I HAVE ZOEAE!!!!!

[GotButterflies]

Hello everyone! I've been super busy...have had a total of 6 clutches this year.
Three of them were from my Purple Pincher tank and they were not laid in the pool. I found the clutches on the sand. Unfortunately there weren't any survivors out of one of them, and there were only a few out of the other two.
I ended up making a double kreisel. I ordered some really fine plastic mesh from amazon so the zoeae wouldn't fit through it. The down side is sometimes they get stuck and can't get away from it. I've had some losses that way.
I've only made it to megalopa stage again. They wouldn't take shells. The first time around after I texted Mary I figured out it was because I only had nerite shells in there. Now I have put a mixture in, of really tiny shells. It's really hard to see the megalopa with the kreisel due to keeping the water green with nannochloropsis. I've had less patience lately because I've been really sick. I have the transition tank set up, but just have been under the weather for a week now.
Have had my store on vacation for about that long too. Need to rest, catch up, and now Dorian! But...if I go according to hermit crab behavior, I think we will be fine. Just some wind and rain. I'm 30 miles from Daytona Beach. Hermits haven't taken the high ground in the tanks yet - they usually do when hurricane is near.

[PinchersAndShells]

You’re such a trooper! I couldn’t imagine being sick and raising zoea. I’m praying for your safety during the Hurricane. Hopefully everything turns out fine!

[GotButterflies]

Thank you - it's been rough!

[GotButterflies]

Well...I've been absent for some time, but I have some exciting news! I was FINALLY successful in an attempt at raising zoeae!!! Fifty-six days ago I found one of my Ecuadorians releasing eggs in the marine saltwater pool in one of my crabitats. I knew that I couldn't take on raising all of them by myself because there were A TON, so I started contacting fellow hermit crab hobbyists around me to see if they wanted to take this journey with me in raising them. Luckily Mike Vukoder and Jeff Songster volunteered, and I was able to split this clutch with each of them. Jeff built a kriesel before we met up, and Mike decided to go the route that I do, which is using round bowls from Michaels. It's been a long journey...but I ended up having 1,216 megalopa. The downside is that they canabalized each other terribly at that stage. I tried everything to stop it. I fed them constantly, and with a wide variety of foods. It didn't help. I tried a larger container with numerous hiding spots. That didn't help. There was nothing I could do to stop it. The crazy thing is I can't even recall seeing that many dead megalopas. It is heartbreaking to raise so many and to have so little in the end...but sometimes that is the cycle of life. In the end I have 14 on land and one megalopa that is still in the water that doesn't want to take a shell. As of today, I have 8 that have completed their first molt, and are officially crabs. It's been a whirlwind of a journey, and I'm so thankful to have had Mike taking that journey with me! Unfortunately his didn't make it to megalopa stage, but he played a crucial role in helping me stay motivated. He was raising his zoeae alongside mine. It's definitely great to have someone to talk to about your zoeae! Mary Akers @mlakers also played a crucial role at helping me stay motivated! She sent me me some food along with two tiny ramps to get into pools. I kept those by my zoeae food so I could look at them every day! Along side them were Darcy Madsen of Crab Central Station and Tammy Weick of the Hermit Crab Patch. I'm so thankful for the hermit crab community and how helpful we are to one another! I'll jump on tapatalk to share some pictures lol

[ROSIEonFIRE]

Omg they are so smol!! Ugh I'm dying from cuteness. Grats!

[GotButterflies]

Omg they are so smol!! Ugh I'm dying from cuteness. Grats!

Thanks Rosie!


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[hermitcrablover2]

OH MY GOODNESS THEY ARE SO CUTE AND SMALL!!!!!

[GotButterflies]

OH MY GOODNESS THEY ARE SO CUTE AND SMALL!!!!!

Thank you!


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[GotButterflies]

When checking my tank today, I discovered an extra one! I thought it might have been one last week, but I never saw a crab, so I didn’t include it in my count. The megalopa I had went to shore and molted. I now have 16 Ecuadorian Crabbie Babies!!


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[loveFoof]

Yay!

[ROSIEonFIRE]

Haha bonus baby

[GotButterflies]

On Sept 30, 2023 My Ruggies surprised me with a second clutch of the year, and I decided to raise them with minimal effort. The first clutch that they had I shipped to Meredith Hass. I had 31 megas but then ended up with only 4 crabs on land due to a bacterial bloom that I failed to identify in time because Covid took my sense of smell. They are doing well Super cute! My Ruggies ended up having one more clutch after that, and I shipped that one to Meredith Hass as well.