Hi everyone. I posted a while back about this situation. However i decided to just wait and see what would happen but I would like some advice about one of my crabs who has been underground for over five months. Iāve had my two crabs, BB and Rain, for around eight years, and theyāve always gotten along and molted without issues. They have never tried to go after each other when molting.
When I came home from college in early May, BB was already underground molting, while Rain was on the surface. I went on a trip to Hawaii, and when I returned, everything was the same. However, around that time, my house was undergoing renovations, and I needed to move their tank out of my room to protect them from dust and fumes. The night before moving the tank, I noticed Rain digging along the edge of the water dish where BB was buried in the corner of the tank. He wasnāt digging directly toward or near BBās suspected chamber, but rather along the side of the dish, so I initially wasnāt concerned.
The next morning, I noticed Rainās hole was near a green shell that looked similar to BBās. However, the shellās opening faced away from where Rain had been digging, and I think there was another similar empty green shell in the tank. My family helped me carefully move the tank downstairs, keeping it as level as possible, but the water dish shifted slightly. When I lifted it to reposition it and check for any chamber collapse, I noticed the green shell was empty. I panicked because I thought Rain might have attacked BB. I gently brushed away some loose sand beneath the dish and found part of a leg and what looked like a full leg piece. They were in the loose, dry sand rather than the moist substrate. I didnāt smell anything rotten, and there was no sign of BB, so I stopped digging because I didnāt want to disturb him if he was still molting. There was also no obvious sign of a collapsed chamber, although the usual opening I could look through was gone. Both my crabs like to molt under the water dishes and typically leave a small opening at the top that is covered by the dish rather than sand. Iāve noticed this during similar situations in the past.
While the tank was downstairs, Rain kept trying to dig underneath the water dish, even pushing aside a plastic bottle I had made into a barrier. This made me wonder whether he was actually trying to get under the dish to molt himself rather than going after BB. Once the tank was back upstairs, I moved the water dish to a different corner. Rain stopped digging near where I think BB is and started digging underneath the water dish instead. His digging also covered the area I had brushed with loose sand. There were no obvious signs of a collapse, and I took this as a sign that Rain likely wasnāt trying to go after BB, so I decided to leave BB alone.
Fast forward several months, and Rain went underground to molt around mid August. He briefly resurfaced but went back underground and remained there until the first week of October, when he finally came back up. Heās since changed shells and returned to being very active, running on his wheel all the time. I also noticed some leftover flakes of his shed exoskeleton near his tunnel and I know they donāt necessarily eat every piece of their molt.
However, BB is still underground after at least five months, since at least early May. Heās only about 25% larger than Rain, and both are medium-sized crabs, not jumbos. Neither my family nor I have noticed a rotten or dead-fish smell, but I also canāt tell whether BB has been moving around or surfacing at night. Iām worried about him because the is molting situation was unusual, including Rain digging nearby, the empty green shell, and the leg pieces I found back in May.
Iāve cared for these crabs for years, and this is very unusual for BB. He does take longer than Rain to molt, but not usually this long from what I can remember. I can also typically tell if heās moved underground due to disturbances in the sand, but I havenāt noticed anything obvious this time.
Iām cautiously considering checking his suspected location because Iām worried something may have happened to him or that this might be a failed molt. However, I also donāt want to disturb him if heās alive and still molting. I know the typical advice and safest approach is to leave him alone, and Iām willing to wait longer if necessary.
Given everything that happened, what would you all recommend continuing to wait or carefully checking on him? Has anyone experienced something similar? How long would you recommend waiting before checking? I personally donāt think I can wait an entire year without knowing whether heās alive or not, but I would really appreciate getting some advice. Anything will help.
