Cleaning choya wood?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 2:36 am

Ok I finally got some choya wood, but its gotta be like a foot long and I have no clue how to clean it. Do I boil it or? Then when I boil shells, do you put them in salt water afterward to sit and absorb the smell and such or? Then I have GREAT news!! Tootie a recent baby molted! Her legs are so sharp, and she now has 4 antennaes! She pinched me once already, lol, and it really hurt. She also switched into Emma's old shell, which is a tad big for her. I've still only had Tootie and Emma for about 3 weeks so I wont play with them til they get active again. Emma like I said a while ago switched into a shell, and finally went down to molt, because I haven't seen her at all. But she dug right against the wall so I can kinda see, and I see her move so she is alive, lol. Lil' Ernest molted too, and now he just seems to be distressing because he's just been digging and burying himself, I did however catch a look at his new legs and they are now black and sharp. I'm so excited right now!! 2 successful AND my first molts. The only tricky part is giving them a bath, then hoping they'll be okay together in one tank, especially since Lil' Ernest is the smallest. I'm still a little foggy on how to give a bath? I'm only giving one because they're all molting, and I don't want the smell. Like whats the best and least likely thing for them to drowned in? How deep of water? Oh should the opening of the shell be facing up, so like if i look I could see their claw? or downward, where I could only see the top of the shell? Then when do I know they're finished having a bath? Where can I get this "destress" thing at? I've only seen water conditioners, like how big is it, and could you maybe give me a site of what it looks like for an example? I use distilled water, so I wasn't sure if they'd be fine with that or if I needed the distressing thing. At this point I really don't want anything to go wrong. Then i figured just to set them in a tupperware thing or little box for them to dry, and at the same time Emma and Tootie realize that there's another crab there. Then I also need to figure out who's a girl and who's a boy. Any advice on how to be able to? I know to look for the gonopores meaning a girl, but how to get them to come out that far for me?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:23 am

Boiling choya wood should work just fine for cleaning it, if you have a pan or pot large enough to immerse the pieces in. Baking should also work, if the wood is dry. That requires close watching, you don't want the wood to catch fire in the oven! Soaking in salt water for a day or two is a great way to condition the wood and help prevent mold growth in your tank, as well.When cleaning shells, boil them, let them cool and drain any water still in them by turning them to "corkscrew" any water deep inside the shells out. Then dunk them in salt water, and put the salt-water filled shells in your tank for your crabs.Just about any commercial water dechlorinator will work to dechlorinate your water. Watch the label, tho, you don't want a product that contains aloe or Stress Coat, or anything like that. ALL you want it to do is remove chlorine and chloramines from the water. A few drops per gallon of water is all it takes, and you don't need to dechlor distilled water, but you can if you want to. "Destressing" is the period of adjustment a crab goes thru when you initially bring them home, which can last anywhere from two weeks to over a month. The crab is hopefully recovering from being harvested from the wild and stress caused by less than ideal conditions they must endure before they get to your home.Far as bathing goes, if you really feel you must, then use a tupperware or similar container that's at least 2 or 3 inches tall. Rectangular works best. Put an inch or a bit less of room temp dechlorinated water with a couple of drops of Stress Coat (that's the brand name of the stuff) mixed into it. Set the container on a counter or table, and prop one end up so that you've got the raised end with no water in it, and the other end is pretty deep. Be sure the angle is not too steep for the crabs to walk up tho. Holding a crab with the opening of the shell facing upwards, gently set them into the water at the deep end. Generally, the crab will pop out in a second or so, and most often climb straight up to the dry end of the dish. Every once in a blue moon or so, a crab will apparently enjoy being dunked, and walk around under the water for a minute or so before coming up to the dry end of the tub. Any time I've had to bathe, I left the crabs in the tub for 15 minutes or so, with supervision, in case anyone decided to go for another dunk. Then put them in another similar tub with a towel lining the bottom for another 15 mins or so (or longer if they start trying on shells. I have been known to loosely cover the drying tub and leave them in there for as long as an hour.). This is a great time for a crab to go shell shopping, if there are extra empty shells in the drying tub. After everyone is dry and done all the shell shopping they're interested in doing, set them all back into your main tank.Congrats on your recent molts!! Here's hoping they all go as well as these first ones have!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 3:31 am

Thanks sooooo much!!! lol, I've been told a few times how to do it, but your explanation was by far the best and easiest to understad. I'm a bit of a blonde even though I have brown hair, lol. Now I just need help on cleaning the choya wood..?I have a feeling its also called cholla wood, or at least thats something similar? it says choya on the package so. Oh yeah now since Tootie left her old shell behind, do I want to soak and boil that with the rest of the shells, or just leave it?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Sep 25, 2005 10:51 am

Cholla and choya should be the same thing. Looks kind of like an open weave tube with a diamond pattern to the weave? What I said about boiling, baking, and soaking in salt water can be applied to pretty much any wood product that's safe for your crabitat. Wouldn't hurt to clean shells that your crabs have changed out of along with all your other spare shells, another crab might decide he likes it, or Tootie might look it over and decide to move back in after it's cleaned.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 28, 2005 12:14 pm

The microwave works pretty well for cleaning crab toys. I microwave dishwashing sponges to disinfect them and I thought it might work for crab stuff, too. And it does. I rinse out the cholla and bang it out in the sink (because my crabs poop in the holes) and then I nuke it for 2 minutes. It comes out HOT - so be careful. Let it cool completely before putting it back in the tank. Also, since you have a big piece, why not just rinse it/soak it in salt water, then let it dry out in the sun. The sun will bake out any germs or bacteria.For the shells, I actually boil them in the saltwater, then cool them and put them in the tank. The crabs seem to like it, and some will try on the new shells even if they don't stay in them.