Repost from crab behavior: Hermit Crab out of his shell

[lorderagon]

Hi! My boyfriend and I got a couple of hermit crabs. Our first one we named Hermes, and earlier today my boyfriend found him outside of his shell and pinned between a climbing log, the wall of his aquarium, and our other hermit crab Mercury. My boyfriend moved the log and he just kinda flopped over. The little guy didnt move at all, and he was missing one of his legs. I thought that maybe he was molting so I sugguested that we section him off from Mercury since we didnt have a back up tank for him, but unfortunately Mercury broke through the barrier and buried Hermes. I looked online at a couple websites and most of them said Crabs only exit their shells to switch or if they are stressed. My question I guess is, has anyone else ran into something like this? And what should we do? We are new crab owners so please be easy on us. Thank you.

[soilentgringa]

The naked crab needs to be reshelled immediately. Gently rinse the crab's abdomen and shell in dechlorinated fresh water.
Carefully hold the crab just at the base of it's legs/back of head before the soft abdomen begins and guide the abdomen into a shell. Usually this works with a slightly too large shell.

Isolate the crab in good conditions. You can do this inside the main tank by using a tupperware type container with a lid.

Offer raw honey, boiled egg, smashed-shell and all or organic all natural no additive peanut butter.

When you have the crab reshelled and isolated, please read through the care guides.

It would also be helpful for us to identify areas of concern if you fill out the emergency template located in the stickied post in the Emergency subforum.

Paste the questions and answers in the responses here.



Sent from my LGLS665 using Tapatalk

[lorderagon]

He isn't soft anymore.

[lorderagon]

We left him in the sectioned off area all day before Mercury busted through it this evening and he didny move at all. Not even a twitch.

[lorderagon]

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Coconut Fiber, and about 2" deep

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. They are in the upper left hand corner of the tank on the inside. The humidity usually reads about 70 and the temp is usually 70-75

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Yes zoo med heater stuck to the right side of the tank. A stick on heater for 5-10 gallon tanks.

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 fresh and salt water is available. The salt water is pet store bought pre mixed stuff. The fresh water is distilled from the store.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
Hermit crab pellets from the pet store. Replaced once a week.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? One we have had since valentines this year he is a PP and the other we've had since April this year and he is also a PP.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
No neither has

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
Aquarium, 5 gallon, and a plastic lid with holes for a filter. (Genetic fish tank lid)

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? Two. Id say small and medium

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 4-5

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No.

12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
Monthly ish and we dump out the substrate and wipe out the tank and replace with new substrate.

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? Yes. They are rinsed when the water is refilled.

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

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.)?
No.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
Crab is out of shell and looks dead. He is no longer soft and hasn't moved all day.

[soilentgringa]

Okay. I'm going to go through all your answers point by point.

1. We recommend a 5:1 ratio of playsand (quikrete or sakrete) to Eco Earth. Playsand can be found at hardware stores. Less than $5 for a 50lb bag.

Substrate needs to be at least 3X deeper than your largest crab. Ideally half the tank would be full. Deeper if you have large crabs or crabs that are known diggers, such as E's or Straws.

2. Are they digital or analog? Have they been calibrated? Both numbers need to be a minimum of 80. Ideally in the mid 80's for both. Land hermit crabs are from the tropics and need a warm, humid environment. They breathe through modified gills. Low humidity for prolonged time puts them at risk for gill damage.

3. You may consider an Ultratherm or heat mat that can be insulated when you upgrade your tank. These small heaters are usually insufficient and insulating a zoo med is a fire hazard because of the way they are made.

4. The salt water marketed for hermit crabs is insufficient and will not provide them with the elements they need. Using tap water and a product like SeaChem Prime or API tap water conditioner, that removes chlorine, ammonia, and heavy metals from the water allows them to benefit from the trace minerals in the water but removes the bad stuff. It is also more cost effective than buying gallons of bottled water. A marine grade salt mix for saltwater aquariums is what you want for your salt water. Land crabs are born in the ocean and tend to live near the shore. There are over 70 elements in sea water that they need to thrive and have healthy molts.
Instant Ocean and Oceanic are both brands you can find at petstores.

5. Hermit crab pellets contain toxic preservatives that can prevent the molt process from happening. Land crabs are captured from the wild and eat a variety of proteins, vegetable matter, nuts, and calcium sources. Check the Safe Food list in the care guides.

8. You need a minimum of 10 gallons for two small crabs. At least a 20 for mediums.

10. Each crab needs 3-5 shells minimum in shapes and sizes that are suitable for their species and size.

12. This is probably why your crabs have not molted. If the substrate is properly setup, it does not need to be changed. Beneficial microbes and bacteria build up to help break down waste. Changing it out often stresses the crabs out.

13. Sponges are not necessary in the water dishes and have no real benefit in a crab tank.


Okay I have addressed every area of concern. I will urge you to read the care guides thoroughly and consider making adjustments so that your crabs can live longer, healthy lives.

Also, you said the naked crab is no longer soft? Unfortunately in the low humidity it may have dehydrated.

Crabs need deep water dishes that they can submerge in. They carry water in their shell and use it to keep themselves moist. Without this, they will dry up and die.

Please do not be too hard on yourself. There is a lot of misinformation out there and most of us started out in the same boat or worse.

Best of luck to your crabs!


Sent from my LGLS665 using Tapatalk

[soilentgringa]

Care Guide:

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=92457

Sent from my LGLS665 using Tapatalk

[lorderagon]

Thank you for all this great information! I know there is a lot of bad info out there. Its crazy how they can just send little critters to their doom when all they have to do is print proper info! It would help their sells too if they did! It is the same with tropical fish! But I digress.

My humidity/temp guage is analog and it is probably not calibrated. I dont even know how to calibrate it.

I have another question too tho. We did have the humidity up to 80/90 area and a lot of mold started to grow in there. Like on their log and such. Is there a healthy way to stop this? Or do we want this to happen? Thank you again so much!

[soilentgringa]

Sent from my LGLS665 using Tapatalk

[lorderagon]

Thank you again!

What about the mold?

[soilentgringa]

Thank you again!

What about the mold?

Mold is a part of crab life.

To inhibit mold growth, you can soak wood pieces in marine salt water mix and allow to air dry.

It isn't harmful to crabs.


Sent from my LGLS665 using Tapatalk

[lorderagon]

Thank you! You have been very informative!

[lorderagon]

Hi again. We have upgraded to a 55 gallon tank, which we are working on setting up. We'll need to buy a heater for the new tank and I was curious what you would reccomend. I have read through the care guides and I reread through your response to my earlier posts. My ild on for the smaller tank is a uth for a 5-10 by zoo med. (It didnt seem to increase the temp in the tank very well) Would it be good to get another one rated for the bigger tank or should we switch to a heat lamp instead?

[soilentgringa]

Ultratherm from ReptileBasics.com

You want it to cover the back of your tank above the substrate.

They have one that is 6" x 48" I think, and since they can be insulated, these work well for 55g tanks.

Sent from my LGLS665 using Tapatalk

[lorderagon]

How do I insulate it?