I am new to hermit crabs and don’t know what’s going on!
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:30 pm
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1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Coconut fiber ecoearth and idk maybe 2 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? Yes the guages are on the side of the tank halfway up and the temp stays around 70 and humidity 70-80
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?I have a heating pad on the side because it was a crappy one that said to only put on the side but I use a heat day light during the day.
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 fresh water to drink it’s bottled water like distilled or something and the salt water is measured out to the standards it said on the container and it’s salt for hermit crab and I always measure it.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I feed hermit crab food pellets and worms and shrimp and blueberries a veggie mix and occasionally other stuff like different fruit
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? I have had these since June 2017 so going on 2 years
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? I believe it’s molted recently just one of them has so far
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?It’s a 10 gallon tank, I keep a plastic lid on half of it to retain moisture but half is open to air where I have a heat lamp set up
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 2 crabs and medium to small
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? I’ve got 4 extra shells
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?No
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?Idk maybe every couple months? I just pour out old ecoearth and wipe the inside down with water. I don’t use any chemicals.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?Yes 1 and I just rinse it out with water
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?I added a second level for them about a month ago but they haven’t climbed it as far as I know
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.
Ok so I had a crab molt and died out of his shell a few months ago and idk what went wrong.....Now my little crab is molting but because the last one died idk what I should expect. At first (a few days ago) she was hiding under the water bowl that had mostly spilled. I filled up another because I didn’t want to bother her. I left her alone and then one day I realized her shell was empty and there were bits of exoskeleton around the shell so I knew she was out of her shell and hiding. I didn’t see her in any of the extra shells. I left her alone. My other crab was hiding in a different area and he is super chill so I didn’t separate them. Then yesterday, she was back in her shell hiding under the empty water bowl again. I left her alone. Then this morning, she was butt naked sitting on the sponge in their soaking salt water dish! Just laying there butt naked! I have NEVER seen this so I was freaking out, but I have read about how vulnerable they are before and after a molt so I left her alone. Now today I get home from work and she is back in her shell so I moved the empty water bowl that was now sort of next to her and I filled it up. She is now moving a lot like wiggling in her shell and sort of like maybe wiping herself with her claws? Or maybe removing more exoskeleton? Idk she is just moving within her shell but still in her corner not going anywhere but moving. Does that make sense? She’s wiggling a lot. She looked super pale this morning but this evening she is looking a bit more pink in some areas almost reddish. Is this normal? Should I do anything? She is in a corner where it’s glass and I can see her and her see us and our movement has scared her some. Should I put a drape over that corner to give her more privacy? Idk what to do or if I need to not do anything. My last molting crab died and I really don’t want to lose her! She’s my favorite! Thanks in advance!
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Coconut fiber ecoearth and idk maybe 2 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? Yes the guages are on the side of the tank halfway up and the temp stays around 70 and humidity 70-80
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?I have a heating pad on the side because it was a crappy one that said to only put on the side but I use a heat day light during the day.
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 fresh water to drink it’s bottled water like distilled or something and the salt water is measured out to the standards it said on the container and it’s salt for hermit crab and I always measure it.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I feed hermit crab food pellets and worms and shrimp and blueberries a veggie mix and occasionally other stuff like different fruit
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? I have had these since June 2017 so going on 2 years
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? I believe it’s molted recently just one of them has so far
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?It’s a 10 gallon tank, I keep a plastic lid on half of it to retain moisture but half is open to air where I have a heat lamp set up
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 2 crabs and medium to small
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? I’ve got 4 extra shells
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?No
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?Idk maybe every couple months? I just pour out old ecoearth and wipe the inside down with water. I don’t use any chemicals.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?Yes 1 and I just rinse it out with water
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?I added a second level for them about a month ago but they haven’t climbed it as far as I know
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.
Ok so I had a crab molt and died out of his shell a few months ago and idk what went wrong.....Now my little crab is molting but because the last one died idk what I should expect. At first (a few days ago) she was hiding under the water bowl that had mostly spilled. I filled up another because I didn’t want to bother her. I left her alone and then one day I realized her shell was empty and there were bits of exoskeleton around the shell so I knew she was out of her shell and hiding. I didn’t see her in any of the extra shells. I left her alone. My other crab was hiding in a different area and he is super chill so I didn’t separate them. Then yesterday, she was back in her shell hiding under the empty water bowl again. I left her alone. Then this morning, she was butt naked sitting on the sponge in their soaking salt water dish! Just laying there butt naked! I have NEVER seen this so I was freaking out, but I have read about how vulnerable they are before and after a molt so I left her alone. Now today I get home from work and she is back in her shell so I moved the empty water bowl that was now sort of next to her and I filled it up. She is now moving a lot like wiggling in her shell and sort of like maybe wiping herself with her claws? Or maybe removing more exoskeleton? Idk she is just moving within her shell but still in her corner not going anywhere but moving. Does that make sense? She’s wiggling a lot. She looked super pale this morning but this evening she is looking a bit more pink in some areas almost reddish. Is this normal? Should I do anything? She is in a corner where it’s glass and I can see her and her see us and our movement has scared her some. Should I put a drape over that corner to give her more privacy? Idk what to do or if I need to not do anything. My last molting crab died and I really don’t want to lose her! She’s my favorite! Thanks in advance!