Change in Behavior

[rach&rose]

Hello, I am posting because I am worried about my two crabs I have had for one year. I think they’re pretty mature because they are medium to large size. They have had several molts this year. Their current tank is 30 gallon with 7 in of 5:1 play sand/eco earth. The tank always runs a little humid between 80-90%. They have a large bean farm UTH on the back of the tank with reflectix over it. They have two pools with bubblers they can submerge in but I have never seen them go in fully. Both are treated with Seachem, one salt, one fresh. I purchase all of their enrichment and food on Etsy. They have a moss pit with no dye. They have leaf litter, a hollow untreated wood hide, 2 coconut hides, climbing walls with artificial boxwood, a bridge that leads to a corner climb and a large wheel and a medium saucer. I always keep several full meals, a dessert, green sand, calcium and worm castings in their tank. I will say, I do not change their food and water daily and I have heard conflicting information if their water needs to be treated every other day, which I do not. I treat their water, divide it into two gallon glass growlers and add sea salt to one. I replenish when necessary and never use chlorinated water for cleaning their enrichment. They were very shy at first but came around once their tank went through renovations. It was always habitable, but over the last year I have spent a lot of money making sure they had everything they would need to give them the best possible life in captivity. They have always been active at night. I also have a crab cam. They joined a family of 3 adults, a gregarious toddler and two small dogs who sometimes bark. I made the mistake of putting them in my central room that does get a lot of traffic, but this wouldn’t stop them from coming out occasionally during the day and always at night. About a month ago, I adopted two kittens. I didn’t notice right away, but after a few days, they weren’t eating. Then I noticed they were not coming out at night. They weren’t in their hides and I thought they went down for a molt (they typically go separate.) I decided to move their large wheel a day later and found them both together tucked up against their boxwood wall. They are alive but they won’t come out of hiding and they’re not eating or drinking. I have rearranged their tank tonight very quickly to move their food closer and give them more privacy. They always have towels over the top of their tank as there is a small open panel where the glass doesn’t cover the top fully. I added a towel in the front of the tank incase they’re scared. My guess is that they’re scared or maybe they’re sick? I am unsure what to do. I have considered moving them to a more private area but don’t know if that added stress will make things worse due to the weight of their tank. I don’t want to lose these little guys and I don’t want them to be scared. I will take any advice anyone has for me. Thanks so much for taking the time to read this. I look forward to everyone’s input.

[curlysister]

Welcome to the site!
Water does not need to be changed daily (I only change once a week), and does not need to be re-treated with dechlorinator every 2 days (that is only for fish).
Does your camera record them at night, so that you know they aren't coming out or eating?
I wouldn't think that kittens would stress crabs too much, but covering the tank would help - will your camera keep recording them?