Naked crab-- can't remember what all I'm supposed to do

[Tala]

Just looked into the tank and noticed one of our crabs is naked. I placed 4 shells close to the little guy and backed away-- I didn't want to make a big commotion and alarm him. Just wanted to check to see what else I should do. He didn't seem too lethargic-- he turned and backed his soft bits up against the mopani log when I reached my arm into the tank. And I peeked it real quick about 10 minutes ago and he had crawled a bit closer towards the shells.

A couple weeks ago we got a new little guy that was in a candy snail shell and he immediately dug down into the sand and we haven't seen him since. I'm thinking this naked guy could be him and he may have ditched his shell before surfacing. There are 2 others about the same size/color in the tank though so it's possible it could be one of those instead.
We've had crabs for a little over a year now and I've gotten pretty confident in caring for them and not worrying about every small thing like I was at the beginning. This time though I kind of went into panic mode and I'm not sure I remember all the posts and advice I read about this type of situation in the past




1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Play sand, 8-10 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? 84% humidity, 81 degrees

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? Large UTH attached to back of tank

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)? Both-- Instant Ocean and Prime

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? Variety of fresh fruits & veggies, dried mealworms/crickets/insects, dry mix with nuts, oats, dandelions, etc. replaced as needed (fresh replaced every day or two)

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? Purple pincher-- had it anywhere from 3 weeks to 9 months

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? Unsure

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? 75 gallon tank, glass lid with hinged openings

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 9, varying sizes

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 25-30+ (not positive, didn't count them-- there are lots though)

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No

12. How often do you clean the tank and how? Vinegar on glass as needed

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? No

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? Yellow bell pepper 2 nights ago

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.)? We pretty much just leave them be

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.

[Kermie16]

Sounds like u have the right stuff going on with ur tank. I think first thing to do would be to iso the little guy and to put him in with extra shells, organic honey, peanut butter and a source of calcium like cuttle bone or crushed oyster shells.


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[Tala]

Sounds like u have the right stuff going on with ur tank. I think first thing to do would be to iso the little guy and to put him in with extra shells, organic honey, peanut butter and a source of calcium like cuttle bone or crushed oyster shells.


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Thank you! What should I do if I don't have a way to isolate him? I gave him a shell of organic honey right after posting that and he immediately went for it. It looked like he was picking at the side of the shell as well- I assumed for the calcium. I'll put the cuttlebone near him in a bit-- trying to avoid getting in and out of the tank too much so he hopefully won't get too stressed.

[GotButterflies]

You could re shell him very gently. (If he hasn't picked a shell yet. Then I would probably isolate him with the 2liter Soda bottle trick, or Tupperware in the tank if you don't have a separate ISO tank. Better to be safe than sorry. Provide him with the honey, calcium, water & shells Best wishes! I will be praying for you!


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[Kermie16]

As GotButterflies said:) May be PPS if he has only been with u for 3 weeks. To check if he has recently undergone a molt I can see if he has black sharp tips and hairy legs. Please keep us posted and let us know how he is doing! Praying for a good outcome!!


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[Tala]

Thank you both! We checked for the fresh post-molt signs but we're still not sure because he's so tiny. With our larger ones it's always very clear when they've molted-- long black tips and scary looking hair, haha.
He's gone back and forth to the water bowl (a/b 5 or 6 inches) a few times and otherwise has been parked in front of the honey & cuttlebone. Still not interested in a shell though.
The other crabs are leaving him alone though, so that's nice. Earlier the naked crab and one of our others were both leaning over reaching into the water bowl at the same time. We'll try to get him isolated before bedtime when we won't be able to monitor them.

Here's a picture of him. He's definitely got some hairs but we can't tell how fresh they are

[kieagcarm]

Is he an e?

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[Tala]

Is he an e?

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I don't think so? If so it was an accident, haha. He's just really pale, I think. If it is an e I need to put some different shells in there

[PinchersAndShells]

This is the best advice on reshelling I could find.

As stated before you'll want to get the crab into a shell as soon as possible. If he won't go into one himself, you will have to do so for him by picking him up right in front of his legs, behind his head. Rinse a shell that is slightly too large, and is as lightweight as possible in de-chlorinated water, and rinse the crabs abdomen gently as well before gently uncurling it and sliding it into the shell. He should grab on and situate himself in the shell. Some find that using a cup with a bit of substrate and the shell in the bottom can help with crabs that won't take shells as the crab has "no place to go" other than than in the shell.

[PinchersAndShells]

His eyes don't have the E shape. I'm pretty sure he's a pale PP.

[Rawrgeous]

It sounds like everyone pretty much covered this. I suggest re-shelling him asap and isoing until he gets a bit stronger, offer lots of protein, honey, and calcium such as eggshell, crushed oyster, and cuttlebone as well as a cap of fresh and saltwater. The only thing that might be even slightly concerning about your template is you are on the low side of shells with 9 crabs, as we recommend 3-4 per crab. While you do have 27-30 or so shells, just make sure there is no size gap, or a certain size that is popular with your crabs right now just in case this stemmed from aggression. I can confirm this is a purple pincher, and from his coloring he does seem a bit pale, and while coloring variations are normal,and there are perfectly healthy pale crabs it is also possible he is so pale from lack of nutrition from wherever you got him from. Sometimes crabs will ditch their shells if they are too weak to carry them. :/ The post that was referenced should cover re-shelling. Hoping the best for your little one! Keep us posted!

[Kermie16]

Tala, how is ur little guy doing today?


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[Tala]

It sounds like everyone pretty much covered this. I suggest re-shelling him asap and isoing until he gets a bit stronger, offer lots of protein, honey, and calcium such as eggshell, crushed oyster, and cuttlebone as well as a cap of fresh and saltwater. The only thing that might be even slightly concerning about your template is you are on the low side of shells with 9 crabs, as we recommend 3-4 per crab. While you do have 27-30 or so shells, just make sure there is no size gap, or a certain size that is popular with your crabs right now just in case this stemmed from aggression. I can confirm this is a purple pincher, and from his coloring he does seem a bit pale, and while coloring variations are normal,and there are perfectly healthy pale crabs it is also possible he is so pale from lack of nutrition from wherever you got him from. Sometimes crabs will ditch their shells if they are too weak to carry them. :/ The post that was referenced should cover re-shelling. Hoping the best for your little one! Keep us posted!

Tala, how is ur little guy doing today?


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Unfortunately he didn't make it. We were able to re-shell him and he was still alive around 2 am, but we checked around 7:30 when we woke up and he had died.

My best guess is that it was PPS. We've had 2 in the past that died from it, but they both stayed in their shells and died within the first few days so this situation was different. We've never had any issues with aggression (at least nothing we've noticed) so hopefully it wasn't the case this time. We probably could use a few more smaller shells, though. I went through and measured them all awhile back to make sure we had enough per crab and we didn't have as many smalls. All of our other crabs have grown SO fast, and we only had 2 at the time that were that small.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll be more prepared if it happens again-- but fingers crossed I doesn't.

[Kermie16]

So sorry for your loss, Tala Seems like u did the best u could for the little guy but the PPS was too much for him.


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[Rawrgeous]

I'm very sorry for your loss.

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