Four crabs molting, with a woopsy on my part
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2020 4:19 pm
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? I use Coconut fiber, roughly 4" deep as all my crabs are smaller than a quarter.
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 analogue gauges for both in the top left corner of the tank, typically reading 80 degrees and usually 75% humidity
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? I use an UTH on the back of my tank that almost covers that whole side.
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 use salt and fresh, and am working through the dechlorinater and salt treatment that comes with the starter set. I follow the instructions on the boxes.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I feed them a little of everything. Bell peppers, cherries, carrots, cooked egg yolk, red shrimp, meal worms, mushrooms, basically all the gourmet stuff i can get my hands on. I make sure its safe enough that i could eat it and be fine.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? Ive had them going on a month and believe all four are purple pincers
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? Theyre trying to molt now i think.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? they're in a ten gallon, mesh lid that's mostly covered with saran wrap. I have a small vent in it that i slip the fogger in when humidity is needed.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 4 crabs, no bigger than quarters with the largest being just that size
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? i keep 3 at any given time
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how? i change the food and water daily, check the wood, and have pill bugs for substrate clean up.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? i have a sponge in the fresh water, and rinse it out with my tap water (im on a well system) until im sure its clean.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? its a new enclosure so everything's fresh.
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.)? i like to pick them up once a day to check on them if they're on the surface and active.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. So i went to pick up one of my little guys the other day who was only partially burried as he was in the way (i was trying to change food and water and he was almost right under both) and what i believe to be his exo fell out. Scared me to death, but i realized he dug a cave and gently put him down. I realize he's molting and put a cut off soda bottom over him as best i could to keep the others away. I didn't have an ISO set up yet. Then while thinking about it, all four of my little guys are getting ready to molt! Two of them have been buried for a few days, but my smallest was on the surface. Thinking she might surface molt, i put her in the suspended moss pit to keep her safe, and quickly set up an ISO with favorable conditions. My emergency is that she really hasnt been moving for a few days, but she's getting redder so i know she's going to molt soon. When i picked her up to put her in iso, she was still in her shell, curled up, but relatively limp, and one of my pill bugs is in her shell with her! I'm not sure what to do or what this means. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!!!
.
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 analogue gauges for both in the top left corner of the tank, typically reading 80 degrees and usually 75% humidity
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? I use an UTH on the back of my tank that almost covers that whole side.
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 use salt and fresh, and am working through the dechlorinater and salt treatment that comes with the starter set. I follow the instructions on the boxes.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I feed them a little of everything. Bell peppers, cherries, carrots, cooked egg yolk, red shrimp, meal worms, mushrooms, basically all the gourmet stuff i can get my hands on. I make sure its safe enough that i could eat it and be fine.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? Ive had them going on a month and believe all four are purple pincers
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? Theyre trying to molt now i think.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? they're in a ten gallon, mesh lid that's mostly covered with saran wrap. I have a small vent in it that i slip the fogger in when humidity is needed.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 4 crabs, no bigger than quarters with the largest being just that size
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? i keep 3 at any given time
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how? i change the food and water daily, check the wood, and have pill bugs for substrate clean up.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? i have a sponge in the fresh water, and rinse it out with my tap water (im on a well system) until im sure its clean.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? its a new enclosure so everything's fresh.
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.)? i like to pick them up once a day to check on them if they're on the surface and active.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. So i went to pick up one of my little guys the other day who was only partially burried as he was in the way (i was trying to change food and water and he was almost right under both) and what i believe to be his exo fell out. Scared me to death, but i realized he dug a cave and gently put him down. I realize he's molting and put a cut off soda bottom over him as best i could to keep the others away. I didn't have an ISO set up yet. Then while thinking about it, all four of my little guys are getting ready to molt! Two of them have been buried for a few days, but my smallest was on the surface. Thinking she might surface molt, i put her in the suspended moss pit to keep her safe, and quickly set up an ISO with favorable conditions. My emergency is that she really hasnt been moving for a few days, but she's getting redder so i know she's going to molt soon. When i picked her up to put her in iso, she was still in her shell, curled up, but relatively limp, and one of my pill bugs is in her shell with her! I'm not sure what to do or what this means. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!!!
.
