1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
6" of 5:1 sand and eco earth
2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?
Right now it reads 74 degrees and 90% humidity. Though the issue started in the transporting tank where the temp was 74 and the humidity was 70%
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
No, not yet
4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?
a tub of salt water (used Prime to dechlorinate water), a tub of freshwater and a little bowl of freshwater both dechlorinated with Prime, but he only had one bowl of freshwater in the temp tank with him
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? A mix of veggies and fruits from the garden with a sprinkle of Deluxe Hermit Crab Food ( a powder).
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I think it's a purple pincher We got him on Saturday July 9th, last week.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
I don't think so but that might be what's happening
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? He was in a 14"x8" plastic transporting kind of tank with a lid with holes in it that we got him in as we bought and prepared the 29 gallon tank. We had put a damp cloth over it to keep in the humidity.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? Five small crabs (about an inch wide) were in the tank with him.
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? there are about 7 in there right now with various sizes, though we took them out to clean them two days ago so they could move into the bigger tank. He was still in the shell he was in at the store, which was probably not big enough for him.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
no
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
Haven't really cleaned it yet since we just got it. Clean out the food every night and changed the water, but that's it.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? We had a sponge in there for the first couple of days until we read to take it out. Hasn't been in there for a few days.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
No, not the one he was in.
15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?
We had given them a bath in shallow salt water since we were moving them into the big tank the next day, but he was moving around fine after that. Other than that we didn't handle them at all.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
This morning we lifted the coco hut so we could move the crabs from the temporary transport tank (which they have been in since we got them on Friday) into the 29 gallon. We picked each crab up gently and moved them to the big tank. When we picked up Vincent he didn't move at all, but we put him in the tank, I thought maybe he was feeling shy. That was when we noticed two legs left behind in the temporary tank. So we left him alone for a couple hours, but he still wasn't moving. My daughter was really sad, she thought he had died and she was afraid that the other crabs might eat him and she couldn't handle seeing that. We left him there a little longer and kept an eye on him. Then tonight, when he hadn't moved at all assumed we he was dead, so I moved him back into the temporary tank, just in case. Then of course afterwards I saw that I should have kept him there and put a 2 liter soda bottle over him in case he was molting...I feel terrible, I moved him twice! I totally thought that two legs down and not moving at all meant he was dead. I thought maybe one of the other crabs was giving him a hard time. We have one that seems like a bit of a bully. A couple nights before Goyle was roughhousing with Claudia, there was chirping involved, so I feared that maybe Goyle was messing with Vincent and killed him. But maybe he was molting, but didn't have any substrate to go under in the temporary tank. It took us a while to get everything together when we got home because two people in my family have COVID so much of my attention has been taking care of them. And it took forever to get all the supplies and clean them and wait for them to dry. It was quite a process. I just wish I had gotten him in the big tank earlier. So he's alone in the temporary tank now with just aquarium pebbles in it. I hope I didn't do any harm when I moved him if he is alive. What else should I put in there with him? Or should I just assume he's dead? He's still in his shell, kinda half in half out. Should I put food and water in with him? I never saw them eat any food at all, there were times it seemed a little was gone in the morning, but not much. I never saw them in the water either. Thanks for any suggestions.
