Is quarantine necessary?

[princesspearl]

My friend will be giving me her pp soon. She's had him over a year and he's been alone for a couple months since her other one died. I always quarantine crabs from a pet store for at least a week, but do I need to with this guy since he's been alone? The only difference between her tat and mine is I have an ee/sand mix and she has straight sand.

[NaRnAR]

I think it will depend on the conditions of her tank versus yours. If yours is any different you will need to bring the new guy up to your temp and humidity norms. Personally that and giving them a chance to molt are the biggest reasons I "quarantine" the petstore crabs....that and it gives them time to show me if they have bugs or not too

If shes kept him in a good environment and hes healthy, I dont think the change of substrate should bother him too much.....you can always give him a trial run, if he doesnt like your substrate you can iso him and gradually ween him off straight sand to your mix.

[kgbenson]

My friend will be giving me her pp soon. She's had him over a year and he's been alone for a couple months since her other one died. I always quarantine crabs from a pet store for at least a week, but do I need to with this guy since he's been alone? The only difference between her tat and mine is I have an ee/sand mix and she has straight sand.

It is not simply about the change in environment - but disease surveillance as well. It can depend on the relationship you have with the source of the animal.

Keith

[wodesorel]

I've started to quarantine new crabs for two reasons - mites and fighting. If the new crab has been alone there isn't much risk of him having something, but he should still be observed carefully for a few days by you (who knows about crabs) for mites just to be on the safe side. The other reason I quarantine is for safety - if the new crab is coming from a bad environment, he's going to want to eat and change shells and usually molt soon. That can cause fighting with your current crabs, and could possibly put them or him in danger. Keeping him for a few days with new shells, really good food, and a place to molt if he wants to will cut down on any chances of an accident happening. He can fatten up, get the shell he wants without trying to steal it off someone's back, and even go down for a molt without feeling threatened by new crabs.

I'm glad you're getting him! He'll be so happy with you!