Artemis, Day 14 carrying eggs

[wolfnipplechips]

SO EXCITED!!!!! Sitting over here beaming.

[mlakers]

SO EXCITED!!!!! Sitting over here beaming.

Oh, man, Shadoe!! So great to hear from you!! You are my baby-hermit-hatching hero. I honestly would never have gotten this far (or even tried it at all!) without you trailblazing the way!! I've read your thread so many times and used it as a touchstone. You have no idea. At midnight, when I was panicking, there you were sometimes with great information, sometimes panicking, too, but always a comfort to me. And your wonderful shells are in there with them right now as they are transitioning to stage six!!

[mlakers]

I think you have to look for shells thats around 1-4mm opening for the 'first time homes'... Either curlz or Nat mentioned that, I'll see if I can find it somewhere.

Yeah, 1-2 mm is what I've been hunting. Just not that easy to find. Even when they are that small, if they are heavy shells, they might not ever be able to haul them out of the water, so light and miniscule is what I'm going for. Two days ago I ordered the reef sand and substrate from Drs Foster and Smith that wolfnipplechips linked to in her thread. Should be here soon with some micro shells. I honestly have tons of options at this point, but I'm still fretting because that first trip to land+ sand molt is going to be soooo critical.

And because I'm having trouble finding enough stuff to worry about, you know.

[mlakers]

Here's a video from just a few minutes ago. The darker orange one appears to be midway between stage five and six. I can see legs emerging toward the tail area and that big bulk at the front will be the claws if he/she is successful.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=you ... Y5kjGdS-zg

[mlakers]

Just put the babies all to bed. No major losses today, thankfully. I still haven't seen any that are all the way through stage six change, which seems odd, but maybe in the morning I'll be happily surprised. I did a 100% water change tonight even though it felt a little intrusive with them being larger, but two days of only siphoning had left the sand a little icky and the sides of the jars slimy. I'm hoping to be able to transition to all sinking food soon. I did way too many water changes today, partly because of all the sheds and partly because I worry too much. We're two weeks in, though. Woo-hoo!! And I'd say there are around eighty or more in each of the three main jars.

[aprilmay]

wow! video looks great! all those little eyes! awwwwww!
i've been reading all the other breeding threads. so exciting! Sounds like PP is one of the hardest species to breed because they take so much longer to land than the others. you are braving the hardest one on your first try!
you are doing such an amazing job!

sending lots of virtual hugs your way!

[mlakers]

Shoot! I just lost a really long update post. Grrr. I don't have the energy to retype it all. Hate it when that happens. I'll try again later.

[GotButterflies]

Awesome video!!! Keep up the great work! You are doing an amazing job!!!!

[mlakers]

Okay, so I'm stubborn. I'm trying the update again from my laptop. (No website can defeat me!)

DAY FIFTEEN.

This morning was the first time I found myself feeling resistant to the process. I needed to mix more saltwater (two gallons, since I used a lot yesterday and also had to swap out the adult hermies pool) and I just stared at the empty jugs thinking, "I can't mix another gallon."

I've gone through 25 gallons in the past fifteen days and for some reason, that number just suddenly felt like too much. But I did it, of course, because it had to be done, and as you all know, it really doesn't take that long to mix a batch of saltwater. I think it's just a symptom of me being a tad fatigued by the process at this point.

Also, I'm not seeing any full-on transitions to stage six. Many have molted (yesterday was all-sheds-all-the-time), but I'm not seeing the full "Superman" swimmers. Did it happen immediately with yours, Wolf? Or did it take a couple of days after the shed to see legs and claws? I'm not sure if it's an issue or not. They are using the little vestigial legs to hold onto things, so maybe it's simply a question of needing a bit more time to unfold/develop...sort of like a butterfly fresh out of the cocoon that has to dry and flex its wings and unfurl (but obviously not happening as quickly). It's also entirely possible that I miscounted the stages or "overlap counted" them when the stages came fast and in reality I was simply seeing a second batch transitioning (to the same stage) and not a whole new stage occurring. To the naked eye, those first stages are pretty indistinguishable, so I was just going by sheds in the water. Also, I think this batch of zoeae is from three different female crabs (all the same male) and if so they would be genetically different and might develop slower or faster because of that. Also, the females all spawned on the same night, but their eggs had slightly different incubation periods because the mating behavior I saw was sequential--one female per day. So many variables!

The babies are all starting to congregate at the bottom now, which seems like a good sign for a creature that needs to transition to land eventually. I also would greatly prefer to feed them sinking food that doesn't foul the water as quickly. I have about half of the shells that I think will be small enough in there now. They have definitely taken note of the shells but not in any serious way. I just want them to be aware that the shells are there--that the resource they will need soon is available.

I've said this before, but they seem to be developing some of the traits of adult land hermit crabs. They are hiding more, for sure. In fact, the "seaweed" that I put in the jars has become very popular. They congregate beneath it in what acts as "shade" and perhaps it's out of the "current" as well. I have to swish the seaweed when I clean the water because some will actually cling to it. I had freestanding plants in some of the jars, but had heavy losses in those jars, and so have made the switch to all floating "seaweed." I'll post a picture of the kind of plant they seem to like best. It's a familiar one for freshwater aquariums. I just took it apart into four strands, one for each jar.

Still no sign of many dead. Either I'm not having major losses or the live ones are completely consuming the dead ones. Either way, I would say I have at least 80 in each of the three most productive jars as of this morning. Still hopeful--and still trying to obsess less.

[mlakers]

wow! video looks great! all those little eyes! awwwwww!
i've been reading all the other breeding threads. so exciting! Sounds like PP is one of the hardest species to breed because they take so much longer to land than the others. you are braving the hardest one on your first try!
you are doing such an amazing job!

sending lots of virtual hugs your way!

Thank you, aprilmay!!

[mlakers]

Awesome video!!! Keep up the great work! You are doing an amazing job!!!!

Thank you. Some days I feel like that old commercial from...the 80s? the 90s?...with the guy trudging off to work in the wee hours of the morning groaning, "Time to make the donuts."

[Groan.] Time to mix the saltwater.

[GotButterflies]

Awesome video!!! Keep up the great work! You are doing an amazing job!!!!

Thank you. Some days I feel like that old commercial from...the 80s? the 90s?...with the guy trudging off to work in the wee hours of the morning groaning, "Time to make the donuts."

[Groan.] Time to mix the saltwater.

I totally remember that!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mlakers]

Day Sixteen.

Still no visual on a stage six Superman swimmer. I clearly miscounted the stages....or more likely, I think now, the eggs were from different females and grew at different stages of development. So, for example, all those stage two sheds I saw on day two were only half the zoeae transitioning, then the next stage (or what I assumed was the next stage) that came so quickly on the heels of the last molt, were really just another batch of stage two molts from eggs that weren't quite as advanced on spawning and so had to catch up with the others. The mass molts were so obvious, that's the only scenario that makes sense....today... to me now... until I think of something else that I'm SURE is the really-real conclusion du jour.

In other words, I got nuthin.

[mlakers]

I can't tell if I'm being too obsessive or not, but I'm starting to worry. It looks like they are hungry but have stopped eating certain things that worked before. The freshly hatched brine shrimp don't seem to interest them now, unfortunately, and the zoeae seem paler today to me. I've added thawed brine shrimp, and they appear to nibble on that, but I can't seem to figure out what will really make them happy and fill their bellies. Any suggestions?

[aprilmay]

I vaguely remember curlz mentioned that once they reach certain stage, she had to switch to krill...Let me see if I can find it again...

Here it is
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... ll#p864771

Development:
they pass through several larvae stages (5-7 depends on species). Need lots of freshly hatched brine shrimps (not older than few hours)
After that they convert to megalopa stage. The can't catch brine shrimps anymore. So they start to look on the floor for food. (I feed defrosted brine shrimp, defrosted krill and defrosted shimp)
After some days (weeks) they will search for shells. Unfortunenately there are only some laboratory documents and only a few made it to megalopa stage. So there are no information when the magalopa start to search for shells. The best way is to put some shelss in the kreisel, when the first larvae become a megalopa.