Not molting, evacuated shell, now back in shell but still acting funky
Posted: Sun Feb 02, 2020 2:45 pm
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?
I use a mixture of EE and Reptile bark on the top. It is 6-7 inches 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, i have a digital gauge. Without anything but spritzing and no heat source this time of year (my house is very hot) it reads between 73°-78° and humidity around 70. I just got a humidifier that i was planning on using as a fogger, and after 1 night the humidity rose to 85%but my crab evacuated the shell during the same night, so I took off the humidifier hose and just have it humidifiying the room. Current humid. Is 82%
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
In the summer I use an infared heat lamp, but in the winter my house is around 73° without anything.
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)?
Bottled spring water and salt water avail 24/7, salt water mixed with instant ocean. There was a period about a week ago that there wasnt salt water for a couple days because I ran out of IO
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I used to have them on shimp from petsmart along with fresh veggies, but when leo started going south i thought it could be the food so i switched him to 60% protein red shimp powder, fresh spinach and carrots, and added oats.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
He's a PP, I adopted him in April last year.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
He molted when I initially got him (down for three weeks) and again around October.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
He is in iso in my 40 gallon tank (the other two are in seperate iso tanks because I didnt want to move leo while he was frail).i usually have a plastic cover on the wire mesh lid, but took it off when I set up the humidifier.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
Everyone is in ISO right now. Leo, small, is in the 40, Libra, Med, is in a 10 gallon, and Pluck, small, who I just got on Tuesday, is in a travel cage but will be moving in with Libra on Tuesday. Once I get Leo sorted out, everyone will be in the 40.
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
Leo has 10 right now. 3 in the water dish, 7 in the shell shop.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
The humidifier, but that was just using bottled spring water
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
Spot clean with scoop as needed, complete empty and new substrate every 3 months. This was just done a week ago.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
No sponges
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
The humidifier, but its not on now
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.)?
Leo has always been my clean crab (doesnt drag substrate everywhere, bathes regularly) but since his last molt in October he's been rather pale
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
So, both leo and libra were in the 10 gallon tank for about 2 weeks (leo first, then libra at the end of the two weeks) because my mom was watching them and i cant lift the 40 gallon full of stuff up the stairs to my house. So once we got them moved to my house, I started prepping the 40 gallon tank with new substrate. I used cold water so I was letting the tank warm up in the room for a couple days while they stayed in the small tank. Leo started showing signs that he was going into molt, mainly lethargy and there are 2 spots where it seems like his exo is coming off. Since they were already in my iso tank (libra was buried) I iso's leo in the big tank (by this time it was at temp) next couple days were slow. He still wasnt moving much, not interested in food unless I put him in the food dish, and overall acting weak. I started making changes thinking it was the food, but that didnt seem to help. At the thrift store yesterday I found a humidifier that looked like it was never used and had a single nozzle spout instead of an all-over spray. I had been looking into foggers because although both my digital gauges usually gave favorable results, sometimes when I didnt spray until late at night when I got home the gauge would read like a 68%. So i attached a hose, ran spring water through the humidifier, and placed it at the top of the tank. It blows cold air, so I added my infared heater so balance it out (i tried this in Libra's tank first and with both was maintaining temp. Of 75° and humid of 85°, and with the 40 being bigger I figured the humid would drop down a bit whem I set it up. Decided to set it up with Leo and at first he seemed really into it. He was moving around a little more and more interested in food, so I figured it was helping. Wake up the next morning to Leo's shell upturned and him naked between the water dishes. I rinsed out his shell, grabed a couple new ones to rinse off as well (all have been boiled and kept clean). I rinsed him off as well, and tried in incrimets of like 5 minutes on, 20 minutes off to try to get him back in a shell. After the 3rd or so attempt I got him back in his original shell. Set him in the food dish and he has stayed there for the ast couple of hours. The humidifier was taken out of his tank when I saw he was naked and the lamp was turned off. I did have the humidifier blow in the bedroom they are located ( I've been sick and it was also helping my cold) I dont think he's molting because I didnt see a molt sac on him when he was naked. So it looks like he's weak and needs to build up strength to move around, but i havent got a clue how to do that. I did just check on him and although he isnt as tight in his shell as I'd like (he's always hung out a little bit) he is holding on so I think the reshelling has success.
.
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
I use a mixture of EE and Reptile bark on the top. It is 6-7 inches 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, i have a digital gauge. Without anything but spritzing and no heat source this time of year (my house is very hot) it reads between 73°-78° and humidity around 70. I just got a humidifier that i was planning on using as a fogger, and after 1 night the humidity rose to 85%but my crab evacuated the shell during the same night, so I took off the humidifier hose and just have it humidifiying the room. Current humid. Is 82%
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
In the summer I use an infared heat lamp, but in the winter my house is around 73° without anything.
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)?
Bottled spring water and salt water avail 24/7, salt water mixed with instant ocean. There was a period about a week ago that there wasnt salt water for a couple days because I ran out of IO
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I used to have them on shimp from petsmart along with fresh veggies, but when leo started going south i thought it could be the food so i switched him to 60% protein red shimp powder, fresh spinach and carrots, and added oats.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
He's a PP, I adopted him in April last year.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
He molted when I initially got him (down for three weeks) and again around October.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
He is in iso in my 40 gallon tank (the other two are in seperate iso tanks because I didnt want to move leo while he was frail).i usually have a plastic cover on the wire mesh lid, but took it off when I set up the humidifier.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
Everyone is in ISO right now. Leo, small, is in the 40, Libra, Med, is in a 10 gallon, and Pluck, small, who I just got on Tuesday, is in a travel cage but will be moving in with Libra on Tuesday. Once I get Leo sorted out, everyone will be in the 40.
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
Leo has 10 right now. 3 in the water dish, 7 in the shell shop.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
The humidifier, but that was just using bottled spring water
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
Spot clean with scoop as needed, complete empty and new substrate every 3 months. This was just done a week ago.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
No sponges
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
The humidifier, but its not on now
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.)?
Leo has always been my clean crab (doesnt drag substrate everywhere, bathes regularly) but since his last molt in October he's been rather pale
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
So, both leo and libra were in the 10 gallon tank for about 2 weeks (leo first, then libra at the end of the two weeks) because my mom was watching them and i cant lift the 40 gallon full of stuff up the stairs to my house. So once we got them moved to my house, I started prepping the 40 gallon tank with new substrate. I used cold water so I was letting the tank warm up in the room for a couple days while they stayed in the small tank. Leo started showing signs that he was going into molt, mainly lethargy and there are 2 spots where it seems like his exo is coming off. Since they were already in my iso tank (libra was buried) I iso's leo in the big tank (by this time it was at temp) next couple days were slow. He still wasnt moving much, not interested in food unless I put him in the food dish, and overall acting weak. I started making changes thinking it was the food, but that didnt seem to help. At the thrift store yesterday I found a humidifier that looked like it was never used and had a single nozzle spout instead of an all-over spray. I had been looking into foggers because although both my digital gauges usually gave favorable results, sometimes when I didnt spray until late at night when I got home the gauge would read like a 68%. So i attached a hose, ran spring water through the humidifier, and placed it at the top of the tank. It blows cold air, so I added my infared heater so balance it out (i tried this in Libra's tank first and with both was maintaining temp. Of 75° and humid of 85°, and with the 40 being bigger I figured the humid would drop down a bit whem I set it up. Decided to set it up with Leo and at first he seemed really into it. He was moving around a little more and more interested in food, so I figured it was helping. Wake up the next morning to Leo's shell upturned and him naked between the water dishes. I rinsed out his shell, grabed a couple new ones to rinse off as well (all have been boiled and kept clean). I rinsed him off as well, and tried in incrimets of like 5 minutes on, 20 minutes off to try to get him back in a shell. After the 3rd or so attempt I got him back in his original shell. Set him in the food dish and he has stayed there for the ast couple of hours. The humidifier was taken out of his tank when I saw he was naked and the lamp was turned off. I did have the humidifier blow in the bedroom they are located ( I've been sick and it was also helping my cold) I dont think he's molting because I didnt see a molt sac on him when he was naked. So it looks like he's weak and needs to build up strength to move around, but i havent got a clue how to do that. I did just check on him and although he isnt as tight in his shell as I'd like (he's always hung out a little bit) he is holding on so I think the reshelling has success.
.