Tiny naked crab
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2017 7:46 pm
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
It is 5 parts playsand and 1 part Ecoearth. At the lowest end of the tank it is 7 inches and at the highest it is about 10 inches.
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?
I have a gauge at one end of the tank. The temperature is usually 80 degrees and the humidity is 90+.
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
I have a large UTH and a moonlight prepared. The room temperature is about 80 degrees right now so I don't have the heat sources installed yet. Will get on that soon.
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)?
I have both freshwater and saltwater available. Saltwater is made using the Instant Ocean mix and freshwater is treated by API Tap Water Conditioner.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I replace food every day and everything I give them is off of the crabbycravings safe food list.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I just got this crab about 2 days ago and it is a PP.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Nope, I've only had it a few days.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
I have a 29 gallon tank. I use a screen lid with seran wrap over the top to keep humidity in.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
There are 6 crabs total in the tank. 3 are small-medium sized (2 are underground) and 3 are teeny-tiny (1 is underground).
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
There's about 5-6 extra shells in the tank right now.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
I only set this tank up about a month or so ago so I have yet to clean it.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
None are used.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
Nope.
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.
(First a bit of background) I adopted 4 small-medium sized crabs after they were used in a classroom experiment. I was not prepared at all as they were originally supposed to go to someone else. 2 of the 4 crabs burrowed underground and have been there since. 1 of the crabs (Cheeto) just sat in the corner and never really moved; sadly, he soon passed away. I believe he died from the amount of stress he experienced during the experiment, he was handled a ton and never really given the time to destress. So at that point only Orzo the crab was left surface-level. Unfortunately, he did surface molt but it was successful. He ate almost all of his exoskeleton and is now pretty active. We regularly see him eating and climbing around. I believe Orzo is doing alright.
Now for the emergency part. Fearing that Orzo might be lonely, my sister got 3 tiny hermit crabs about 2 days ago from a pet store. These new crabs are quite small, about the size of a penny or so. One burrowed underground pretty soon. The other 2 ate and explored the tank, everything seemed fine. Then today I noticed that one of the new tiny crabs (Zeus) was upside down in the sand. A bit later, he had abandoned his shell and was naked under a hollowed out log hut. We isolated him with a bit of food and his old shell. He soon jumped back into it. Then a few hours later, I noticed that he was out of his shell once again. We did the same thing as last time but he doesn't seem to want to get back in.
I'm guessing that maybe that shell is too big for him? (It might be something else entirely but I don't really know what...I have no idea.) Currently, we don't have any shells smaller than his current one. Is there anything I can do for him until we can order some smaller shells? I'm really worried about the little guy 
It is 5 parts playsand and 1 part Ecoearth. At the lowest end of the tank it is 7 inches and at the highest it is about 10 inches.
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?
I have a gauge at one end of the tank. The temperature is usually 80 degrees and the humidity is 90+.
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
I have a large UTH and a moonlight prepared. The room temperature is about 80 degrees right now so I don't have the heat sources installed yet. Will get on that soon.
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)?
I have both freshwater and saltwater available. Saltwater is made using the Instant Ocean mix and freshwater is treated by API Tap Water Conditioner.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I replace food every day and everything I give them is off of the crabbycravings safe food list.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I just got this crab about 2 days ago and it is a PP.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Nope, I've only had it a few days.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
I have a 29 gallon tank. I use a screen lid with seran wrap over the top to keep humidity in.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
There are 6 crabs total in the tank. 3 are small-medium sized (2 are underground) and 3 are teeny-tiny (1 is underground).
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
There's about 5-6 extra shells in the tank right now.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
I only set this tank up about a month or so ago so I have yet to clean it.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
None are used.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
Nope.
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.
(First a bit of background) I adopted 4 small-medium sized crabs after they were used in a classroom experiment. I was not prepared at all as they were originally supposed to go to someone else. 2 of the 4 crabs burrowed underground and have been there since. 1 of the crabs (Cheeto) just sat in the corner and never really moved; sadly, he soon passed away. I believe he died from the amount of stress he experienced during the experiment, he was handled a ton and never really given the time to destress. So at that point only Orzo the crab was left surface-level. Unfortunately, he did surface molt but it was successful. He ate almost all of his exoskeleton and is now pretty active. We regularly see him eating and climbing around. I believe Orzo is doing alright.
Now for the emergency part. Fearing that Orzo might be lonely, my sister got 3 tiny hermit crabs about 2 days ago from a pet store. These new crabs are quite small, about the size of a penny or so. One burrowed underground pretty soon. The other 2 ate and explored the tank, everything seemed fine. Then today I noticed that one of the new tiny crabs (Zeus) was upside down in the sand. A bit later, he had abandoned his shell and was naked under a hollowed out log hut. We isolated him with a bit of food and his old shell. He soon jumped back into it. Then a few hours later, I noticed that he was out of his shell once again. We did the same thing as last time but he doesn't seem to want to get back in.
I'm guessing that maybe that shell is too big for him? (It might be something else entirely but I don't really know what...I have no idea.) Currently, we don't have any shells smaller than his current one. Is there anything I can do for him until we can order some smaller shells? I'm really worried about the little guy 