Naked crab obsessed with water bowl?

[Guest]

I can't seem to convince our crab to pick a shell and move in. He's been naked for about 4 days now, and he has plenty of shells to pick from. He has been soaking constantly in his water bowl, and since we live in such a cold area, I'm afraid he will not make it if he keeps this up. We have a heater under the tank, and the humidity here jumps back and forth-so it's really hard to keep things constant for him. The second crab we have has no problems, and has been more social since we added a cuttlebone to their house-in fact, he won't stay off the darn thing, he keeps playing on it. I put our problem crabby in a smaller container by himself, with water and closer to a bigger heater thinking it might be the cold that is causing him to act up-but I really have no clue what to do to help him out. Any suggestions are much appreciated!

[Guest]

I am sure there are people who know way more about this than me, and they will have good input. But, in the meantime the glass cup method worked wonderfully for my niece when her crab went naked. You can find it under Crab Car FAQ to the right. Look under the heading 'Naked Crab".

Also is there any thing you can do to get thier humidity more stable?

[Guest]

The entire top of their cage is vented, and I keep their water bowl full. Whenever I add coconut hull to their sand, it molds-what suggestions do you have? I haven't used the hull since I moved to a drier area-should I try it again? Or will the heat pad on the bottom of the cage just keep the mold cycle going? Each time it happened, the crabbies seemed unaffected and we sterilized their permanent toys-only removing all sand and hull completely.

[Guest]

Humidity might be part of your issue. As I have said before there are many others here who have much more knowledge than me, I have only been keeping hermit crabs since last September. I haven't had a death since I found Christa's site. If you go to links to the right and click on Hermit-Crabs.com it will take you there.

I will share with you what I know until others come along to help you. I would definatly make sure you get your humidity stable. In the area where I live you can get a humidity meter for around seven dollars at any pet store. The humidity meter has been a must have for me to keep my crabs healthy and happy. Going naked is a sign of distress and can be caused by many things, humidity is one of them. Humidity in your tank should be around 70-80%. To get you by until you get a meter make sure it feels tropical in your tank when you put your hand in. Some people put saran wrap over a portion of the top of their tank to stabilize humidity.

As for the coconut hull molding, I don't really know. I use play sand, but many here use the coconut hull so someone else should be able to help you there.

[Guest]

Ah, the bane of coco fiber.....it does like to mold way too quickly dosen't it. I had a big issue w/ this a few years back, the only solution that worked was to completely give up on using the fiber to help create humidity. Your goal is to humidify the air without saturating the substrate, a DIY humidifier made from an old jar and a deep water air pump (looses less pressure w/ multiple air stones) works wonders. Using this method I was able to continue a 75-25 mix of sand and fiber in my crabitat without any additional mold outbreaks. Soaking any natural wood items in salt water and then baking dry in a low oven will inhibit the growth of mold as well.

A fellow crabber's instructions are posted here: viewtopic.php?t=26260

My own differs slightly, using a taller, thinner jar with less surface area. An air stone is situated (tightly) at the bottom of a perforated plastic tube, which is in turn wrapped in aquarium filter batting. A second hose from the air filter is also inside the tube, sans the air stone for extra bubble action. The idea is to force most of the pressure of the air directly up thru the tube, where the water then condensates on the batting, and the saturated air is pushed out. Seems to create much more humidity than sponges alone, works beautifully! Maintains my humidity at 77-82%, running at two 9 hour intervals a day.

I would also recommed looking into getting a glass lid, or having a piece of plexi-glass cut to size. Maintaining their temp & humidity is essential! Having an open lid will cause huge fluctuations in the conditions of your tank, which is very stressful to hermies. It also leaves them vulnerable to accidental contamination via cleaning and personal care products, etc. that are carried in the air.

As for your little naked guy, along with stabilizing your tank conditions, I'd try the glass cup method using his old shell and do your best not to further disturb him. However, I have to say I've only had to deal w/ this problem once, after a shell fight. I was able to coax my streaker into his old house which had been abandoned by the aggressor, and oddly enough he has remained in that darn shell for nearly 3 years and 4 molts! If the crab dosen't appear interested in his old shell, you could try finding a slightly larger version of the original with a similar shape, weight, and lining. If the old shell is heavy, try a lighter one, or vice versa. What species is the crab in question? Most are quite particular in their choice of shells.

Your UTH could be an issue as well....some crabbies like them, others do not. I haven't had much luck with their use, it makes the substrate too warm, which could be another factor for your naked hermie. Though your thermometer may display air temp at 72, the temp of the substrate may be much warmer. If he is constantly in the water, he is likely over heated. This is your crab's attempt at regulating his body temp. A brown-ish fluid is a sign of extensive overheating, and usually spells death for crabs.

You might invest in a 15-watt moonglo bulb for use as a heat source in lieu of the UTH. The second crab spending the majority of its time on the cuttlebone and out of the substrate might also indicate the substrate is too warm, as well as a possible calcium defiency.

Good luck to you and your crabbies! Hope all turns out well.

[Guest]

My crab was a nudist for nearly three weeks. He was all over the cage. Top to bottom, literally, he hung from the lid. I finally got so terrified that I was going to lose him that I came searching for answers on the internet and found this site. I had major problems with my humidity also. Here's what I did to fix it. Keep in mind I have a very large critter keeper. I use calci-sand that is approx 1 and 1/2 inches deep with the smallest UTH. On the back wall of my tank I have hermit climbing background that I change monthly- to prevent mold. You can cut it to size and it velcros on. The best part about it, if you mist it it will retain the water to help with the humidity and my little guy loves it. When that didn't do enough, I took the press and seal wrap and custom cut it for the lid of my tank. It has air going in where I want it to and best of all the stuff is microwaveable so it won't melt with my 75w sun and moon glo bulbs that are each mounted a foot above the tank on timers. Now I have the tank at a steady 80% humidity, daytime temp 80, nighttime temp of 76. Maybe if you do a salt water spray once or twice a week it will help sut down with the mold? So far my tank hasn't showed any signs of mold. As far as my little nudist. I used the glass cup method, and he is happily back in his old shell. Right now he is sitting in his salt bath munching on a piece of banana. Hope some of this help you.

[Guest]

What do you mean the top of the tank is vented? Is it one of those lids with lots of holes in it? If so, you might want to try a glass lid. Also, do you spray the glass? If so, how much? I would say if you don't spray the glass, do, and if you do spray the glass, try spraying it more. It really sounds like a humidity thing to me.

[Guest]

I think naked crabs like water bowls.

[Guest]

Just an update for our streaker. We got him to go back into his shell on Saturday for a couple of hours, and evened everything out..then a little while later he came back out of his shell and wouldn't respond to anything. We had kept him isolated to make sure he wouldn't be disturbed, but it didn't work. We checked him on early Sunday morning, and found that we lost him. His buddy is still doing really well though. I don't think they have a calcium deficiency-they live on a bed of calcisand, with no coco hull mixed in..we stopped that after the first couple of mold incidents. I got the top vent sealed off, and the humidity is up. The temp of sand is where it needs to be. So we think that our survivor is going to do well. Just a thought though, could our little guy that we lost have gotten sick from shell changing? I bought the shells he had been playing in online, and we thought we had cleaned them well enough-our survivor has never played in the new shells and is doing just fine.

[Guest]

I think naked crabs in a water dish means he is dehydrated or too hot.

My lid is also vented, I put a wet towel over it and fold back a corner, so that the humidity doesn't get too high and for air flow. My humidity usually stays around 80%.

[Guest]

I thought all glass lids have some kind of vent in them...? There has to be SOME kind of airflow, no?