OH NO Hermit Crab Missing in Action!

[crabs]

I have or had this hermit crab and he buried himself for about 3 weeks and but I had to deep clean the tank because it had mold in it so I dug him up while cleaning and he was fine but and it didnt look as if he was molting so he walked around a bit and finally I buried him/her. A week later I dug him/her back up and the shell was there but no crab and all the other shells were empty as well so I dug around in the coconut fiber and no crab, in the tank i use half coconut fiber and sand made by zoomed anyway still no crab? Its as if he disapered, by the way no limbs or parts of a crab either!

[krackersmom2]

I would not have reburied a crab. If you do uncover a crab, dig a hole and put the crab in it or put a hut over it and let the crab do the rest. There is a chance that you have a streaking crab somewhere in your tank, but there is also a chance that he died and decomposed under the substrate.

[HermitPaws]

Crabs, i don't know how to slove you missing crab prob. but i do know how to stop mold from growing in your tank..... Mix the sand or what ever you are using with salt water/ EX: Instant Ocean. this should keep the mold from coming back And you won't hafta dig up crabs any more.

[xoxosugga]

So this is a little bit off topic but i have lost my crab ( in my house) and have no clue where t could be i have looked and looked and cannot find it. any hints on how i could find him would be greatly appreciated :[ :]

[crabs]

thanks so much! How long would it take for a crab to decompose? Also the mold was on a $3 climbing pad type thing from Petco.

[HermitPaws]

Originally Posted by crabs

How long would it take for a crab to decompose? Also the mold was on a $3 climbing pad type thing from Petco.

A long time( Aleast longer than a month) As for your Climbing wall/pad soak it in a Tub of salt water.

[Hildegarde]

I would agree with HermitPaws that it would take much longer than week for a crab's body to decompose.

We had something very similar happen with two of our crabs. They went down and were buried for quite a while, although, being a real newbie at the time, I though I saw their shells with the other empty ones and thought maybe they had changed shells before they went down.

We were moving from a 10g to a 29g and left the 4 that were down alone. Finally two came up so we decided to look for the other two. We found no empty shells in the substrate nor any remains that looked like they were from a crab.

To this day I can't say I know what happened.

So, yes you may have a naked crab somewhere, or like my two, they may be somewhere in the Twilight Zone.

I do hope that you can find your missing hermie.

[ItsMeg]

Have you noticed any disgusting odor?

That's a sure sign that he's deceased.

If there's no odor, he could still be in there and nakie,

or he could be out and about

Good luck,

Meg