Proud Hermit owner! and a question...

Zooylew · Post by **Zooylew** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 9:18 am

So we have finally gotten our hermit cage to stabilize! Our heat is about 85 and our humidity is Finally staying in the cage after I cover the lid with a plastic bag and old towel. Two Hermits have switched to bigger shells and one still have a neon pink shell though I'm working on it. She/he is clearly a purple pincher but is WICKED shy and is way to big for the shell it's in but it won't switch. I mean it's horribly tiny. We bought about eight more shells at six are turbos in different sizes three are her or his size but he just won't move! Any ideas?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 11:45 am

@Zooylew, sometimes hermitcrabs can be seriously stubborn about switching shells which is normal but then hermitcrabs who are in painted shells also have another far more serious reason for not switching shells which I will explain, basically hermitcrabs who are in painted shells get forced into them using on of three potential methods which are all very typical in the painted shell trade, way one is that the hermitcrabs are passed through a gassing chamber where they pass out from lack of oxygen and then fall out of their natural shells, way two involves the crabs being essentially baked in an oven so that they become weakened enough by heat exhaustion just slip right out of their shells and the third way is that the hermitcrabs are forcibly pulled from the natural shells and inserted into the painted shells.The issue with the third extraction method is it has a very high mortality rate because hermitcrabs don't willingly give up their shells they will allow themselves to be torn in half rather than be pulled out so one out of every two crabs gets killed using this barbaric method.All three methods do some kind of damage to the crabs and unfortunately they usually wind up being shoved into the painted shells before they have had time to fully dry and a lot of the people who spray paint the shells let the paint drip into the inside of the shell so when the crabs are forced in and the paint is still wet they end up being painted into the shell this is a fairly common issue with painted shells and could explain why your crab hasn't switched shells it may be that she just physically cant due to being stuck in her present shell for the reason I listed above.The only thing I would recommend doing is if you can get her to extend out of the shell look underneath at her belly and see if maybe there might be some paint on it if so then she's going to need to be cut out of the shell which can be done carefully with fingernail clippers.

Zooylew · Post by **Zooylew** » Thu Mar 12, 2015 12:57 pm

That's the thing when ever she sees someone walk by the cage she shoves herself into the shell and refuses to come out. We've tried warm salt water baths and fresh water baths. I know your really shouldn't do that but We're really worried. She also only comes out when It's dark in their room. Like pitch black the only reason you can see her moving is because she shell it bright pink. I hate pained shells the natural ones look sooo much better.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Fri Mar 13, 2015 5:16 pm

Right now she's still very new and as a consequence is still treating all movement as threat which is unfortunate for you at the moment.The only thing you can do right now is just let her acclimate to her new surroundings and you, this is one of the reasons that we recommend a four week isolation period for all new purchases because they need this time to get used to their new surroundings and to de-stress or molt if need be.Forcible bathing is not a good idea is generally discouraged because it does damage to the crabs fixed gills not to mention it strips their exoskeleton of their natural body oils which they work so hard to make and this actually leads to them drying out as odd as it sounds bathing a crab can actually dry it out which just adds more stress to the poor crab.Hermitcrabs who are bought together can be iso'd together but hermitcrabs who are purchased separate from each other even from the same store need to be isolated alone for the four week period.Newly purchased hermitcrabs will be very stressed and as a result very sickly because they have been subjected to all kinds of bacterial and fungal infections because they usually end up being housed with hundreds sometimes thousands of other hermitcrabs in tight quarters at the harvesters warehouse where they receive little in the way of nutrition or shelter, the lack of proper food and water reduces the crabs immune systems, then they become stressed which further compromises their immune system which causes them to become susceptible to all kinds of infections they would have normally been able to fight off in the wild.Then you have to add the fact that they have had to postpone molting for weeks sometimes a month or two because they won't molt unless they can find suitable conditions which means they will keep secreting the molt inhibiting hormone until it builds up in their system becoming highly toxic and at that point it either throws them into a surface molt or just outright kills them either way they are left in pretty bad shape.By the time they get to us they are literally on deaths door step so its no wonder they react to everything like its a predator.Like I said before the only thing you can do is to just leave her alone making sure to keep fresh food and water rotated in the enclosure and keep the temp and humidity stable around seventy five this will help her deal with acclimating better by making it just a bit easier on her.If you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

Zooylew · Post by **Zooylew** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 8:43 am

She's really not that new we have had her for four months now... She was one of the first three we got.... one past away and one switched shells and does it almost everyday. Now she digs down and stays down for a very very long time. When she came up she was seen for the first time in two months... and okay I'll ask we have had them for a while though thats why I asked. Her other pink shelled friend switched into a normal shell after a week or so...

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:02 am

I appologize I misunderstood your original post, I thought she was new to you but now that I know that she has been with you for four months the situation seems a littler weirder because she has had plenty of time to acclimate and should have already switched shells at least once by now.I would lean towards her maybe being stuck at this but a good clue as to whether or not she is indeed stuck due to either being painted in or just too big is if she has molted since being with you.If she goes down for a while like three weeks or more and then comes up hairy with sharp new nail tips then you'll know she is molting and a stuck crab wont be able to physically wiggle free of the old exo since that layer is what is attached to the shell in the case of a painted in hermitcrab.Some hermitcrabs become lodged in their shells when their abdomens become swollen or engorged with fluids because they tried to wear a shell that was just a little too tight fitting its the same thing as when you put a ring on your finger that fits just a little too snugly it starts to cause the finger to accumulate fluids around the area inducing swelling which makes getting ring off a lot harder.A hermitcrabs soft flexible abdomen will swell with fluid accumulation when it has been forced into a shell that is just too small.This can cause the crab to become stuck and will affect the crabs appetite making it eat less due to the pain.

Zooylew · Post by **Zooylew** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:21 am

It's okay. I sadly do not think any one has molted yet. Though I did catch my large crab start to really dig down so I think he may be going down to molt. So should i try to cut the shell away? She comes out at nights and crawls around but only a tiny bit then after fie minutes digs back down again... Maybe if I open the entrance hole to the shell a bit bigger she could get out or maybe it would force her to move shells? I've never seen her eat or drink but I assume she has other wise she would be dead. I'm worried because the shell does seem to be way to small and it's painted and not a round shell it kind of looks like this...http://img1.photographersdirec...2857/wm/pd401889.jpg

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:18 pm

The shell you linked me to is very similar to the Japanese land snail shell and is a favorite of my E's but due to the D shaped opening its not really a good shell type for Purple Pincher hermitcrabs since they tend to have long skinny abdomens they don't usually go for this kind of shell as its not a very comfortable fit to begin with.What you can do is take her out of the tank and run some lukewarm water in a bowl make sure to dechlorinate it first then sit her in the water for about five or six minutes this should coax her into being active and if you can try to get a good look at her tail or abdomen where it exits the shell if it looks swollen or red then she might have in infection from being stuck and fluid accumulating.If you want you can post a pic of her on here and I will take a look at it and see what may be going on.

Zooylew · Post by **Zooylew** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 2:20 pm

okay I'll do it as soon as possible... Thank you for all the help! I'm not sure how I'll get a good look at her abdomen seeing that she is WICKED shy but I'll do my best. Thank you!

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 4:47 pm

Your welcome and if you have any more questions please don't hesitate to ask as that is what we are here for.

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:49 pm

I have a girl crab that I have had since 2011 she is very shy and will flip on her back and with draw up in her shell so tight. She has never got used to my hAnds being in the tank. My others just walk away or crabby paddy just sits there. He is my first one. I don't play with mine. Mine are just show . Mine are purple pinchers to. They love natural turbo or turbo shells in general. If given one at the beginning after purchasing with in a few hours mine have all changed. Buying one in a painted shell has its risks. They deserve a chance to get out of the crap conditions and into ideal, but these breeders trying to make a buck buy making them pretty just ruins it for some. Can I ask a ? When you say cage, do mean fish tank or actual cage?

Zooylew · Post by **Zooylew** » Sun Mar 15, 2015 3:28 pm

It's a fish tank not a cage. Mine are a look don't touch pet. They are treated as wild animals as best as we can treat them as such. Shes dug right down so I'm just going to have to see if I can get a picture of her or something when she comes back up.

Laurie LeAnn · Post by **Laurie LeAnn** » Mon Mar 16, 2015 6:03 am

That's what mine are..wild creatures, look no touch. It just throws me when people say cage, lol. i have seen people put them in these round cages before and expect them to live.

Zooylew · Post by **Zooylew** » Tue Mar 17, 2015 1:13 pm

Sorry. I have a lot cage animals so I've kind of always said cage as in tanks too. I have a minni zoo