]

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that the wood we have we have literally had laying around the house for years and so that's why I washed them and microwaved them (to get rid of dust). I can't imagine any pesticides still having residue after all this time, right?

[ladybug15057]

If it had been exposed to any pesticides/insecticides, do not underestimate how long they can be effective on any inanimate object.

Edited to add, especially if a creature was to eat it, like hermies are certainly known to eat/munch wood.

[CrabbyJo]

Pesticides remain for many years, especially in something porous like wood. I'm afraid if your hermies have eaten any of it, it may have done/ may do them in

[mamaturtle2000]

Well, just so everyone knows; the wood has been out of the tank now for at least a week and there was no evidence that they ate any of it, though Princess-chu has passed away. She was in the same place she buried on the 15th and that I spotted her after Larry Jordan molted. I only got her on March 4th, so it's more likely she died from PPS.

On another note, I am working on my own hermie page on proboards and hope to open it soon. I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes; as I have disclaimer saying that I am not (nor claim to be) an expert. I just wanted to make a more informal place for people to talk about hermit crabs. I will even have a live chat feature and a place to put pictures of your crabs right on the page! I hope everyone will join me there when it opens!