Not sure what happened ......

[mom23es]

Well all of my crabs have died. I do not know what happened as they lived a life of luxury compared to most poor little captive crabs. Most of them I had for over 3 years but they just all buried down and never came back up. I dug the tank out yesterday and there were no survivors ....... or so I thought! I put the tank and everything out on my back deck and washed and cleaned everything off leaving it sit out to dry. We had a thunderstorm last night so this morning I headed back out to dump everything out so that it could dry. I had a pile of shells (which had all been searched and washed!) sitting in a bucket. I dumped them all out and was turning them over when low and behold .... I see a pincher! .... What the heck??. I blow on him and swish he sucks himself all the way back into the shell where he can't be seen. I flushed that shell out yesterday with a high pressure hose!! He may be too traumatized to make it and since I have no idea what killed all the rest of them he could have other issues but for now he is in a tiny tank ... all alone .... and I'll have to wait and see if he dries out and moves. ACK! I feel so bad .... I just didn't see him.

I had a 30gal tank with pretty perfect living conditions. I wonder what happened but my crabbing days are over. I'll keep this little guy as comfy as possible but my hopes are not high for survival after his experience yesterday. He is pretty pale so probably also just molted. Ugh.......

[megmaholm]

I'm so sorry that you're not having luck. I'll keep my fingers crossed for your remaining little guy. Crabbing can be heartbreaking because they can be delicate and there's only so much you can do for them. I know you said your conditions are good, but if you want to run through them using this template maybe we can try to offer some advice. Is your substrate deep enough and sandcastle consistency? Temp/humidity good?

[mom23es]

Thanks for the reply but I am done with hermits except for this one left. He came out last night and roamed his new little tank, had a meal, played with some shells and is now back in the corner. He just may make it through the trauma although I know he will be lonely.

I did read everything on here three years ago when I set up the tank. Substrate was good, depth was good, had temp and humidity right, food was good and plentiful (ordered from stores recommended on here), had both salt and fresh water bubble pools. There is a photo on here somewhere of my tank. I really don't know what happened. They were great for about 2 years, many successful molts and around 6 months ago they all dug down never to be seen again.

Found it - I had just set it back up so temp and humidity were still leveling out when I took the photo.


I'll be in Myrtle Beach again this summer and the temptation will be great ..... but I WILL NOT come home with more. Hear that SELF .... I will not come home with more.

[megmaholm]

Yep, your tank looks good so it's hard to say what happened. I'm really sorry and I understand your decision.

I do hope your little guys makes it and doesn't get too lonely. I think it's a good sign he was out exploring last night.

[wodesorel]

I am so so so sorry!!! Oh my gosh, that is terrible. I remember when you started out here and you did do everything right. We see long term crabbers report back every once in a while about complete die off, and it's always a total shock since they've always done everything by the book. It goes to show there's a lot we don't know, and a lot that can we can't see when they're under. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss and I hope the little guy pulls through!