New crab and now both are upsidown??

[Tim153]

I just introduced a new crab to my tank, washed off his shell, rubbed it with a little dirt to make him smell the same, and when I checked on them this morning the small one appeared to be stuck upsidown and the another one upsidown blocking it in. It looks like they where measuring feeler but are they fighting? Why are they upsidown

[piccolo41099]

Can you post a picture?

[Tim153]

http://m.imgur.com/dC6S5BM

[DragonsFly]

If they have been in that position for awhile not moving, it would be good to get the answers to these questions (below). I know it seems like a lot, but they really do help us see if there are problems in the tank that need addressing, other than just the stress of introducing a new crab:



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

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

3. How long have you had the crab(s) and what species is it/are they, if known?

4. 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?

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

6. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?

7. 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)?

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

9. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any, and what kind of shells are they?

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

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

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

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

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.)?

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.

[Tim153]

I'll try my best to answer

They where like that for maximum 4 hours
My crabs are all medium/small
One of them has been distressing under substrate for a while so I got the new one to be company to the surfaced one, then I found them upsidown

They are kept in a 15 gallon glass tank, with a heavy fabric lid
3 crabs total, the new one just added earlier that day
I have had the two others for a month or two
I do not have gauges, the only ones available had bad reviews that they where inaccurate
There is a zoo med hermit crab heater on the side of the tank
There is exo terra tropic substrate(dirt) mixed with exo Terra riverbed sand, it is about three inches deep
There is salt and fresh water available, nutrafin aquarium salt and animal world tap water conditioner
Omega1 hermit crab pellets and freezdried bloodworms replaced every couple of days and ocasional fruit
They have not molted in my care to my knowledge, but the two surfaced ones have both switched shells. It is possible that my under substrate crab is molting, but I have no clue of his whereabouts in the tank.
There are about 3 extra shells, there where more but the new one changed shells since I posted this so I removed the smaller ones
No sponges in the water dish
Only the new crab has been added
I take the surfaced old crab out for a bit every day to let it explore a cleaned area

I was worried that after being alone for a little bit the older crab wanted to attack the new one, and somehow they ended up upsidown, I have no clue what this behavior was. They seem to be doing alright for now but I don't want either to get hurt by eachother.

[DragonsFly]

Any time you add a new crab, there is a potential for stress and aggression. Your one surfaced crab did not really need a new buddy, since they can tell they are not alone, even if one is underground for a long time. If I had to guess, I'd say there might have been some shell-related aggression, and the one crab withdrew into his shell, toppling over, to defend himself. It's a good rule of thumb to have at least three extra shells per crab, one about the same size as what the crab is wearing, one a little larger, and one a little smaller. For crabs, what is important about shell size is the size of the OPENING, not the size of the shell as a whole (they do not always correlate directly). Purple pinchers overwhelmingly prefer turbo shells, so try to find an array of those (see the "Shells" forum for information on how to identify turbo shells, how to measure opening sizes, and how to prepare shells before putting them into the tank). Shells sold at pet stores "for hermit crabs" are very often shells they cannot even use (I see completely useless shells for sale at PetCo all the time), so do some research rather than trusting what they say and wasting your money.

Temperature and humidity are absolutely essential for life, for land hermit crabs. They breathe with modified gills, so if they do not have proper humidity, they will slowly suffocate and eventually die. So you need temp and humidity gauges (preferably two or three, since these levels can vary from place to place in the tank), ASAP, to make sure your conditions are life-sustaining for your crabs. It is helpful to calibrate them, since sometimes they are not completely accurate, but having some kind of information is better than none. If you get the kind that are made to stick onto the tank wall, I recommend NOT doing that, but rather sticking them on popsicle sticks or bamboo chopsticks so you can stick them here and there in the substrate. You get more accurate readings of what the conditions are where the crabs really are, and you can move them to check different places, too. PP's need both temperature and humidity to be somewhere between about 75 and 85; that is their comfort zone. Keep reading around all over here, especially "Crabitat Conditions," for lots more information about what they need to survive and how to improve their captive lives.

One other thing I would mention quickly is that you almost certainly need to increase the depth of your substrate. If you can do so gently (without patting it down, so to minimize the risk of a cave-in for your one that is underground at the moment), I would do so. All of your crabs are fairly new, so they will likely all need to molt fairly soon to try to repair the damage of being abused into captivity, and unless they are very small, three inches is not enough substrate for them to really be comfortable molting. Also NOTE: If they all end up down at once, be patient and don't add new ones. For one thing, three is plenty (although crabs live in large colonies the wild, captive wild animals must be kept in much smaller numbers, because of the stress related to the very small quarters they are crammed into). For another, new crabs almost always dig down fairly quickly. To put new ones in where others are molting is to invite cannibalism--so yeah, let's try to avoid that!

Best wishes!

[Tim153]

Seems that the crabs are doing alright in terms of aggression now, and all of my crabs are pretty small, I did it by the being able to dig three times their size rule, but I'll follow your advice for the substrate and humidity. My old one which has been burried for a while just came up today!!! And the new one i beleive burried around the same time, I'm guessing to destress, but possibly not, he's been digging quite a lot just to get under things. With my smaller crab up again I put in more shells, i beleive that they are all usable, I have three of the same kind and one of my crabs is wearing one of them, a small turbo shell should my small one like to change, a couple others and one that im not sure if it's usable. Thanks for your input!

[DragonsFly]

You're welcome. I'm glad they seem to all be getting along now. Best wishes!

[Laurie LeAnn]

Sorry to get to this late.. I'm not on this site very much as of late...you really need to change the crabs diet. They need lots of protein and fruits. Check out the list of foods on here.they can have Most of what you eat just no seasoning. Organic baby foods like beech nut brands, organic peanut butter..check the label not all are created the same. A bag of frozen shrimp , you can put some in their water and either cook it in the microwave or thaw , give raw. Un salted walnuts, dried oak and maple leaves, dandelions, clover.air popped pop corn or cooked in olive oil.these all make crab strong. With out proper nutrition they can't thrive, they grow weak, can't support a shell and ditch them or pull surface molt.