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Disturbed whilr molting...what to do now?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 4:41 pm
by occbee
Our tank had a terrible stink to it and I was trying to clean up the substrate. The tank had a "still water stink" to it. But while I was trying to clean out the tank I uncovered one of our crabs with most of his exoskeleton off. At first i thought it was dead because it has been buried for 3-4 weeks now! But then I saw it's little legs moving in the shell so I realised it was molting.My question is - what do I do now? I put it in a separate tank with the exoskeleton so it was away from our other crabs. Should I just put it on top of the substrate (with maybe a hermie hut/coconut shell for shelter) or dig a hole for it?I'm in Sydney, Australia and we are having a fairly cold winter (well for us!) so keeping the hermies warm has been a challenge anyway. But I am also concerned about keeping this little guy warm, as our spare tank is plastic with grill things as walls - so not exactly the best for keeping the environment warm and humid for him.Sorry there are lots of questions - we are only new hermit crab owners. I hope I have made sense.Thanks Kylie

Disturbed whilr molting...what to do now?

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2014 12:30 am
by Geranium
Do NOT cover the crab with substrate. You could suffocate him that way.It is vital that he have heat and humidity in the higher end of the good ranges right now. Can you get this tank inside the other tank? Can you get it up against the other tank by the UTH? Maybe try covering the walls with plastic wrap or towels. What are the heat & humidity readings?