Lighting Question

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 1:05 am

New crab owner here and our first two have recently passed whilst coming out of their shells/shedding.

I think firstly we need to replace acquarium gravel with moistened sand, which may have helped them.

But my question is (and I know its a silly one) but are we supposed to turn off the light at night?

We were leaving it on to keep them warm, but we also have a small undergravel heater. Perhaps we were drying them out?

Any assistance gratefully accepted.

Wella

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:03 am

Do you know if they are PPs? Because if they are then they are nocturnal and it would be good for them. As for any other breed it certainly won't hurt, they have day and night in the wild so why not with you too?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:08 am

OK, displaying my complete ignorance here, but what's a PP?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:14 am

yes, sand is a much better choice than gravel, they need to be able to dig easily- for health and for fun. turning off the light would be good too, hermit crabs actually are nocturnal. if youre worried about temp and humidity, gages are very important. i got mine at petdiscounters.com.
there are caresheets and crab care FAQ to the right of the screen under 'emergency care and links' with lots of good info.
read everything you can on this web site, topics and pull down menus, theyre very helpful. this place is priceless. im still working on making improvements for my hermies after reading around on here. good luck with yours

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 2:18 am

Yes, I have a lot of research to do, but thank you for your pointers.

We have a thermometer in the tank, but nothing to gauge humidity so this might be part of the problem. I

was so excited to see them coming out of their shells, but devastated when they perished. My 3yo son has put them in a matchbox and taken them to preschool for show and tell.

I'll replace the gravel with sand asap! Funny how the petshop didn't mention sand, they have theirs in sawdust (and they were dying by the truckload too!).

Thanks again, such a wonderful resource I have found.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 7:00 am

Wella wrote:OK, displaying my complete ignorance here, but what's a PP?

A "PP" is a "Purple Pincher" or if you want his scientific name: Coenobita clypeatus. Just one of the species of hermies (and the one you will probably find more often here in the States at pet shops). Since you are in Australia? You may want to post a pic for a crab ID because you may have a "Crazy Crab" instead (CC or C. varibilis).

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Wed Aug 09, 2006 8:43 pm

Hi Wella

In Australia we only have c. Variabilis (aussie crabs/crazy crabs) or c.Perlatus (Strawberry crabs). Straws aren't available anymore in Australia due to declining wild populations,so your crabs would definately be Aussies.
Aussie crabs have oval shaped eyes,and range in colour from pale cream to a dark tan/orange. They also have small black spots and sometimes stripes on their legs.

With gauges,they can be easily found at pet stores around Sydney. If you have trouble finding a local supplier, Aussie Crabber may be able to help you as she lives in Sydney as well.

With lighting and crabs being nocturnal,the best light at night-time is a moon-glo bulb. They can be bought in different wattages from 25 up to 75 watts. The higher the wattage,the more it helps provide heat,but it will reduce the tank humidity more as well.

With the pet store keeping their crabs in sawdust(which is an irritant to hermit crabs at the very least),perhaps you could print out a caresheet for them? It's awful when creatures keep dying because of misinformation.
Here's a link to a caresheet for more information.

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/pa ... bilis.html

If you have anymore questions with Aussie crabs,I'd be more than happy to help

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 7:44 pm

Hi Troppo

Thanks so much for your response. I've been turning off the light at night the temp drops to about 23C, the floor heater is still on though.

I'm going to speak to my local pet shop about their care sheets and give them a copy of one I was directed to on this site, much more helpful than theirs. I think I'll also find a more specialist shop somewhere who can help me with a hygrometer and a moon light etc. I'll also do some more reading around this site, you have all been so helpful.

Yes, it sounds like I have Aussies, their eyes are oval shaped and they are a grey/green colour and they are very cute, so I'm feeling exceptionally bad about not doing the right thing by them, but willing to make amends.

Thank so much for your help.

Wella

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:06 pm

Hi Wella,

23c at night is pretty good,considering you're in Sydney. My house temps were dropping to 12c and I was really struggling to keep it close to 20c at night,until I got a under tank heater and now it's all good.
But hey,don't feel bad,I wouldn't say you're a terrible crabber,geez the things I still do wrong.....Like not being able to keep the uth on during the day,and then having to dig the crabs up out of the sand so they don't get cooked when I turn it back on again in the evening

I really thought I'd be in trouble for that with the other crabbers here,because you're not supposed to dig em up. But I'm trying to remedy that issue.

Because your crabs are having molting problems,maybe a few Q's would help find out what's happening?

Do you have these things in the tank?
2 dishes,one with dehlorinated fresh water,one with dehlorinated salt water?
Places for the crabs to hide(such as a cocohut),and places for them to be able to dig down and molt/sleep?
A lid for the tank? With under tank heaters(as I'm finding out now) they can reduce the humidity levels which probably wouldn't be helping.

If you're having a heap of trouble finding a humidity gauge,I could always send you one,it's no hassle. The pet stores up here are pretty good keeping gauges in stock(seeing I've been complaining so much

)
Just let me know(Aussie crabber and I have swapped shells and other stuff) and I'll pm you.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:54 pm

Hi Troppo

Thanks so much for your interest, you have certainly been very helpful.

Firstly, to answer your questions:

Yes, I have two dishes of dechlorinated water, one salt one not.
Yes, I have a terracotta pot that's open at both ends that they hide in, and now that we have sand instead of aquarium gravel, lots of places for them to dig down.
Yes, we have a lid for the tank with a built in light, which I'm going to change to a moon light.

There is a pet store at Broadway that seems to be a little more clued into crabbing, so will check there for a humidity gague, but thanks for the offer anyway. The tank is located in our kitchen/dining area which has a heated floor overnight (cheaper to run it this way and the only form of heating we have in our very old house) so that's probaby why they stay so warm, so at least I know I won't be killing them overnight by switching off the light.

Anyway, will let you know how I go on Thursday after my visit to the pet store. Thanks again for your interest.

Wella

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 2:45 am

Hi Wella,

You have a heated floor? What are they(how are they heated?).