small pp in distress - deshelled

[Guest]

I have a small pp hermit, purchased in June in Myrtle Beach. Prior to his return to Pennsylvania - he was in a plastic habitat, a small one, with just sand. When my son, and new hermit came home, I started doing research. His environment has changed a lot in the last four weeks, and based on my research, I hoped for the better.

Unfortunately, four days ago, my son took him out of the crabitat, sat him on the computer table while doing his homework. Crabby (my son's choice) fell off the table and out of his shell which I already thought was too small for him. I have tried a lot of things already that I found on this site. Since I didn't have an ISO tank ready, I put Crabby in a tupperware container with food, water and three shells. He clings to the shells but won't take to them.

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? sand and coconut substrait, wasn't deep enough, I'm going to get more substrait tomorrow. It was only about 2 inches. I will start adding ASAP.

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? dual temp humidity. Currently 75 degrees F and 89% humidity - I just fogged. At top of tank about 2 inches down in center

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

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 - tap treated with ZOO Med drinking water conditioner per instructions 2 drops per cup. Salt - pretreated fresh with ZOO Med Salt water conditioner 1 tsp per cup.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? every two days, mineral block, dried pellets, dried fruit salad. In the last day, added walnut, small piece banana and river shrimp.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? 4 months, small PP

7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? I had three PP's all small in a 10 gal tank with mesh lid with towel on top

8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? prior to ISO - 3 small PPs

9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 12

10. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? no

11. How often do you clean the tank and how? Its a new tank which I set up with new sand and substrait, climbing toys and hide-aways. This was done 3 weeks ago.

12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? Prior to today, yes, now - NO. I would rinse them out with hot tap water and let air dry.

13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? Whole habitat was new as of three weeks ago, except 1 food dish, 1 hideaway.

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.)? Crabby keeps me company when I work third shift and I often let him out with me on the computer table, he was very active, and hasn't hid from me in forever. He will even let me handle him now but I worry I will hurt him as he is deshelled.

15. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. Four days deshelled due to falling off a 3 foot table. Won't reshell.

[Guest]

I have pictures but I can't figure out how to post.

[hermitcrab24]

Hello,
Overall your conditions seem pretty good, I just have a few notes. I would recommend getting a tank heater, like a stick on one, rather than the heat lamp. There is also a rule, 5 shells per crab, but I think 12 is plenty.

A drop from even as short as three feet for a hermit crab can be fatal. Definitely make sure he has plenty of shells. I would leave him be until he is up and around again.

There is a trick to get hermit crabs in their shell. Get a glass cup and VERY gently place the hermit crab and an empty shell in the cup. If he does not go in the shell, put it in sunlight, but not for too long, just a few seconds, so he will feel exposed and want to go into a shell.

In the future, I would recommend putting some sort of barrier around you crab so he doesn't have another accident, its great that you take him out to play though

Good luck,
Bonnie

[Guest]

I have one on the ten gallon tank. I can take the heat lamp out and turn it on. I have it near the coconut substrait not the sandy beach side. It doesn't seem to keep the temp up far enough though. But before I had the screen, now I have a glass top like contraption (???). It has three parts, two are glass one is plastic. The humidity level is way up.

Maybe the heat pad would work now???

[hermieluv1]

Before I joined this group, I took my original hermit crab out "to play" and it killed him within a week. I have since learned that they are best left in their crabitay. Their breathrng depends on humidity, and being out of the tank must be stressful. Just a thought. Hope he pulls through.

[Scarlz]

I have a small pp hermit, purchased in June in Myrtle Beach. Prior to his return to Pennsylvania - he was in a plastic habitat, a small one, with just sand. When my son, and new hermit came home, I started doing research. His environment has changed a lot in the last four weeks, and based on my research, I hoped for the better.

Unfortunately, four days ago, my son took him out of the crabitat, sat him on the computer table while doing his homework. Crabby (my son's choice) fell off the table and out of his shell which I already thought was too small for him. I have tried a lot of things already that I found on this site. Since I didn't have an ISO tank ready, I put Crabby in a tupperware container with food, water and three shells. He clings to the shells but won't take to them.

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? sand and coconut substrait, wasn't deep enough, I'm going to get more substrait tomorrow. It was only about 2 inches. I will start adding ASAP.

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? dual temp humidity. Currently 75 degrees F and 89% humidity - I just fogged. At top of tank about 2 inches down in center

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

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 - tap treated with ZOO Med drinking water conditioner per instructions 2 drops per cup. Salt - pretreated fresh with ZOO Med Salt water conditioner 1 tsp per cup.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? every two days, mineral block, dried pellets, dried fruit salad. In the last day, added walnut, small piece banana and river shrimp.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? 4 months, small PP

7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? I had three PP's all small in a 10 gal tank with mesh lid with towel on top

8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? prior to ISO - 3 small PPs

9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 12

10. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? no

11. How often do you clean the tank and how? Its a new tank which I set up with new sand and substrait, climbing toys and hide-aways. This was done 3 weeks ago.

12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? Prior to today, yes, now - NO. I would rinse them out with hot tap water and let air dry.

13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? Whole habitat was new as of three weeks ago, except 1 food dish, 1 hideaway.

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.)? Crabby keeps me company when I work third shift and I often let him out with me on the computer table, he was very active, and hasn't hid from me in forever. He will even let me handle him now but I worry I will hurt him as he is deshelled.

15. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. Four days deshelled due to falling off a 3 foot table. Won't reshell.

A few things I can help with are here:
4.) The fresh water is good, but the salt water isn't the correct one to use. The Zoo med hermit crab salt water conditioner doesn't have any of the trace elements and things they need in it, It's basically a waste of money to buy the salt water conditioner. I would recommend getting instant ocean and adding that to the dechlorinated water you use for the salt water.
5.) The hermit crab pellets and some of the other dried foods for reptiles contain certain additives which are comparable to eating junk food to us. They aren't good for the crabs. Here's a link with more info on that:
http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92555
*The crabitat seems to be pretty good conditions. Except for the shallow substrate, which you already said you were adding more of. The heat also seems a little low, I like to keep my tank at 80/80. It makes for a more active crab. *

Handle the deshelled crab as little as possible. Don't take him out of the tank or handle him. The longer he is deshelled, the worse it is for him. The crab needs to be put in an ISO(A tuperware in the main tank works great). It can have a bit of sub in it, some choice shells, and of course food/water. Make sure you keep the crab dark and moist to keep it from drying out.
The crab needs to get back into a shell asap, and with the other tank mates running around naked is not a good idea. But, putting the crab in the small container with shells in close proximity may encourage it to reshell itself.

[Guest]

Crabby is still nude. I have him in complete ISO in my original 10 gallon tank. Temp 80, humidity 85. He's still responsive to light, but only antenna movement. He is in the same place as last night this time. Color hasn't change though. He has always been a pale crabby. Light tan.

I went to the complete extreme. I bought a full brand new crabitat. A 30 X 20 X 10 (30 gal?). All my other crabs are in there. I have already had two shell changes from that group and it looks like one of the crabs is buried already after the shell change. He is my shyest so I know he is the one down because he hides from me immediately. I have added Fluckers river shrimp, frozen walnuts and frozen organic (home picked) blueberries and raw honey to their diet. The walnut has moved three times but isn't buried. Should I chop the walnut up??? It's also my understanding that the raw honey contains bee pollen still so that's good too, right?

NEW QUESTION - what are the needs for a shell shop? Do I need a container or just leave the shells in the tank?

[Guest]

Oh - one more question.

A crabber and employee at Petco said that she didn't like the fish salt treatments because of ingredients as well and she recommended just doing SEA SALT with no Iodine from the grocery store.

What are other options? They don't have the granulated (powdered) salt and I'm not having any luck with PetSmart (seems that they are discontinuing stocking hermit crab supplies here - shelves are empty - ee's say for months now).

Help!

[SaPen]

Did you check the fish section for salt? It likely wouldn't be with the hermit crab stuff as it's usually marketted for marine fish tanks. I wouldn't be comfortable using table salt.

[Scarlz]

Don't use seasalt from the grocery store, everyone here will tell you that. It is not safe. Instant Ocean is 100% safe to use, a lot of people here use that. It's in the fish section. You do still need to use it with dechlorinated water though.
This article here will give you all of the info you need on the salt water:
http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92553
I have no idea why she would even suggest using that for crabs, that's terrible. I am absolutely appalled that she would say that...

There are over 70 elements in sea water, and it’s important for the health of your hermit crab that they have access to the right kind salt water that contains all of them. Hermit crabs need this kind of ocean water in order to regulate their bodies and to make molting easier, and all hermit crabs carry around a mixture of brackish water in their shells at all times. Brackish water is the term used to describe salty water that is between ocean water levels of salt, and pure freshwater.

Salt sold specifically for hermit crabs do not contain all these elements, and some even have artificial colors and unneeded chemicals added to them that can be harmful. They are also mixed at too weak of a concentration to be helpful, and are normally drastically overpriced.

Also, do not buy what is sold as “Freshwater Aquarium Salt”. While the salt is safe for use with hermit crabs, it contains only a few elements rather than a full mix that is helpful to hermit crabs. The two major brands that are NOT the right kind of salt to buy are API and Doc Wellfish. These types of salt are not going to be helpful in the long run, but they are not harmful.

Never use table salt or human grade “sea salt” for the same reason. Also, salt for human consumption usually contains anti-caking and anti-clumping agents to make to make it flow freely from shakers, and these could be potentially harmful to hermit crabs.

The correct type of salt to buy is the kind sold in the saltwater fish section. The specialty “reef” salt that many of these brands offer is also completely hermit crab safe, and often contains extra calcium.

Instant Ocean
Oceanic
Coralife
Kent Marine
Red Sea
Seachem Marine
Tropic Marin

[Guest]

I wanted to thank everyone for their help with my injured crab. He gave up the fight today after being de-shelled for almost a month.

I really appreciate all the help.

It goes without saying that I have to completely clean and boil everything in the ISO tank.

Are there any other concerns prior to using it again?

Thanks again.

[CrabbySquirrel]

I am sorry for your loss....