HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Excuse me for not doing the template, I'll get to that.

After eight months and a suspicious smell, I have gone digging.

I found Sheldon (whom I know it is, because he made his usual mountain above his molting cave). I think.

I found his shell, to be exact.

There are limbs everywhere, all very vividly-colored and the legs quite hairy. Some signs of a cave-in- his shell was filled with sub.

No signs of the bigger crab, Leonard.


...Is the body decomposed, perhaps?
Also, how to continue digging. I'm doing the spoon-method, plus I have a brush that I used to brush the last of the dirt away from Sheldon('s shell).

If the crab is found, what to do?


...So. My mother just called, and I've been basically going close to a total panic attack all day just thinking about this, and she is not helping at all. Apologizes if my post seem a bit "meltdowny".


Edit: Considering I'm finding these body parts all over the place, I either just found Leonard, too, or Leonard found Sheldon first...

The one time I went digging for crabs, I dug up one that was dead. All I found were a few scattered leg parts, and his (empty) shell was full of sand. Not sure if it was leftover bits of shed exo or remainders of his body.

It sounds like a similar situation, honestly. He could have molted and something went wrong (cave collapse or just a bad molt) and you're just finding whatever is left over after he decomposed. Have you gone through the rest of the substrate? I would say the odds are against you finding him, but it's still a good idea to check, especially since you haven't found your other crab yet.

I would keep using the spoon method - just keep scraping sub off a shallow layer at a time.

If you do find a naked crab, immediately iso and try to get him re-shelled asap.

Found Leonard, both shell and body.

I put the body in a baggy and put it in the fridge. He's all dried up, and they was some brown sludge in the shell itself, so... Still, just to be sure.

Sheldon, I never found. I literally have about 80% of the sub in a trash bad right now, and I'll look through the remaining part tomorrow. Doubt I'll find it, though.

Thanks for all the help!

I'm so sorry

So sorry.. Sheldon sounds like molt attack. Leonard sounds dead from sickness or stress.

I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could do.