Moving with an 8 hour trip

[Oliviet#1]

Since you've come to the emergency forum, we know you want a fast answer to your question. In order for us to figure out the problem as quickly as possible, we ask that you answer the following questions as best you can. Some of them may seem odd, but they're all designed to give us the information we need to give you a good solution for your problem. The things in the [ brackets ] are there to make this post easier to read once submitted. Thanks!


1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
playsand and ee 5-6 inches tall

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 one that I probably need to calibrate again. It is Acurit and both arre usually around 80-85 (humidity higher sometimes)

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
a heat mat on the back

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)?
fresh and salt. I use instant ocean marine salt and aqueon tap water conditioner for both

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I bought a bunch of mixes from a store on etsy (maybe tiny town hermits not sure) and omega 1 shrimp. I replace it when it goes bad.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
they are all pp and we have had 3 of them since march and 3 of them I think around June or July.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
All of them have molted once of is molting. the last one of the three we got recently is molting. (one of them just came up today but went and hid somewhere so technically there are 2 molting.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
a 20 gallon tall tank with a screened lid that has plastic wrap and a towel on it.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
6 and 3 of them are around the size of a quarter and 3 are are a little bigger

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
enough that there is at least 3 per crab

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
not that I know of (maybe lysol but that was a little while ago)

12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
I just clean the water and food dishes and food scraps that fall out when they get dirty

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?
yes some new decor and an all living thing hamster wheel from petsmart

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.)?
sometimes I handle one or two of them (for a short amount of time and pls don't say this is wrong everyone has their opinions) but I have posted some videos of them changing shells on youtube. (the channel is Savannah Fost if you want to see them)

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.

Our family is going for around an 8 hour drive because we are moving and I don't know how to take the crabs. It is either this saturday or sunday but I might have to prepare them sooner. I'm not taking the whole tank as is so I don't risk collapsing tunnels. I might go to dollar tree and pick up some tupperware for isos. I will probably use some of their old substrate in their isos because I can't use hay or moss due to allergies. I am throwing out all of the substrate in the tank and will purchase more playsand once we move. I think I might put the iso containers into a box with hand warmers because my siblings like it cold int the car (and so do I). I would like to know if I should use a cooler or a box and if I should use deli cups or tupperware and I can or should use shredded paper/newspaper. I will appreciate advice for moving with the molters.
.

[aussieJJDude]

https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... g#p1078722
https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... 3&t=117495
https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... e#p1060746
^^^ basically here, copy and paste. at most, replace the term 'moss' with EE or sand, and you should be golden. Sorry, I would give a throughout reply, but its really late here currently and I need to sleep. But hopefully the links help in the meantime.


I do like the idea of using a cooler, it will help reduce temperature variation.... Which would be helpful.

I wouldn't recommend using paper/newpaper, the dyes/ink used on the pages... :/ i feel that its best avoided.

[The Crab Maid]

Place each crab into a deli cup with a moist paper towel (make sure there are some air holes) and then you can place them into a cooler and place the hand warmers into the cooler but outside the cups. Seal the cooler (but open hourly to refresh air). The hand warmers and the moist paper towels will keep proper humidity for the trip. This is a common way we transport specimens.

Your trouble is going to be with the molters because it means digging them up. It's risky and I won't lie, they could die. But you'll follow the instructions above with the molters. When their new tank is set up you'll keep the molters out of the tank and keep them isolated til a couple weeks after they complete their molt. Provide protein and calcium for the molters (after the trip when they're set up in isolation). Don't place the molters together. You can leave the molters in the cups, just make sure it's covered so they feel safe, and place the cups into the tank til they finish molting.

[Hermit-Yote]

I just did a drive from Oregon to New York over for days with my little guys. I'll admit, I had no idea what I was doing.

I placed the bigger guys in one plastic sweater box (the boxes were roughly 14"x9"x6", I think?), and the smaller guys into another.

I added some moist coconut fiber, and added some holes to the top. I made sure to give them enough coconut fiber so that they could borrow down if they wanted to (and a couple did).

At night when we stopped at hotels, I gave them food. They had small bowls of regular water at all times, but not enough to spill in the car.

Speaking of the car, never leave any animal alone in the car, not even "just for a minute".


That's all I did. I'm unsure if it's the best method, but they all did perfectly! I got them into their new home, and they've settled in famously.

[DragonsFly]

If you do use the hand warmers, make sure there is something -- a towel or something -- in between the hand warmer(s) and the containers the crabs are in, and make SURE you have a thermometer in the cooler with them. You may find that it gets too hot in the small enclosed space, and you don't want them cooking. Although ideal temps should be between 75 and 85 degrees, as long as they are somewhere between 70 and 95 degrees, they will be okay for quite a while. It's hard for me to imagine that your car temp actually gets much lower than 70 on a drive in August, so you really might not need warmers at all.

Hermit-Yote, it sounds like you did GREAT!

[RiNiKy506]

Glad to see you and your crabby friends made it safely, I also live in New York.

[Oliviet#1]

Hi guys, we started the 8 hour trip to our new destination around 8 days ago, and all the crabs are alive! Thank you to everyone for the tips and suggestions! A few days before we moved I put the three crabs who were above ground in the KK. I made them scrambled eggs with eggshells, and I didn't see them so I thought they ate it, but the day before we left I smelled a bad smell and found the egg rotting, so I threw out all the sand, and I will need to reboil or throw away anything that was in there (except the crabs). If anyone wants details about the digging up part see below, if not skip through

I started with my hands rough on the top (only around the top inch or less) because it was hard then my hands were soft. I heard it is good to go slow so I tried and I actually found only one maybe two food peices in the whole tank and they were in the top inch. As I was digging I'd feel a hollow hole and then I would dig even slower and begin removing the sand out of the hole and each time I felt a shell. I would take the crab out and put it in its iso (2 of them were covered in black paper), and I would search for its exoskeleton. All of them had exoskeleton peices, but two of them were mostly hardened. I couldn't cover the last one with balck paper because I forgot and when I remembered (and had time) the paper was packed away. So I put an extra inch of sand in that one so the crab could dig and hide in the sand. The crab was Peach and she did and is great btw. One of my crabs was in full blown molt with the pink exo and I saw her cute little big pincher from her exoskeleton.

once I had them all in there isos, I put them in a pink bin with a hand towel on top and a hand warmer over night. The temperature and humidity was around 73-75 overnight, on the trip, and when we got to the destination. I didn't give any of the crabs food (or water) on the trip because they just dump sand on it lol. I checked on all of the crabs a few times on the trip to make sure they were ok. I kept very little of the sand so when I built a temporary setup in the tank there was barely enough sand in the tank for one inch. We will probably pick up some sand this week though for thos wo are wondering. Peach was ready to come out a few days ago so I gave her a salt and freshwater bath before putting her in the tank and dipped her in the freshwater dish. At first she started grabbing on to one of the crabs but then I took them all out for a little bit and then back in the tank and they are doing fine now. If you have any questions or suggestions please let me know because we might move again lol (somewhere close by)

[Hermit-Yote]

That's fantastic, thanks for keeping us updated!

Glad to see you and your crabby friends made it safely, I also live in New York.

I'm waaay upstate in a cornfield, haha.

[Maddamay32]

Thank you for posting, I plan on moving sometime next year and I have nightmares about the crabs every other night. It's good to hear a detailed story of a successful move. Especially a long one, I will only be moving a few miles away and the anxiety is overwhelming.

Sent from my cp3705AS using Tapatalk

[DragonsFly]

They are plenty tough if they are basically healthy and aren't in mid-molt; I've shipped them two-day across the country multiple times (rescues to new homes) and they've always been just fine. Take reasonable steps and you'll (and they'll) be great.