Gomez?

[erikleeson]

My teeny little crab Gomez, went down to molt at least a month ago. He is a micro, and I hear they are down for a few weeks at the very most. I haven't seen him in a while. He is an E and my sand is 4 1/2 inches deep. I want to know if he's ok down there. 2 things you should know:

I have no clue where he was buried, I just hadn't seen him in a while And I checked all the toys and I couldn't fine him

During the time he went missing I found a shell looking like his in the tank, I could have put it there but I don't quite remember, so maybe he could have been eaten? I don't know, but I'm not sure where he is. He couldn't have escaped.

And is it common for crab to molt but the owners not know where they buried? Do they often bury themselves at night and in the morning the crab went down and you can't tell where he buried?

[Wai]

Hmm... he may have finished hardening altogether, but has buried himself elsewhere. That would be the most ideal situation.

Or, as you feared, he may have been gobbled up by others or his body is still buried. He should have surfaced now. Would it be wise to dig him up? I don't think you'd catch him in the middle of a moult. He should be either done or dead...

Wait for the replies of other members, as I'm not too sure about this.

[erikleeson]

Bu that's the thing. I don't know where he's buried. I just started saying, " I haven't seen Gomez in a while..." I remove all the toys and examine the tank. And he wasn't in it. Same thing with Finnigan. Then Zoidberg disappeared overnight. All 3 of those crabs I didn't see bury. Finnigan also buried around the same time as Gomez. He is a little larger than Gomez. And Zoidberg is golf ball size so he'll be down for maybe a month and a half more. As for sifting the sand, Garth is still down as well as Zoidberg. Gomez and Finnigan are who I'm worried about. I think Gomez may have died...That's alright by me though because I never really liked him. He always climbed the coco wall and stayed up there for days. Finnigan too. But if Zoidberg died I would be devastated! Xavi molted successfully and he is the same size as Zoidberg. I'll wait until Zoidberg comes up. By then If the other 2 don't come up they will have sure died.

[emmac350]

Just relax. I've never seen my crabs bury either...the only reason I am sure I know where they are is I saw the piles of sand that they left behind. If you're REALLY freaking out and you have an aquarium with a glass bottom, you can turn the lights down in your room and slide the aquarium out slowly to see if you can see their caves. Both of mine are on the bottom, as I discovered when I moved the 'tat's location.

I wouldn't recommend doing that often, though, as it could mess with their molting hormone levels.

[erikleeson]

I'm not really freaking out. I just think he could have been eaten because he's been down for so long.

I think I'll wait until mid November before I try anything. Keep telling me what you think cause I'm kind of worried about him.

[emmac350]

Think about it this way...if he hasn't been eaten, he'll come up at some point. If he has been eaten, he must have been completely eaten, which for my hermies at least is rare...they always leave bits behind, and you would assume to have smelled them by now.

I know that may not be entirely comforting, but it should at least help. That's how I know mine haven't died...it's kind of sad to think about it that way, but at least you know he's not laying around dead somewhere.

[erikleeson]

he isn't laying around dead somewhere. I cleaned out the tank and he was missing so he must have buried. But he has been down for ages.