Possible molt gone bad??

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 7:17 am

We are new with hermit crabs. This morning, one had come partly out of his shell and lying sideways. I picked up the shell and what I thought was the crab fell out. I assumed he had died. However, when I looked inside the shell I could see our guy was still in there and appeared to have molted. That was very exciting. However, there are some mushy parts in what fell out...looks like a leg and a large pincher claw. Everything else is pretty dry and crumbled as I picked it up. I feel bad, and hopefully didn't disturb things by picking him up. Should there be any mushy parts shed? Why would those parts have just fallen off? I am more worried he'll come back with no large pincher claw. I know he can survive with the missing leg. Can he survive without the claw? Please help... I am very worried.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 8:21 am

it is possible he lost his claw...all of the exos from my molters have been dry and husklike, not mushy....with tlc they can survive and will regenerate the claw next molt....be sure food is ground up as they do not have the large claw to crush larger pieces....

place the exo near him so he can get the needed minerals from that....i would place moist forest beding around him and over the top to keep the immediate area humid and dark

good luck

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 1:09 pm

What is forest bedding? Any help?

Also, when people are talking about their crabs going under to molt, is their sand being kept wet all the time? Do I need to keep it wet at the bottom all the time? I just have dry sand, and the guys at the pet store told me not to put too much, because they would just stay buried.

For this crab, I tried the coke bottle method that I am reading about. I wet the sand inside the bottle, and put the remains in there with him in case he gets the munchies. Am I doing it right??

Thanks for the help.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:07 am

forest bedding (fb) or ecoearth (ee) are bricks of substrate you can buy...then hydrate them and use them in the crabitat....my 55 gal crabitats are each approx 1/2 sand, 1/2 fb...as it hydrates it expands significantly...check the faq to the right under substrates for more detail....

the sand is usually as wet as your hermies want it....when i do a deep clean i put the sand in dry and within 4-5 hours it is all moistened by the hermies to their preference....if you wet down the sand yourself, you want it sand castle consistency...not soggy wet...

the sand and the fb moistness are significant factors in the stability of your humidity...you do not want the fb to dry out while in the crabitat....just keep it moist with salt water and remoisten it whenever it looks dry...the other thing about fb is you can split the bricks if you cut them lengthwise along the narrow side...that way you can store what you don't use....

as for depth of substrate....it must be deep enough for your largest hermie to completly bury themselves....they dig down to destress, molt, tunnel, play, etc....so it has to have some depth....of course the guy in the store won't have deep substrate or all the hermies would be out of sight and he would have no sales....

i tried the coke bottle at one time long ago when i first started crabbing....i had terrible mold problems with it...your hermie also needs a small dish of fresh water and salt water handy.....plastic bottle caps...like for spices make great mini water dishes....many crabbers are able to use the coke bottle iso with no problems....good luck

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 10, 2006 9:58 am

I hate to keep bugging you, but you really seem to know your stuff, and I just really don't know much about this at all. My kids and I started this all up last Oct. We are really having fun. Can you help me with a few ques that I am having trouble getting the answers to?

If I wet down all the sand in the aquarium, won't it mold?

With the dry sand, I sift thru it every week to remove the old food and the poop. So with the wet sand or the wet sand/bedding mixture.... I can't sift thru, so I assume I just change the whole thing. How often? It seems like it would be expensive...it is all so pricey at the pet store. We paid a lot just for the sand.

Also, do I need both salt water and fresh? Right now we just have fresh. Do i just add salt to that one, or do I really need both. We have salt for the fish tank, so I assume I just mix it for the crabs according to those directions?

By the way, I did find the forest bedding you were speaking of at the pet store...I just wasn't sure how to use it all. Thanks for you help. I am looking forward to getting my tank set up right!!

As for the molting, I ditched the coke bottle technique a few hours after I started. Seemed small and not much room for him, the exo and water. I put him in isolation with completely wet sand. We'll see how it goes. I hope I do get it right, I think we have another on its way to molt as well.

Thanks again. I really do appreciate you sharing you knowledge.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:15 pm

boldman4 wrote: If I wet down all the sand in the aquarium, won't it mold?

It's possible for it to mold, especially on the bottom where water collects, but I've never had my sand mold. It's not what I would call a high risk, low mold risk is part of the reason I use home depot playsand, which is 5 bucks for a 50lb bag, not very expensive. I change it out when I do a deep clean about every 3 months. Otherwise I just clean food and waste off the top of the sand, and airate it by mixing up the top layer, to keep bacteria from forming.

Also, do I need both salt water and fresh? Right now we just have fresh. Do i just add salt to that one, or do I really need both. We have salt for the fish tank, so I assume I just mix it for the crabs according to those directions?

Yes, you absolutely need both, otherwise your crabs will not molt well, among other problems. What brand do you use for the fish tank? Mostly likely it's the same instructions, but may be not.

By the way, I did find the forest bedding you were speaking of at the pet store...I just wasn't sure how to use it all.

I am about to attempt using it for the first time also, I guess you can use salt water to keep away mold, and you need to put it in a bucket because it expands about 4 times it's block size, that's all I know so far.

As for the molting, I ditched the coke bottle technique a few hours after I started. Seemed small and not much room for him, the exo and water. I put him in isolation with completely wet sand. We'll see how it goes. I hope I do get it right, I think we have another on its way to molt as well.

I'm sure he'll be fine in ISO. I hope he recovers quickly for you.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 7:03 am

sand doesn't mold as it is inorganic....only organic things like food, wood, coco hut, etc will mold, so you do need to be sure to remove any food they have dragged out of the dishes and check organic decorations for mold weekly or so....

your hemies will wet down the sand to their preference by filling their shells with water and dripping it all over...and it doesn't take all that long for them to do this.....if you need to clean the sand, you can remove portions, dry it out, then sift out poop/old food/etc.....you can either dry it in the oven or outside, depending on your climate...

be sure that when you store unused forest bedding it is dry....that is why it is best to split the bricks and only moisten what you need....

and as already said...you need both fresh and salt water for all species...

good luck...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:18 am

Thanks for everyones help. Our crab seems to be doing OK. It has been almost 2 weeks without much movement, but from what I read, this is still OK. I can see him in his shell, and he has definitely lost a leg and his large pincher claw, so I assume even when he is ready to eat, he won't be able to eat the exo. I still have it in there with him, along with some crushed food. He does look to be getting stronger, so I am hoping things continue to progress. Still worried about the lost leg and claw, but hoping he does OK. Thanks again.

cranlsn · Post by **cranlsn** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:24 am

You say "lost his claw". Are you referring to the Big Pincher? If so, he can be OK without it. There is also a small pincher...unless that's the leg that you are saying he lost.

If he still has his small pincher he should be OK. Once he's stronger and out and about for "regular food", you'll want to stick to smaller pieces, and perhaps some moistening with either honey or de-chlor water to make it a little easier for him.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:38 am

He lost the large pincher claw and the first leg behind it during the molt. They were laying with the exo. He does still have the small pincher claw, so it is good to know that will help. I am sure walking will be interesting, with only the back leg on the one side. Hopefully he'll get around ok. Thanks for the tips.