crabs keep dieing after molting

[doorknob]

hi I have this problem. I started out with 8 crabs and I'm down to 2 original crabs and two new crabs that I just got. The problem is that my crabs would bury them selves and then never come up. Finally I would have to clean the tank. I would find their exoskeleton but no crab any where. And two of them I didn't even see what happened to their shells as they weren't even near the exoskeleton. I didn't see any other crabs digging around where they were and I have no idea if they were suffocating or why they keep dieing.

I decided that it must have been the play sand I got at home depot. which this time of year they don't carry it any how. I started using calcium sand that is sold for reptiles. Now right away judas went down for a molt. But he didn't cover the hole so I saw that he molted. But one of the other crabs was headed over to where he was at so I decided to carefully get him out and put him the Iso tank. I saw the live judas inside his shell still. He seems to be doing fine. I just dug a hole and left him uncovered.

But any ideas on why my crabs kept dieing? Just in case I wont be buying play sand even though it's so cheap.

Also I'm not sure that one of the crabs wasn't the culprit killing the others.

In put would be great I want to prevent any more deaths.

[Jackolope]

usually that sand from home depot has chemicals in it, that could be the problem. it wasn't intended for pets.

[tnt4eva]

Play sand is pretty much the most popular substrate and people rarely have problems with it. Calcium or calci sand is not suitable for hermit crabs. When wet, it clumps, goes hard and is not suitable for digging.

The best substrate is play sand, Eco Earth or a mix of both. It should be wet with marine aquarium salt water until it is of 'sand castle consistency'. This means that if you were to build a sand castle out of it, it would not crumble because it was too dry, nor would it fall down because it was too moist.

Wetting it with marine aquarium salt water helps reduce the risk of mold and bacterial issues. The water helps maintain humidity and keeps the sand at the right consistency for digging.

If the sand is not properly wet, it will not hold a burrow. So when the crabs dig into it, their burrows with collapse and they can suffocate or become trapped.

If you answer the questions on the emergency template, we can probably help you work out what's going on.
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?

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?

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?

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)?

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?

7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?

8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?

9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?

10. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?

11. How often do you clean the tank and how?

12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?

13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?

14. 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.)?

[CrabAddict99]

usually that sand from home depot has chemicals in it, that could be the problem. it wasn't intended for pets.

Which play sand from HD are you talking about? I've been using Sakrete play sand from HD for years with no problems. I think they sell another brand called Quikrete too. Both say "screened and sanitized" on the bag.

[Jackolope]

it's what i've heard, some where coated with something and i heard some crabs where dying. i'm not sure of the brand. i've never used sand from HD so i can't tell you the ingredients.

[CrabbyIrene]

If its Quickrete premium playsand that you had it is fine to use, no chemicals are added and it is washed & then dried before its packaged. Most playsand for kids sandboxes are. Quickrete premium and the kind used for pool filters is commonly used in aquariums also, so it is safe for animals. Personally I have used it for close to 2 years and have had no issues. When you buy it make sure it is dry, and not wet or damp from Home Depot leaving outside. This time of year they keep it inside.
I think you may have more issues using calci sand because once that stuff is damp/wet it hardens up and can trap burrowing crabs, can get moldy & smelly once it's wet too.

[Jackolope]

I think you may have more issues using calci sand because once that stuff is damp/wet it hardens up and can trap burrowing crabs, can get moldy & smelly once it's wet too.

also on a personal note, keep it away from your sink drain, it clogs it something fierce.....

[doorknob]

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? I was using play sand from home depot mixed with some ecco earth.

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?

Yes heat and humidity. I keep it between 80-85 degrees which all the crabs seem to like best. Humidity I like to keep high also around 80%. The crabs begin to get in active after that.

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?

yes. An under tank heater that barely does the job and I used a heating pad that I taped to the tank. It seems to work and I've had no problems with it.

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)?

Both. I have pond care chlorine and heavy metal neutralizer, and Oceanic aquarium salt.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? fresh and dried. Mostly fruits and veggies but I do add protein every once in a while.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?

Two PP's and Two E's. I mostly had E's though.

7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?

Glass tank. Yes it's a screen lid with cellophane taped over it. A small area is left open for ventilation.

8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?

Currently 4. I started with 8 back in July and they have been slowly dieing up until now. Only two from then are still alive. I added one back in september that was a rescue mission. He had a hole in the shell and he was larger than all the other crabs in the tank. He is still alive and finally found a new shell. My biggest one needs large shells, two are medium and the smallest one is still in a medium shell but much smaller than the others. If that makes sense.

9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?

Tons. around 15 in the tank at any given time maybe more. I rotate them. I have 50 total.

10. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?

No. But they are in the kitchen. There's nothing I can do about that. It's the only place I have for them.

11. How often do you clean the tank and how?

Usually around once a month.

12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?

No my crabs are big enough that they don't need them. Even the smallest one can get out with no problems.

13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? Yes over christmas I got another PP because I think that my biggest crab is a PP, and needed a species buddy. The other two are E's. But this problem has been going on long before he arrived. I finally got angry over it when I lost 2 crabs last week. I couldn't even find their shells just the remains of their exoskeletons.

14. 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 don't bath them and we rarely ever take them out. They have a nicebig log in there that they love to climb. I try to get toys and rotate them. Various things happened to them so I just have the log now. (they got moldy, broke.)

[tnt4eva]

The only suggestion I have based on that is maybe try to give them more proteins. You might have a troublemaker in the tank who's attacking molters/buried crabs. Some crabs seem to like eating molters. Plenty of protein can help reduce aggression, but unfortunately sometimes people who feel adequate protein still have trouble with aggressive or cannibalistic crabs. Do the exoskeletons that you're finding look like they might have been partially eaten?

Sometimes E's can be problematic. A lot of people have trouble with unexplained deaths with them.

Have the crabs that have died molted with you before? If the crabs have suffered a lot of stress prior to purchase (collection from the beach, transportation, lack of proper food/water/conditions in the pet store) it can have serious consequences that seem to last up until their first molt with you. Sometimes the injuries and poor nutrition cause them too many problems and they don't make it through that crucial first molt. If you don't already have a calcium source, like cuttlebone, egg shell, shrimp/crab exoskeleton or ground oyster shell, you may want to add that to the tank and see if that helps.

It can get very disheartening when they die,. Sometimes it's out our hands and all we can do is provide them with good conditions (which you're doing) and hope they make past their first molt.

[doorknob]

thank you.

I will be keeping a closer eye on them. I did find one crab munching on an exo recently so it may very well be that not sure. I also suspect suffication though. While they seem to have no problems digging most of the time I think they might not be able to while soft.

I will try to add some more protein. I admit I don't add much of it because I myself rarely cook and I didn't think that resturant food or lunch meat was good for them. It doesn't look good for me either actually. Also they probably would benefit from calcium.

I will try that and keep a close eye to make sure no one is bullying them.

[Jackolope]

if it helps any, mine like meatloaf and plain unseasoned chicken. i rotate between fruit, then meat, then vegs, then fish, and so on. you can also give them eggs (boiled or cooked) with the shells still attached for calcium.

[CrabbyMom33]

The thing that jumped out to me is the protein. If you don't cook at home you can get them a variety of things from the pet store such as mysis shrimp, krill, plankton, bloodworm, and dried bugs (Fluker's Medley Treat in the turtle section is usually a hit). Easy things to provide are an egg scrambled and cooked in the microwave (they like the shell too), or nuts (walnuts, almond slivers, sunflower seeds) that are unsalted.

[CrabbyIrene]

The other item that stands out is cleaning the tank once a month. If you have deep substrate 2x-3x as deep as your largest crab it really will not get dirty enough that you would need to deep clean once a month. Once a month is way too stressful on the crabs and even more so on any that may have dug down and have to be unburied for the cleaning. How deep is your substrate?
I'm at about a year since my last deep clean and it's finally getting stinky(I think they buried food again and I just can't find it)

[doorknob]

Well I have a few problems with the cleaning of the tank.

For one I think they bury food a lot because the tank gets so stinky there is no way I can not NOT clean it! I admit I don't make the sand deep (just enough so my largest crab can bury himself) but only because the under tank heater is really ****** and cheap. It barely heats anything. And my house is extra cold because of the also sh*ty old windows that cheap land lord wont fix. They leak so bad that my many house heaters can't keep up Making it difficult to keep the tank warm enough (let alone the house). I have also put a heater behind the tank. It keeps it barely warm enough. I"m worried about when the sub zero temps start though. (I have to laugh because the idiotic petstore said the under tank heater was too big for the tank. I told them they were insane and didn't know jack about how warm a hermit crab needs the tank to be.) And that over sized heater is still not enough)

Any how I just wanted to let every one know

I had two molters go down right away and I isolated them quickly. They survived the molt this time and are back up and doing well. The sand seems ok but it keeps drying out and I can't keep the humidity up.

I just wanted to let every one know that my two molters survived. In the future I will be separating molters if I can catch them in time.

[Jackolope]

i asked my friend about this and she suggested that it may be a bacteria problem. as bacteria eats the rotten food it releases the smell. hermits instinctively bury food so it actually is important to remove old food after one night/day of feeding (not like you can predict that they won't bury it in that time).

by isolating the crabs you may have helped them because if they get bacteria under their new exoskeleton then they can get sick and die. i hope you have no more losses.