Hermit crabs dying
Posted: Mon Feb 15, 2016 5:21 am
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Ecco earth and sand. Like 7-8 inches deep. The sand part is lower and as it mixes into the EE it gets higher
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 for heat it usually is 75-80 but no humidity because no matter how hard I tried it only read to about 70. So I took it out because it was broken I think even when there was moisture in the glass it said 65 and i put my phone in and left it and it ended up reading 76 so I really think it was broken. They were both in the corner closer to the ground
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Yes a head pad on one side and a over head light over the Moss pit
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, salt mix is instant ocean and dechlorinator is aqueon and the mixture is as directed. It has a measurement per 10 gallons and i use that same measurement per one gallon and the salt I follow the directions
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I rotate alot of food. Freeze dried shrimp and worms and stuff. It's a turtle mixture. With no additives and all the items are on the safe food list. That is replaced maybe every 3 days or so. And power every now and then and that's only there 2 days. Everything else is only there half a day. I put fresh veggies and fruits basically if it's on the safe foods list I try to put it and I put it at night and take it out in the morning
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? Like some half a year some 1 year pps
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? N/A
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? Glass tank, mesh lid but with seran wrap to help humidity. I lift the wrap very morning to let fresh air in. Sometimes night is when I'll do it if the day was too hot but I lift once everything 24 hours to get fresh air. And im not sure the size. It's perfectly square and deep. It's big.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? Medium and about 6
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 2 per crab
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No
12. How often do you clean the tank and how? I spot clean daily, change the water weekly (it has a bubbler) and bin weekly clean the glass with their decholorinated water
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? No I use a sponge by the side mounted heat pad for humidity. And it's only left for a day. I'll put one in there every few days and I clean it by soaking it in Salt water letting it air dry the microwaving it for 30 seconds. I have a powerful microwave.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? No
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.)? I spray directly on the side with the heater once a day or twice if it's really hot. I move the substrate every like week. I take the wet one near the pools and move it to near the heater to help humidity and i take the dried one near the heater and put it around the pool to get wet. I got all the crabs from petsmart. The exact same petsmart. Also I've tried not to handle them and may let them do their thing until they get comfortable.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
My crabs are dying. It started with a streaker he died after 3 weeks for doing everything I can. And then they started dying one by one the same way. I just find empty shells... No bodies. Except twice I found a shell with the remains of a body. Like a dark brown thin hallowed falling apart body. After the streaker died I had another streaker who died but I never found a body. There was just an empty shell in the Moss pit. Then I found a shell in the Moss put with the type of body I described before. Then today after 3 months of line nobody coming up I decided to dig. There's one (my biggest one) buried and healthy color looking. And one other smooth to molt and i left them where I found them. But there were 3 more empty shells. 2 with just dirt in them and 1 with the type of body I described. All in relatively the same corner too....my husband thinks it's just they died from pps (I think that's the abbreviation for it) post purchase syndrome? Because the store mistreated them and they were unhealthy. But I'm very worried. I'm crying because I'm afraid I killed them some how. They are all dying the same way pretty much in their shell under ground or in the Moss pit or ditching their shell. 2 ditches 2 unknown and 2 for sure in shell. And I don't want to get more if I'm doing something wrong. Maybe I shouldn't have any.... I love them so much though. What's happening. Is it really just pps? Why would they just die in she'll like that or no bodies or leave the shell. And there's no smell. No fishy smell! Only the one first streaker that I found his body it smelled but other than that I've never smelled anything.
Note: please be nice when reply I have asd and im very sensitive about these guys because they are a special intrest and my life. I am already torn up and emotional and afraid and hurt and blargh.... I don't need to be treated like a terrible person because if I did something wrong I didn't know and didn't mean to and just want to give them happy lives.... Please be nice... I think I killed them....
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 for heat it usually is 75-80 but no humidity because no matter how hard I tried it only read to about 70. So I took it out because it was broken I think even when there was moisture in the glass it said 65 and i put my phone in and left it and it ended up reading 76 so I really think it was broken. They were both in the corner closer to the ground
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Yes a head pad on one side and a over head light over the Moss pit
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, salt mix is instant ocean and dechlorinator is aqueon and the mixture is as directed. It has a measurement per 10 gallons and i use that same measurement per one gallon and the salt I follow the directions
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I rotate alot of food. Freeze dried shrimp and worms and stuff. It's a turtle mixture. With no additives and all the items are on the safe food list. That is replaced maybe every 3 days or so. And power every now and then and that's only there 2 days. Everything else is only there half a day. I put fresh veggies and fruits basically if it's on the safe foods list I try to put it and I put it at night and take it out in the morning
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? Like some half a year some 1 year pps
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? N/A
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? Glass tank, mesh lid but with seran wrap to help humidity. I lift the wrap very morning to let fresh air in. Sometimes night is when I'll do it if the day was too hot but I lift once everything 24 hours to get fresh air. And im not sure the size. It's perfectly square and deep. It's big.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? Medium and about 6
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 2 per crab
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No
12. How often do you clean the tank and how? I spot clean daily, change the water weekly (it has a bubbler) and bin weekly clean the glass with their decholorinated water
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? No I use a sponge by the side mounted heat pad for humidity. And it's only left for a day. I'll put one in there every few days and I clean it by soaking it in Salt water letting it air dry the microwaving it for 30 seconds. I have a powerful microwave.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? No
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.)? I spray directly on the side with the heater once a day or twice if it's really hot. I move the substrate every like week. I take the wet one near the pools and move it to near the heater to help humidity and i take the dried one near the heater and put it around the pool to get wet. I got all the crabs from petsmart. The exact same petsmart. Also I've tried not to handle them and may let them do their thing until they get comfortable.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
My crabs are dying. It started with a streaker he died after 3 weeks for doing everything I can. And then they started dying one by one the same way. I just find empty shells... No bodies. Except twice I found a shell with the remains of a body. Like a dark brown thin hallowed falling apart body. After the streaker died I had another streaker who died but I never found a body. There was just an empty shell in the Moss pit. Then I found a shell in the Moss put with the type of body I described before. Then today after 3 months of line nobody coming up I decided to dig. There's one (my biggest one) buried and healthy color looking. And one other smooth to molt and i left them where I found them. But there were 3 more empty shells. 2 with just dirt in them and 1 with the type of body I described. All in relatively the same corner too....my husband thinks it's just they died from pps (I think that's the abbreviation for it) post purchase syndrome? Because the store mistreated them and they were unhealthy. But I'm very worried. I'm crying because I'm afraid I killed them some how. They are all dying the same way pretty much in their shell under ground or in the Moss pit or ditching their shell. 2 ditches 2 unknown and 2 for sure in shell. And I don't want to get more if I'm doing something wrong. Maybe I shouldn't have any.... I love them so much though. What's happening. Is it really just pps? Why would they just die in she'll like that or no bodies or leave the shell. And there's no smell. No fishy smell! Only the one first streaker that I found his body it smelled but other than that I've never smelled anything.
Note: please be nice when reply I have asd and im very sensitive about these guys because they are a special intrest and my life. I am already torn up and emotional and afraid and hurt and blargh.... I don't need to be treated like a terrible person because if I did something wrong I didn't know and didn't mean to and just want to give them happy lives.... Please be nice... I think I killed them....
The dimensions you gave would be equal to two 10 gallon tanks side by side. A tank that size could support 3 to 4 medium crabs without worrying. More than that and troubles can start as they may not feel comfortable molting or may get disturbed while molting. Do you have 6 left now, or is that how many there were to start?