Is our little streaker molting, dead, or dying?
Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2020 9:32 am
Since you've come to the emergency forum, we know you want a fast answer to your question. In order for us to figure out the problem as quickly as possible, we ask that you answer the following questions as best you can. Some of them may seem odd, but they're all designed to give us the information we need to give you a good solution for your problem. The things in the [ brackets ] are there to make this post easier to read once submitted. Thanks!
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Until a few days ago (after the problem child was removed) we used a 2-4 inch deep layer of coconut hull in a 10gal aquarium. Now we have about 7 inches of play sand and coconut hull in 5:1 mix as close as I can figure. I couldn't find anything to indicate if the mix was supposed to be by volume or weight and if the coconut hull was supposed to be wet or dry when making the mix, so I did my best.
2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?
Guages are at the top back of the 29gal aquarium. Temp stays fairly steady around 72 F and humidity varies between 70-75%.
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Just purchased a deep dome with a night black heat lamp and space for a daylight bulb but this was more for the hope of being able to see the crabs at night as the temp is generally pretty solid.
4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?
Fresh RO water provided daily (our tap water is extremely heavy in iron and other questionables, so it gets run through the reverse osmosis before any of our family touches it - and that includes the fur/shellbabies!!) Fresh salt water provided daily. This was made using Zoo Med salt water conditioner until I discovered HCA. Now we are using 1/2c Instant Ocean sea salt in 1gal RO water. Fresh water is in a small plastic dish and salt water is in a plastic mini paint tray. Both were properly cleaned and decontaminated before use.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I know I'm likely going to burn in heck and get blackballed from this forum
, but since we bought our first 4 crabs a year ago, we used the canned pellets and dried fruit. Now that we are learning the complexities of these little "easy to raise" creatures, we're switching to fresh fruit and veggies from the safe list, cuttlebone (our problem child, Jerry, has always been a bit defensive of HIS cuttlebone! 
), freeze dried mealworms and blood worms, catappa leaves, freshly sourced cicada exos, boiled shrimp, and boiled eggshells.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
The problem crab is from our first batch, purchased at the beach a year ago. I have no idea of the species but it's a bigger, rusty color crab that started off in a painted shell with <1" opening and grew to fit a natural shell with a 1.5" opening.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
About a month after we got our first batch, they all buried and would stay down for weeks on end, then come back up and motor around. They all showed signs of growing and thriving so we didn't worry once we established that the "climbing" crabs we bought were indeed burrowing creatures that could hide for "up to 6 months" if they were molting. (That was the info we got from the internet at the time.)
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
First year: 10 gal aquarium with screen lid and climbing branches from pet store. Daily mist with fresh RO water.
Now 29gal aquarium with screen lid, but there is a cold mist vaporizer right next to it to maintain the humidity in the tank + entire room. We still will most the upper glass if needed. Same branches are in there as before we isolated the problem crab, plus new coconut house, exercise wheel, and the larger salt swimming pool (mini paint tray). Jerry has never contacted the new items.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
8 crabs: 4 are in the 1-1.5" shell opening range and 4 are new "babies" that are total shell size under 1inch
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
We were keeping 7 extra, larger shells until Jerry's streaking incident, but now have about 20 shells of different sizes and shapes available.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No. All new materials have been sanitized by boiling for 20 mins. New tank was wiped with white vinegar then rubbing alcohol and allowed to completely dry and air exchange before any substrate or crabs were added.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
Substrate is cleaned as needed. If it feels wet, if it smells at all, if it has been in the tank for a month...
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
Only in fresh water dish. Washed by squeezing dirt out under clean fresh water, rinsing in salt water, then rinse in fresh water before placing in fresh water dish.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
Before the "streaking crab" incident, nothing new had been added.
15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?
The four original crabs have been routinely handled by our family and the problem crab would actively climb into my son's hand when he reached into the habitat. We are very fortunate to have had 4 very seemingly happy crabs for a year and now we have 7 seemingly happy crabs and one very limp, sad little guy.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
About 2 weeks ago, Jerry was found streaking (running naked around the tank) and one of the other 4 crabs we had at the time quickly stole his old shell. Jerry found a new shell and we thought all was well, but decided that we should probably get more large shells of a variety of shapes. Jerry stayed in the shell he found before the new ones were added and did not appear to want the new shells.
Based on the information we were learning, we realized the need to upgrade our crabitat, so we changed the tank size, started feeding fresh food options, and added the four "babies", but kept the coconut hull substrate. Jerry seemed to have no issue with the new tank, food, or friends. He continued behaving in the same friendly and outgoing way he always had for two weeks. Then four or five days ago, he and another large crab burrowed like they always have.
About three days ago, we assumed that they were just hiding out like normal, so when I dug them up to replace the substrate with sand, I was shocked that Jerry flopped out of his shell. I immediately thought he was dead and informed my sons. As I held him to say our goodbyes, he slowly twitched a couple of legs. We researched molting crabs and delightedly placed him back in the habitat in a little dugout spot under a water dish so we could easily check on him. I tried to isolate him on one end of the main enclosure but we were just not comfortable with his state, so we relocated him and his surrounding substrate to an isolation tank with a plastic dish placed over him to keep the humidity up and to allow us to check on him. I can see that some of his exo is gone from his legs and his body appears to be soft in spots near the tail end. But the rest of his front end exo appears fairly intact.
We haven't seen any further movement and I can't tell if his funky smell is death or molt. My son swears that they all smelled like cooked shrimp when we got them, so that smell might have been there all along. I don't make a habit of sniffing our pets if I can avoid it . I do need to put my nose fairly close to the isolation tank to smell the funky fishy smell. I believe it's getting slightly stronger than it was yesterday. Or maybe I'm just panicking. I hope I'm just panicking.
So did I kill my son's beloved crab or is there a chance it's still alive? I've read that the molt process can take weeks, but does that mean just the buried, not moving part of the molt![Image]()
or is that for the whole process of premolt signs, molt, hardening, etc? How long should I wait before I accept the inevitable and have a tiny crab funeral?
I'm attempting to add photos of both the crab and the enclosure. Any feedback and input would be
greatly appreciated!!
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Until a few days ago (after the problem child was removed) we used a 2-4 inch deep layer of coconut hull in a 10gal aquarium. Now we have about 7 inches of play sand and coconut hull in 5:1 mix as close as I can figure. I couldn't find anything to indicate if the mix was supposed to be by volume or weight and if the coconut hull was supposed to be wet or dry when making the mix, so I did my best.
2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?
Guages are at the top back of the 29gal aquarium. Temp stays fairly steady around 72 F and humidity varies between 70-75%.
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Just purchased a deep dome with a night black heat lamp and space for a daylight bulb but this was more for the hope of being able to see the crabs at night as the temp is generally pretty solid.
4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?
Fresh RO water provided daily (our tap water is extremely heavy in iron and other questionables, so it gets run through the reverse osmosis before any of our family touches it - and that includes the fur/shellbabies!!) Fresh salt water provided daily. This was made using Zoo Med salt water conditioner until I discovered HCA. Now we are using 1/2c Instant Ocean sea salt in 1gal RO water. Fresh water is in a small plastic dish and salt water is in a plastic mini paint tray. Both were properly cleaned and decontaminated before use.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I know I'm likely going to burn in heck and get blackballed from this forum
, but since we bought our first 4 crabs a year ago, we used the canned pellets and dried fruit. Now that we are learning the complexities of these little "easy to raise" creatures, we're switching to fresh fruit and veggies from the safe list, cuttlebone (our problem child, Jerry, has always been a bit defensive of HIS cuttlebone! ), freeze dried mealworms and blood worms, catappa leaves, freshly sourced cicada exos, boiled shrimp, and boiled eggshells. 6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
The problem crab is from our first batch, purchased at the beach a year ago. I have no idea of the species but it's a bigger, rusty color crab that started off in a painted shell with <1" opening and grew to fit a natural shell with a 1.5" opening.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
About a month after we got our first batch, they all buried and would stay down for weeks on end, then come back up and motor around. They all showed signs of growing and thriving so we didn't worry once we established that the "climbing" crabs we bought were indeed burrowing creatures that could hide for "up to 6 months" if they were molting. (That was the info we got from the internet at the time.)
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
First year: 10 gal aquarium with screen lid and climbing branches from pet store. Daily mist with fresh RO water.
Now 29gal aquarium with screen lid, but there is a cold mist vaporizer right next to it to maintain the humidity in the tank + entire room. We still will most the upper glass if needed. Same branches are in there as before we isolated the problem crab, plus new coconut house, exercise wheel, and the larger salt swimming pool (mini paint tray). Jerry has never contacted the new items.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
8 crabs: 4 are in the 1-1.5" shell opening range and 4 are new "babies" that are total shell size under 1inch
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
We were keeping 7 extra, larger shells until Jerry's streaking incident, but now have about 20 shells of different sizes and shapes available.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No. All new materials have been sanitized by boiling for 20 mins. New tank was wiped with white vinegar then rubbing alcohol and allowed to completely dry and air exchange before any substrate or crabs were added.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
Substrate is cleaned as needed. If it feels wet, if it smells at all, if it has been in the tank for a month...
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
Only in fresh water dish. Washed by squeezing dirt out under clean fresh water, rinsing in salt water, then rinse in fresh water before placing in fresh water dish.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
Before the "streaking crab" incident, nothing new had been added.
15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?
The four original crabs have been routinely handled by our family and the problem crab would actively climb into my son's hand when he reached into the habitat. We are very fortunate to have had 4 very seemingly happy crabs for a year and now we have 7 seemingly happy crabs and one very limp, sad little guy.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
About 2 weeks ago, Jerry was found streaking (running naked around the tank) and one of the other 4 crabs we had at the time quickly stole his old shell. Jerry found a new shell and we thought all was well, but decided that we should probably get more large shells of a variety of shapes. Jerry stayed in the shell he found before the new ones were added and did not appear to want the new shells.
Based on the information we were learning, we realized the need to upgrade our crabitat, so we changed the tank size, started feeding fresh food options, and added the four "babies", but kept the coconut hull substrate. Jerry seemed to have no issue with the new tank, food, or friends. He continued behaving in the same friendly and outgoing way he always had for two weeks. Then four or five days ago, he and another large crab burrowed like they always have.
About three days ago, we assumed that they were just hiding out like normal, so when I dug them up to replace the substrate with sand, I was shocked that Jerry flopped out of his shell. I immediately thought he was dead and informed my sons. As I held him to say our goodbyes, he slowly twitched a couple of legs. We researched molting crabs and delightedly placed him back in the habitat in a little dugout spot under a water dish so we could easily check on him. I tried to isolate him on one end of the main enclosure but we were just not comfortable with his state, so we relocated him and his surrounding substrate to an isolation tank with a plastic dish placed over him to keep the humidity up and to allow us to check on him. I can see that some of his exo is gone from his legs and his body appears to be soft in spots near the tail end. But the rest of his front end exo appears fairly intact.
We haven't seen any further movement and I can't tell if his funky smell is death or molt. My son swears that they all smelled like cooked shrimp when we got them, so that smell might have been there all along. I don't make a habit of sniffing our pets if I can avoid it
. I do need to put my nose fairly close to the isolation tank to smell the funky fishy smell. I believe it's getting slightly stronger than it was yesterday. Or maybe I'm just panicking. I hope I'm just panicking. So did I kill my son's beloved crab or is there a chance it's still alive? I've read that the molt process can take weeks, but does that mean just the buried, not moving part of the molt
I'm attempting to add photos of both the crab and the enclosure. Any feedback and input would be
greatly appreciated!!
), freeze dried mealworms and blood worms, catappa leaves, freshly sourced cicada exos, boiled shrimp, and boiled eggshells. 
