HCA: Hermit Crab Association

i thought this site was for all to seek help and to receive help from so called experienced crab owners.
i placed a thread yesterday and received no replies??????
in the off chance of any help my molted crab has left his shell and is now lying in the middle of the tank.is this a bad sign?he is still moving but not by much.
he is in a glass tank temp and humidity is fine he has fresh water and food so why did he come out of his shell and go to the middle of the tank?

please help i like these wee critters and wish to keep them for as long as possible.

Sorry about your crab going naked and nobody replying thus far, I am pretty new myself but I can help ya out.. first here is a link to a post for what to do about "streaking" crabs http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=38729
second could you copy this template to your next post with the questions answered it would help people greatly to figure out what could be wrong with your crabby

Heres the template

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.)?

thanks for getting back to me ..

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
calci sand 3 in deep
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? top of tank humidity 80 - 90
temp 70 -80

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

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)? fresh and salt both decorinated i follow the intructions.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
fresh food every day organic fruit n veg,honey ,chicken
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
4 crabs for 3 month 2 for a week all pp
7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
unsure a capacity but it is 2 foot long and made of glass.wire mess lid
8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
4 med. 2 med to large
9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
10 extra shells
10. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
none
11. How often do you clean the tank and how?
just got new tank usure when to clean it and how
12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
yes every day
13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
2 new crabs
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.)?
bath them once a week in salt water

First of all, there is no reason to get nasty or sarcastic! Sorry that your post was overlooked, but unfortunately that happens from time to time.

How long have you had the crab that is in trouble? Sadly, it is not good news when a crab willingly leaves his shell. I hate to be the barer of bad news, but it truly sounds like your crab is dying. It could be that the stress of the molt was too much for him. Or, if he is a newer crab (purchased in the last month) it could be that he is suffering from PPS (Post Purchase Stress.) Also, some of us feel that weekly bathing stresses out a crab, and so we have discontinued doing the baths.

Unfortunately, there is not much you can do for him right now. You could try to re-shell him, but I am not sure that will work, since he is barely moving. I know that these are not the answers you wanted to hear, but it is better to know that your little guy is in a lot of trouble. Keep us posted.

I'm sorry I overlooked your other post, but as Kathy said, that does happen from time to time. It's not that we don't want to help, it's that we have other things going on in our lives. (For me, the little one fell and knocked a tooth out. ~*shrugs*~ Kinda takes priority, know what I mean?) If I could have helped you last night, I surely would have.

That said, I would try to reshell him if I were you and Iso him from the others. At the point he is at, you'll have to do it for him by gently guiding his abdomen into the shell. You might want to put a bit of warm water in the shell first. After that, put him in Iso and put both fresh and salt water in there and a dish with food drizzled with some honey near him, too. If he gets the energy to eat, it will help. Good luck and keep us posted.

EDIT: Just so you know for the future, you probably would have gotten help a lot faster if you had posted this in the Emergency section. It is an emergency and that is the forum that I ALWAYS check first when I log on. I know that there are others here that always go there first as well.

thanks for the replies.
hope your wee one is ok after knocking her tooth out...
am sorry to say your help has come too late wee reg has passed away..
in the future i will post it in the emergency section.
we had removed reg and put him in iso with plenty of food and fresh water.he had been with use from day 1 back in dec and was always the liveliest of the bunch.so it a bit sad to see him go.
what can i do in the future so i can avoid this happening again

Honestly, I think it was just bad luck on your part. I don't think it was anything to do with the tat or anything that you did. Sometimes these things just happen and we don't really know why. I'm sorry for your loss. [smilie=comfort.gif]

Also, the little one is actually my roommate's son, not mine. lol And he is fine. Just going to be a few years before he gets a tooth back there! lol He actually is going around telling everyone that he's "damaged". So cute and making it a little easier to manage. Plus, this is working as the perfect excuse to get him off the Nuk.

First off, I'm on ALOT and no where did I see your post, and for this I am sorry, this EXACT thing happened to me one of my crabs was found naked and I reshelled and he later died, another was found naked dead, both were E's though. Unfortunately sometimes its just their time.

livijambo wrote: what can i do in the future so i can avoid this happening again

First of all, as I explained, there are some threads that are missed. In the case of your first posting, the title was simply "1st Molt", which did not show the members here that there was any type of urgency. Secondly, if you had posted your emergency in the Emergency Forum, you would have received quicker replies. Also, it would help if you would soften your tone a bit.....as the saying goes, "More flies are attracted to sugar than vinegar."

Also, please recognize the time difference. The majority of our members are located in the United States. Therefore, not too many of us are awake at 4:30am.

Never have I seen an instance that there were not people here to help. We have a phenomenal & sympathetic group of people who are more than willing to help.

Unfortunately, even if you had received responses to your first thread, there was not a way to save your crab. There was nothing that you or any of us could have done. The poor thing was dying, and sadly that happens frequently in the crabbing world.

Again, I am sorry that your first experience here was so disappointing for you. Hopefully, in the future, you will get the attention you need in a quicker fashion.

kathy i was only a bit miffed that in 24 hrs that i had no reply. also it took 24hrs to get registered.was only worried for the wee crab.
i have no where to get help.the pet shop we got them from are a joke ,selling these wee thing and they haven't got a clue.
please note am not angry with you or anyone else on this site and happy that i did get a response.
yes the time difference will play a big part,yes am new and my first tread
so sorry for that but look forward to having better threads in the near future..

thanks

Only advice I can give about the posting thing is make sure what you're posting goes into the right category, helps with getting responses hehe like the Emergency section for emergencies...most of the time those get answered almost immediately or very soon if nobody happens to be online and also name your post something that lets people know what the problem is, some people don't even look at posts if it just says something like "help" I happen to be online very late the past week or so...staying up night and day working on my new tank so I was the only one on to answer your post and I'm no expert on anything but I didn't mind doing what I could. (just my )