I think I'm over-dechlorinating my water

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:08 pm

My hermies have been dieing--not all at once, but one at a time, and I swear I have been doing my best. We bought good, clean sand (play sand) and we keep the temp at 80ish and the humidity at 80ish too, which i know is a little high, but i didn't think it was too bad because i remember one book said up to 85 in temp and % humidity was ok, and we have lots of shells for them (they were changing shells a few times before they died) and we have barnacles etc. for them to play on and hide in. We buy them that food and that treat that u can get from earthbound trading company. And we dechlorinate their water. But the directions on the dechlorinate says 29 drops per 20 gallons, so we've just been putting a drop or two in a spray bottle we have. We're fixing the problem now, I just wanted to know if all of u think that's what's been killing them or if u think we're doing something else wrong.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:09 pm

also, i meant to add, that we haven't been giving them a bowl of salt water-something else we're fixing today, but that might also be the cause of their deaths.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:12 pm

how long did u have all the hermies? how many do u have left? i had the same problem a about a year and a half ago regarding the no salt water dish thing. when i got the salt water dish, all the crabs crowded around it for a few hours. i hope that solves yer problem!

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:20 pm

the lack of salt water could result in death.

if you fill out the help template, however, thats on a sticky in the emergency forum, we can look over your conditions and make sure that nothing else is amiss, and maybe make a few suggestions.

Caroline

annopia · Post by **annopia** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 7:20 pm

here is the template:

1. Substrate used?

2. Humidity % level in crabitat?

3. Temperature of substrate in crabitat?

4. Temperature of crabitat?

5. Location of gauges?

6. What is your heat source?

7. Types of water available?

8. Dechlorinator used?

9. What do you feed?

10. How long have you had the crab in question?

11. Do you know the species?

12. Do you bath them, if so how often and with what?

13. What type of housing are they in? Tank? Plastic box?

14. What size is your tank?

15. How many crabs are in the tank? What size are they?

16. How deep is the substrate?

17. If you take your hermies out daily to exercise, do you mist their gill area first?

18. Has there been any cleaners, paints, perfumes, air fresheners, candles, or smoking near the crabitat?

19. How often do you clean/sterilize and how?

20. Any unusual odors?

21. Do you use sponges? Are they rinsed daily with dechlor water? Are they exchanged every 2 days for a sterile one?

22. Do you feed fresh food? When do you remove it?

23. Are your hands clean before handling?

24. Has there been anything new added to your crabitat recently?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:55 pm

29 drops for 20 gallons would be approximately one drop per gallon. So, if you don't have any clean gallon-sized containers around, go buy one gallon of bottled water. Put in one drop of de-chlor and use that gallon for your crabs water and to fill your spray bottle. After your gallon container is empty, refill and add one drop. etc.

DustAndEchoes · Post by **DustAndEchoes** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 11:02 am

does the dechlorinator contain aloe or does the text mention anything about simulating a slime coating?

ripshaw · Post by **ripshaw** » Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:22 pm

hi jessie,

if you have purple pinchers lack of salt water won't be the cause of their deaths. certainly they appreciate it but mine lived 2 years without it and went through plenty of successful molts. (note: im not in any way advocating not giving purple pinchers salt water, im just saying the lack of it doesnt kill them very quickly). what will kill a pp one at a time as you describe is the lack of an adequate molting area. you said your tank was play sand, you should have at least 1/2 made up of some type of digable substrate, i personally recommend coconut fiber bedding (aka eco earth, bed-a-beast, or forest bed). some people just prefer to keep the play sand wet but i really think you're better off giving them some of the bedding i described because it is much easier to maintain the 'wetness' while they're underground in my personal opinion. your temp and humidity are fine, they are not high. i also recommend avoiding dechlorinators altogether. just buy gallons of dechlorinated drinking water from the store. theyre incredibly cheap and then you dont have to deal with crusting nasty dechlorinator that goes bad after awhile (the stuff will actually start smelling funny). I've heard that overdoing the dechlorinator can cause problems in animals as it adds a lot of ammonia? to the water, but I'm no chemist and am not entirely certain about this. I think it's more likely your crabs are having a difficult time molting IF you have a 100% dry sand box of a tank right now. if that is not the case i'm not sure what's going on. i hope some of this helps.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:01 pm

Don't delay in getting saltwater. I was given 2 PPs that spent at least a year w/out saltwater, but they got much more active (a sign of health) when I gave them better conditions. But salt is a BIG part of their natural diet and therefore necessary. So are heat and humidity. I wouldn't let it go over 80/80. Are there any symptoms leading up to the deaths? Do you know the difference between a death and a molt? Dechlorinator should be measured accurately, but I don't know what symptoms over-use would cause exactly. Do use dechlor when preparing saltwater and be sure to use the right measurements for mixing saltwater too. How many have you lost? Over what span of time?

Sorry for your losses. It sounds to me, that you are doing your best. This is how we learn. Don't be too disappointed, just make some adjustments until things settle down.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 3:47 pm

i use Reptisafe Decloranator......what is so bad about the slime coat? the bottle says it is for hermitcrabs, tortises,... the bottle is half gone and i have not had many fatalities...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 6:41 pm

"Caution: The use of Stress Coat has come under scrutiny recently. It is made from Aloe extracts, which contains a potassium blocker when ingested." http://www.coenobita.org/index.php

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:01 pm

Also make sure you have washed the playsand before putting it in the crabitat. Even if it's prewashed, it can still be dirty. It needs to be washed until the water runs clear, and it's also good to sterilise it in the oven afterwards to help with drying. A moderate oven for about 30-45 minutes is good. But fill out the template. That will give us more info about your situation

Also, it could be the commercial food. Make sure you give them some fresh foods as well. Some commercial foods contain copper sulfate and ethoxyquin which can cause moulting difficulties and lead to death.
All hermit crabs need access to saltwater because it allows their body to swell and push off their exoskeleton during moulting. If a crab attempts to moult and has no salt in their body, they can become trapped in the exo and die from dehydration and stress, so salt is very important. Best wishes for your crabs, and please fill out the template for us

HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I think I'm over-dechlorinating my water

I think I'm over-dechlorinating my water

dying