where did sideways go!!!!???(the crab)?

Question

i have had him for about a week and he shares his tank with 2 dwarf gouarmis 3 tiger barbs and 2 cat fish but hes dissapeared, i know the little things are escape artists but the tank is really secure there is only 1 tiny gap at the back of the tank fot the leads do you think he could have got out of that . ive checked all the decor and surrounding area of the tank and the whole room and hes definatley gone where did he go??

Answer 1

i had a crab once i thought for sure he couldn't get out but sure enough he did and i found him a day later between a stack of books and besides being a little dusty from his journey hes was fine.


SLY

Answer 2

First of all, if he got out, crabs, crayfish, and the like can live for quite a while outside the water (in fact crabs should have an area where they can get completely out of the water) so you're not likley to find hind right outside the tank if he did escape. he may now be exploring under the furniture or along the baseboard in another room if he's been out for some time.

Another possibility is that he molted. The exoskeleton is hard, so as they grow, they get rid of the old one and the new one (inside the old, and soft at first) expands so it's larger than the last. Until the new exoskeleton has hardened, they're vunerable to being eaten. During this time they need a secure place to hide, so he may have found a tight spot in some rocks or an ornament in the tank (proided you gave him a place where he could molt in peace away from the fish).