I replied with a D-
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Eco earth bricks, six inches at the deepest and four at the lowest.
D- you'll want a minimum of 6 inches or 3 times your largest crab throughout the tank. Whichever is greater.
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?
The humidity is normally 85-90% and the temperature is normally around 75 (I have issues with heating since it's so cold where I live).
D- I think you said in another post you're researching a heater.
http://Www.reptilebasics.com is the best place. You'll want the largest the will fit along the back and ABOVE the sub. Temp/humidity needs to be a minimum of 80/80.
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Yes, a UTH is on the side of the tank.
D- oops! You do have a heat source. Sorry. (If it's zoomed, they do little to nothing for heat.)
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)?
I use all living things prt. 1 to dechlorinate my water for fresh and I'm in the process of switching over to using Instant Ocean, I previously used bottled "hermit crab water" because that's what was available at the time.
D- you'll want to use prime for your dechlorinator both salt and fresh of course. Instant ocean is good choice for salt.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I give my hermit crabs pellet food along with honey, freeze dried shrimp/krill, walnuts, and fruits. I replace the pellet food every 2-3 days and fresh foods daily.
D- pellet food is horrible for them. Make sure the honey is raw organic honey. Protein: shrimp, krill, grasshoppers, crickets. Calcium: cuttlebone (bird section), egg shells, sea urchins, sand dollars.
Safe food guide:
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=92557
Unsafe food guide:
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=92556
Food guide pyramid:
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=92554
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I have two PP that I've had since December 27th.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
My smaller crab just came up from a molt going down the 3rd of January and coming up around the 20th of February.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
I have a hinged glass lid on a 10 gallon tank.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
I have two crabs, Clem and Lyle. Lyle wears shells with 1 1/2+ openings and Clem just moved into a shell that was I believe a little under an inch.
D- sounds Luke you have a a extra large/ jumbo crab. They require a minimum tank size of 18 inch width... usually a 40 breeder or bigger. You can find good deals on LetGo, OfferUp, craigslist.
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
There's at least 4 shells for each crab. Currently there's only 2 that would fit my bigger because I had to take a few out due to the bugs.
D- 3-5 shells is good. More is better.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
My gel hair product has been on the same desk but no where that it could get into the tank.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
I wash out and dry their water and food dishes every other day/ every day depending on how dirty it's gotten.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
N/A
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
I added a home made crab hut using sticks from outside (guessing this is what brought in the bugs because we didn't wash the sticks properly.)
D- always clean or bake before putting into tat. Most things can be soaked in marine salt water for mold control. Wood/leaves can be baked to remove/kill any bugs.
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.)?
I take my active crab out maybe once a week at most and let him walk all over me/ the floor on a towel but I don't think this would bring in bugs??
D- crabbies are prey animals. They think of us as danger. Handling them can be stressful to them. Most of us are hands off with our crabbies.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
Bugs started showing up at first small groups (Tuesday) and I made plans to clean the whole tank this weekend and over the past few days the bugs have gotten horribly bad. I wish I could've done something sooner but I need someone to drive me to get the cleaning supplies and tomorrow was the soonest I could get a ride. There's bugs all over their water and food dishes and in the tank. I only saw one on my crab when he was standing in the water on Wednesday but I still can't have an infestation like this.
D- Welcome to HCA! I'm sorry you're going through this. Do you know what type of bugs you have?? More than likely you have harmless bugs. In general, if it's not on the crab, then things are okay. I'll let an experienced crabbers chime in here. Other than food mites, I haven't had a problem with bugs.
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It sucks but I guess it's the price to pay. Thank you again 