taking a long time to molt

My PP was showing signs of molting so i put him in ISO. He buried himself, and he made a little cave on the side, so i can see he is alive, and seemingly well. But it's been two weeks already, and he hasn't come up as far as I know. I've been keeping the humidity and heat in the tank normal. I know that they can live off of their molt sacks and then eventually their exo, but should I be worried? Should I put food in the tank? I had water dishes, but I recently replaced them with some of those crab pillows (ESU Reptile Hermit Crab Water Pillows at PETCO) just to keep the humidity in the tank up, since he doesn't seem to be up to eat or drink. What should I leave in the tank, and how long is too long for him to be buried. Also he is a bigger hermie. Does anyone know how long a molt could take?

 

Just leave him be. He could be preparing to molt, and hasn't done so. You shold continue to put a little bit of food in their, and keep the dechlorinated water and saltwater pools in as well. YOu don't know if he may be coming up when your not around and then going back in... they can be very sneaky If he's preparing to molt, he may need to be stocking up on food and water. Molts can take anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months.... depends on the hermie. Just keep an eye on him, but don't dig him up or anything. He'll know when he's done.

 

I'm just wondering...is there a reason you put him in ISO? Sometimes taking them out of their home and putting them in a strage enviroment to molt can be stressful to them. I let my crabs molt in the main tank and have never had a problem with others bothering them.
But like Crabmier said, don't bother him and make sure your ISO conditions and setup are just like the home tank. Hang in there...

 

It's up to each individual crabber as to if they feel comfortable letting their crabs molt together. I myself am trying letting my crabs just molt in the same tank, but just read a sad story about two crabs that lived together two years, were well fed, but one attacked and ate the other when it molted recently. So you have to do what feels best, but Mckenny is right, sometimes moving them can stress them enough to stop their molt. Do like he suggested and make sure the environment is as close to the main tank as possible.
The crab pillows will do nothing for your crab, they do need the water dishes like Crabmier said. Keep food and water and change it regularly as you would as if he were out and about all the time. When my little Jeffrey was molting, I kept foods in there that I could leave for two days instead of one, and made sure his water dishes were changed regularly.
Put on your pacing slippers, you're going to wear them out now! hehe

 

Alright. I'll wait. He's moved further toward the center of the tank and I can't see him anymore, but I hear him digging at night sometimes. I put him in ISO because I didn't want him to be disturbed. I have another large crab that digs a lot and I was worried he would dig him up. I'll put the food and water back in, but i smoothed the sand out a few days ago and he definitely has not been up.

 

Sounds like it may be pacing slippers time Keep changing out the food and water regularly though, and keep a close eye on the temp and humidity so it stays within range.
Good luck! It could be a few weeks, even a couple of months!

 

Already got the pacing slippers on. haha. Been changing the food and water regularly. Still hasn't come up. He was showing signs of a molt for a month before I even put him into ISO and he buried himself completely so who knows how long he will be down. Still hear him moving in there. I'll be excited and relieved when he comes up from his molt and looks well.

 

mycrab molted for 3 months

 

It's almost exciting to hear them moving around, at least you know they are alive right?
I would go up to my tank and just listen for scratching and digging, just to ease my mind. It helped. Sometimes they were quiet, but sometimes I'd be rewarded with the sound of crab legs on glass lol.

 

me to i love that sound i have one molter right now but he is molting out of his shell. poor guy! i hope he makes it!

 

I love that sound, too. When I had the smaller cage I would bring it to my room at night and listen to my hermit crabs scratching. Good luck with your molter!

 

oh no. I hope he makes it too! GL.

But yea, the sound of his legs on the bottom of the tank is a good sound to hear. I'll let you know when he comes up. I have a feeling it won't be for a long while.

 

Just make sure you leave his shell there - I had a molter ditch her shell and leave it for 4 days while she stayed down in the sand in her little cave, with a window opened on the side so I could see her. I rinsed her shell out and put it back for her nice and clean, and she put it back on when she was ready to come up, and toodled off to relax after she was all done.

 

yeah i rinsed her shell but she didnt want anything to do with it

 

Now I'm worried that my hermie is dead.
I noticed a bit of a fishy smell in the tank today. It's not super strong but it is noticeable.
The substrate was pretty dried out because I have been afraid of disturbing him, so I tried to wet it, but a bit of sand where his cave is fell in. I'm not sure what to do about that, and if he's not dead, I am afraid that stressed him out.
I haven't heard him moving for weeks now. I see what I assume is his exoskeleton on the bottom of the tank (it could be him, but those legs haven't changed position for a long time).
So I don't know what to do.
Also I am moving Saturday.

Ahhh. I am so worried.

 

Molting time will depend on your crabs size and your crab too! When your crab is ready it will start to molt. I have read that a crab can be burried for around two weeks before molting even starts. I just had two molts back to back. My largest crab took nine weeks and my med size crab just finished in six. My smallest crab was only four weeks if I remember correctly. Best of luck! Remember, your crab knows best and it will come up from its molt when it is ready. Resist the urge to mess with your crab. This is a very stressful time for your crab. You don't want to make it worse if you do not have to.

 

I mean, what I'm mostly worried about is the smell, and the fact that i haven't heard him move in weeks.
I don't know if it is a dead smell or a molt smell but it is fishy and kinda strong. How long should I wait before concluding that he is either dead or molting?

 

If you really have to sniff then leave him. If you smell it when you put your head in the tank then he is probably dead. If you can smell it in your room... then he is dead. Can you smell it now? I hope he makes it. Poor guy.

 

I really hope he's okay. If it smells like dead, really bad fish, he might have passed. Can you check from the bottom to see if his legs are moving?

 

He said he did check and he was not moving.