HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My fav crab came up just a few hours ago from a molt, he is a small PP. He has been attacked twice tonight and this has never happened to me I don't normally bathe a crab, but I just put him in a bowl of fresh water for a minute and then sprayed him down with the de-stress spray. Is there anything else I can do. It was bad, my biggest PP just went nuts trying to get him! I freaked out!

Make sure you have plenty of protein in your tank. I always have shrimp with the exo on, in the tank if i know a hermit crab is molting or has just come up from a molt.

I do... I had a mass molt, and I put out some brine shrimp, some surf-n-turf from HCP as well as pollen. I have NEVER had this happen. That's why I am so shocked

A bath was an excellent thing to do! A lot of the time they come up still smelling "off" or "yummy" and a bath will put them back to being neutral.

What is de-stress spray though??

wodesorel wrote:A bath was an excellent thing to do! A lot of the time they come up still smelling "off" or "yummy" and a bath will put them back to being neutral.

What is de-stress spray though??

Thanks Wode. My life was really put into perspective last night when I stayed up till 1a.m 'guarding' my crabs! 'Gary' is (one of) my favorite hermies and he came up from his first molt with me yesterday so needless to say I was excited, as I know the chances of survival at that point were tripled! My tank is by my computer desk so it's easy for me see in while I work (I work from home). Well, he was attacked by two crabs, the first time I just seperated them, but I kept a CLOSE eye on him after that. It wasn't until "Cesaer" my largest PP yanked him OFF the cholla wood that I freaded out! Cesaer is the nicest crab I have and I knew if he was on the attack it was gonna be a long night. I didn't know what else to do so I just put him in a fresh water bath for a minute and sprayed him. I have had this spray forever and have used it before. It's a water treatment spray, but it says on the back "Directions for misting: MIst hermit crab every few days" and "reduces hermit crab stress". I don't ever use it, as I don't bathe or mist my crabs, but I figured in this case it couldn't hurt. I included a photo of the product.

Well, after the bath, I put him back in and he climed up a plant and stayed there. I noticed no one was bothering him, so after it seemed like the coast was clear (no pun intended) I went to bed. I was on the verg of tears. As I said, it really put my life into perspective, who knew a lil' ol' crab could cause me so much agony

So I got up this morning and I don't see him. I hope this is a good thing and he has just buried himself, but I am sure the WHOLE situation was stressful for him. Molt..attacked twice.. bath... poor guy. I am worried, but I think if he was attacked again I would see him above ground in not so good condition. Maybe the bath worked and he is just 'sleeping'. I can tell you this, I will be glued to this tank today looking for his cute little spotted self. I wish I had taken a pic, I would attach it. But if he makes it, ya'll can count on photos!

I've run into situations like that before, and it was always really weird. The most memorable is when Giggles came up from molting and was getting attacked by everyone in the tank, including the two small females who were half his size. They were just tossing him around in his shell like he was a beach ball! I separated him out and he immediately re-buried and molted again, and was up in 10 days with a BP that was three times larger than when he went down. One, I have no idea how he molted again so quickly. Two, I can't believe he grew that much in ten days. Three, I have no idea why he surfaced in between or what he was smelling like to have gotten an entire tank of crabs in the mood to attack/eat him.

Hopefully Gary was able to find a comfortable place and is chilling for a bit while things calm down above. He may have even decided to come up too soon and will stay underground for a week or two longer. Predicting what they'll do when it comes to a molt is impossible as not every crab does the "stay underground for x amount of weeks and then surfaces and acts normal again" routine. Some are up and down for food, some are up and then right back down to rest.

Personally, I wouldn't use the spray directly on them. If it can "make water safe" (and knowing these products I have to question that even), then it's a dechlor, and considering it only takes a few drops per gallon to remove chlorine I don't know what it would do to a crab if used straight-up. Properly diluted it's safe, but concentrated it's a strong salt (not salt like marine salt, but sodium and sulfate) and I know how much it can sting if you get it in your eyes. A good fish or reptile dechlor used normally would be the best option.