HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I'm pretty sure tank specs are where they should be, but I'll preface this with the help template anyway, just in case.

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? sand/EE mix, 10-11"

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? Digital therm/hygrometer clipped to the moss pit at the front top corner. Currently around 80% humidity and 82F. I've had some trouble with fluctuating humidity recently, but it's stayed above the safe limit.

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? Two heat mats on the back, above sub line

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 kinds, treated with Prime and Instant Ocean for the salt

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? Large variety (50+ individual types, they get 2 proteins, 1 fruit, 1 veggie, & 1 extra/treat in their main food bowl, changed every other day, plus a supplement dish at all times (earthworm castings, calcium, mineral supplement)

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? Purple pincher, I think one of the ones I've had for a year, possibly one of the ones I've had for five months. Either way, they've all molted with me at least once.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? Yes, she just came up from a molt before this, a couple days ago

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? 55g tank with glass lids

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 5 - 1 large/extra large, 1 large, 1 medium, 2 larger smalls. This is one of the smalls.

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? Don't know exact number, but lots!! Plenty in sizes for each crab.

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? The only thing I can think of is I sprayed cat urine carpet cleaner on the carpet near the tank, but again, glass lid & all but one crab (the largest) were underground at the time, including the sick one.

12. How often do you clean the tank and how? Once a month-ish, mostly just removing tank furniture, scraping the top of the sub, trying to spray & mix up the top inch or so to make sure consistency is right, etc.

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

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? Newest thing is a bamboo piece, but that was several weeks ago

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 did have a period of time about a month ago where I wasn't monitoring temp/humidity as closely as I should've been & I'm not positive on how low the humidity got then. The temperature was up close to 90 before I noticed & took the insulation off the heating mats. I think the humidity still would've been around safe ranges due to the glass lids, but I don't know for sure. That's around the time everyone except the largest disappeared underground, so I think it might've been due to my not paying closer attention to the tank specs.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.

So the crab in question, I think it may be Eowyn, so I'll go with that...She's been largely motionless both yesterday & today, and very slow to react to my presence. She just came up from a molt & changed shell when she came up. But since then, she's been like this. I thought maybe she was just being a Weird Crab last night, but I was getting much more concerned after work today when she was still in the same condition. My thought right now is that she has very little to no energy for some reason - maybe either someone stole the rest of her exo before she could finish eating it, or she came up too soon after molting & wasn't done recuperating, or she didn't stock up on enough food before digging down. I don't know if the temp/humidity being off before would have anything to do with it, given she was underground, but I suppose maybe that could be a possibility too....but I hope not. I feel horrible.

What I've done so far - I gave her a couple drops of honey on a spoon. She was interested, but still moved slow as she grabbed the spoon. I had to keep wiggling the spoon lightly to remind her it was there & to grab a pinch, then to get the pinch to her mouthparts. She ate at least 5-6 bites that I saw, I'm not sure if it was enough to really give her a boost of energy. I had to leave for the night, and left her with a shell of fresh water & one of salt water on either side of her in case she's dehydrated, the honey spoon nearby, and a flat shell in front of her with food - calcium, mineral supplement, mixed fish/seafood powder, crushed nuts, earthworm castings, and bee pollen. I was aiming for the foods needed to recover from a molt, plus foods high in energy/nutrients.

So my actual questions - Is there anything else I can do for her? I'll be home tomorrow & will be checking her first thing when I get home and possibly try to spoon feed her more honey. Or is there something else I should try besides the honey?

Second question - I'm unfortunately leaving on Sunday & will be gone for 6 days. My roommate will be caring for the animals staying home, including the crabs, but doesn't know much about them & won't be able/willing to do a whole lot past switching out pre-prepared food bowls. There's only one crab up besides Eowyn right now, the largest one Shelob. I'm a little concerned about Shelob eating all of the food or bothering Eowyn - if Eowyn is still with me tomorrow, should I move her to an isolation tank until I get home? Or is that more likely to be too stressful? I have one already set up with proper specs, so I'm leaning towards putting her in it, just in case.

Thanks for any advice/help. I have a feeling I'm doing pretty much all I can do for her, but I just want to be certain. I'm still really worried that I did something to cause this, and if so, I'm worried about everyone else that's still underground.

If your only humidity gauge is clipped to your moss pit, you are likely getting a reading higher than the humidity is in the rest of the tank (moistened moss boosts humidity, and that effect will be greatest right near the moss). Humidity and temperature are so critical for their survival that I always have multiple gauges here and there around the tank (I mount them on chopsticks or popsicle sticks so they can be stuck in the substrate and moved wherever).

It does look like you have done all you can, but I would at least move the gauge to what is likely to be the driest point in the tank to make sure of humidity (that's assuming the gauge is calibrated and you know it is reading correctly); and really I would recommend getting additional gauges so you can monitor the range of temps and humidity in the tank--they can vary considerably, even in different places in a very small tank.

Best wishes.

I agree that it sounds like your tank conditions are good. I'm sorry Eowyn is sluggish. I know how stressful it can be when there's no clear issue to address. As for whether or not to move her, I can only say that I have moved one that was sluggish and then wished that I hadn't...and have also not moved a sluggish crab and later wished I had. It seems that sometimes no matter what we do we end up questioning the decision made. The best thing I can say is follow your gut and try not to be too hard on yourself if the situation doesn't improve. Fingers crossed for little Eowyn.

Thanks guys. And DragonsFly, that is a good point, but the moss is rarely actually humid - my crabs prefer it dry, not moist. I figured up in the air is more likely to get a better reading than down on the sub, as that will be more humid anyway due to the moist sub.

I guess I'm going to leave her in the main tank. She's moved a little bit into a little hollow under some tank furniture and I don't want to stress her by pulling her out. Shelob pretty much ignores her anyway, and no one else is up for now. Fingers crossed that I come back and she's back to normal. I won't be back until next Friday night, possibly not until Saturday. Gonna have to try not to drive myself nuts worrying over her the entire time!

Are you sure she molted? I once had a crab up after being under for a while that acted similar to what you described. He hadn't molted but was very close to needing to. He looked sort of like a wind up toy that had wound down. I kept a close eye on him and he ended up digging down very shallowly and molting. I wished I had isolated him because of how shallow he dug but in the end he was fine.

It sounds like you've done everything you can for her. Isolating is up to you.

She looks like she has...hairy legs & sharp nails. But I guess it's possible those are left from a previous molt & she hadn't done so during this disappearance. I ended up leaving her in the main tank. Dreading going home & finding her dead...trying not to think about it since I can't do anything right now. I'll let you guys know what I find when I get home at the end of the week. Glad I've at least done everything I can otherwise.

Any update on Eowyn?

Also if you are scared to isolate but scared to leave her... Cut a two litter bottle in half take the top half (cap off) and dig it in around her!!! Good luck!

Sent from my LGMS345 using Tapatalk