naked hermit crab - maybe mites?

[hermitcrabz10]

Since you've come to the emergency forum, we know you want a fast answer to your question. In order for us to figure out the problem as quickly as possible, we ask that you answer the following questions as best you can. Some of them may seem odd, but they're all designed to give us the information we need to give you a good solution for your problem. The things in the [ brackets ] are there to make this post easier to read once submitted. Thanks!


1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? eco earth and play sand - 6 inches


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?
yes and inside the tank. humidity 80% and temp is 77

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
not in the tank, outside UTH but on the side

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)?
they have both water. the water is treated with prime and the salt mix is instant ocean

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
i use etsy mixes and sometimes fresh food. fresh food taken out each day

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
he’s a purple pincher and i’ve had him for about 2 months

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? hasn’t molted


8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
20 g long, mesh lid but it’s wrapped to seal humidity

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 2. they’re both smaller than a golf ball


10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? a lot, over 10


11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? no


12. How often do you clean the tank and how? i haven’t yet since i just got it up and running a couple months ago


13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? i don’t have sponges


14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? the new crab - cream cheese


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.)? phil (my original crab) was very healthy before adding cream cheese. i’m very worried


16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
phil was healthy until the addition of the second crab. he would move around, eat, bathe, etc. he was very happy and i care for him DEEPLY. it’s been 3 days since the adding of the new crab and phil has streaked out of his shell twice. i boiled his shell and sand and what looked like little dots came floating up. i thought i maybe saw. a bug but wasn’t sure. the dots were very small and i did look at his body and didn’t see anything too out of the ordinary? i’m worried mites are bothering him if it’s that? it’s been really upsetting me, i want him to pull through but i know this isn’t a good sign. cream cheese has not been bothering him, she is buried and de-stressing so im unsure what’s going on. there are no bugs in the surface area only the dots that floated up from his shell that he took off.

.

[hermitcrabz10]

i did do the cup method to get him in his shell the first time. he went in it again after he streaked the second time and he is still eating but he keeps sitting in his water pools before i put him back in the bucket with shells. he did fresh water and salt water before i moved him into iso

[JoeHermits]

First priority is getting him back in a shell. Sounds like you have the right idea but keep trying.

https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... p?t=122302

As for mites, are there any visible on his eyestalks or joints? They could also just be there and not doing anything since there can be a lot of different things in a crabitat


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[hermitcrabz10]

i got him back in his shell AGAIN. he isn’t happy with me and now isn’t moving but i think he is just stressed out now. i don’t see any on him visibly? he looks SO healthy other than this so i just don’t get what’s going on. when the shell was being boiled i noticed tiny dots which i thought that maybe could be the mites? i just don’t see any on his abdomen but i’m going to get a magnifying glass to look closer. i don’t see any bugs in his food or substrate either

[hermitcrabz10]

First priority is getting him back in a shell. Sounds like you have the right idea but keep trying.

https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... p?t=122302

As for mites, are there any visible on his eyestalks or joints? They could also just be there and not doing anything since there can be a lot of different things in a crabitat


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i got him back in his shell AGAIN. he isn’t happy with me and now isn’t moving but i think he is just stressed out now. i don’t see any on him visibly? he looks SO healthy other than this so i just don’t get what’s going on. when the shell was being boiled i noticed tiny dots which i thought that maybe could be the mites? i just don’t see any on his abdomen but i’m going to get a magnifying glass to look closer. i don’t see any bugs in his food or substrate either


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[hermitcrabz10]

here is a pic of him a day before it happened, if this is any help


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[hermitcrabz10]

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[hermitcrabz10]

UPDATE: Phil is out of his shell AGAIN. i’ll be redoing the cup method to get him back in. The second he left, he started eating. I’m not sure what’s going on I’m frustrated.


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[curlysister]

Honestly, it is probably a coincidence that this is happening right after adding another crab. Crabs go through so much prior to us getting them, that they are sometimes simply unable to recover. We can't do any diagnostics on them to find out what is going on. Crabs are particularly vulnerable until at least their first molt with us - even if we do everything 100% correctly. Crabs will drop their shell when they are weak, in a last ditch effort to conserve energy....but they will die without their shell. Give him the shell he dropped, as well as one or two others to choose from, including a lighter or smaller one if you have it. Then when he is in a shell, give him some high energy foods, like honey and peanut butter to boost his energy.

[hermitcrabz10]

Honestly, it is probably a coincidence that this is happening right after adding another crab. Crabs go through so much prior to us getting them, that they are sometimes simply unable to recover. We can't do any diagnostics on them to find out what is going on. Crabs are particularly vulnerable until at least their first molt with us - even if we do everything 100% correctly. Crabs will drop their shell when they are weak, in a last ditch effort to conserve energy....but they will die without their shell. Give him the shell he dropped, as well as one or two others to choose from, including a lighter or smaller one if you have it. Then when he is in a shell, give him some high energy foods, like honey and peanut butter to boost his energy.

Okay I will do this. I don’t see any mites on him I don’t think. I think it’s just making me sad he’s not feeling good and I didn’t realize it was until their first molt that we didn’t have to worry as much And I haven’t had him too long. The other crab is distressing and isn’t showing signs of mites either. I got a close up photo of him too and I didn’t see anything.


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