Molting or worse?

[Delamontanez]

I have 3 hermit crabs in a 30 gallon tank. 2 are small, one is larger. The heat in the tank stays around 80 F, humidity varies a little between 75-80, but on average is usually fairly consistant at 78. I have a mixture of sand and eco earth substrate. Fresh and salt water changed regularly.
We were recently affected by Hurricane Helene and we're without power for 3 days, despite our best efforts to keep the tank warm with blankets, it dropped to 67 for about a day before the power came back on. During this time, the two smaller ones buried themselves, that's been over 2 weeks ago and they've not been seen since. I first thought maybe they were molting but now I'm not so sure. A few days after the power came back on and the tank was back up to temp, the larger one also buried himself. That's been a bit over a week. I'm willing to believe he is probably molting, as we've had him for about 3 months and he's changed shells several times and seemd like he was preparing to molt. The other two is what I'm concerned about. At what point do I possibly look for them? It just seems too coincidental that they both needed to molt at the same time just as the temp in their tank dropped. I've kept plenty of food and minerals in the tank just in case but it hasn't been touched since our big fella buried. I don't want to disturb molting crabs, but I also would like to know if I've lost any of them. If they didn't make it, will leaving them buried in the tank cause any hygiene/health issues for the tank? There's no smell, but I'm not sure their would be if they passed away while buried. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Wai]

Hi, there is no easy answer for you, but I would suggest giving them more time. Hygiene won’t be a huge concern; the risk of stressing the crabs by digging them up is greater. Perhaps give them another month and if they still haven’t come up, let us know.