Abandoned Shell on Opposite Side of Tank?

[Lephantome92]

So I'm not sure, but I think one of my crabs, Broheim, is molting. However, I didn't see any sort of pre-molt signs to isolate him, and he left his shell on the opposite side of the tank from where I saw a large mound of eco-earth under one of the pots I broke for them to hide. I didn't inventory the other near two dozen or so shells in the tank to see if he occupied another one when he went down, and I don't recall there being one where he left his. When I lift the pot he's likely under, I don't see any signs that he's hurt himself on anything, yet I'm starting to occasionally hear a kind of squeak like a bird's chirp. I've read here that it's possible for this to happen if Bro would feel in danger, and one of the larger crabs is seeking refuge under the same pot, thus could likely be standing on top of him without actually chasing him. Is there really much I can do, or just wait and see how the probable molt goes?
*Edit* I should add that this is happening during the day, so it's not another crab's shell scooting along glass. They've made that sound, so I've heard it. About the only other possibility would be if Dwebble's shell scraping across the terracotta makes that sound, but with the frequency and clarity of it, it's dubious.
*Edit 2* It's something other than a fellow crab bring on top of him, as I moved the surface crabs and the squeaking persisted

[LadyJinglyJones]

Heya!

Unless your tat is badly overcrowded it isn't necessary to isolate molters - that's an older practice that has mostly been abandoned. Deep sub and good tank to crab ratios aleviate the need.

Crabs can and do chirp underground. Also, chirping isn't always due to altercation, as I had one up & one down, and the surface crab chirped at alarming volume.

There are different kinds of chirping from what I've been able to gather - sounds like cricket stridulations that they make with the ridges of their claws, sounds generated by rubbing the hard bits (uropods) at the end of their abdomens against the inner pillar of their shells, and some crabbers have reported vocalizations seemingly from the mouth parts.

There are several types of chirp/croak/scream/click that they make, corespondingly.

If a crab was shell-less it seems doubtful it would have the strength to dig down. I haven't read of shelless crabs burying.

My crabs roll their shells all over the place & even bury them. Your crab is probably clothed.

[Lephantome92]

That being the case about digging, I'll count all the shells. For some reason, i keep thinking i got 32 shells in the pack, so I'll pray that between what's on the tank and not that there's only 31. If that's so, i won't mind if Dwebble takes over the old magpie shell, as ugly as i find it

[wodesorel]

LJJ, they can dig naked, and they can make it to the opposite end of a tat easily. It just depends on the reason they ditched their shell. Those that do it out of weakness wouldn't be able to, but those that are chased out, have something irritating them, or who get their shell stuck and can't get free have just as much strength as a normal crab.

I'm leaning towards him being shelled as well, for the same reasons as LJJ. They do magic when it comes to moving shells around.

It's also not unusual for buried crabs to talk, sometimes to each other. The one time I had 7 molters down at once and they chittered and chirped all night every night for a month. It was the creepiest sound!

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[LadyJinglyJones]

Oh, wow! Digging sans-shell must be rough on them. Fingers crossed he's shelled!

[Lephantome92]

So my dogs' howling last night woke me at the right time to see Bro aboveground in an EE-covered shell. It doesn't solve why there was chirping unless he was a lightning-fast molter, only being down like 2 weeks, yet being just under medium sized, though it's possible he was de-stressing since i had only had him about 2 weeks when he went under. And alas, it seems he's likely more comfortable in the magpie shell, as i caught him shoving Leif out of the way to investigate it