I'm seriously freaking out here - crab and exo?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:50 pm

I posted last night about my crabby being naked under the water dish. Well today, my daughter went to remove the sponges from the water dish and found a crabby in there?! (My other two are in their shells and accounted for.)

So I have under the dish, half of him. Exo or body, I have NO IDEA. The other half is in the salt water bathing dish.

I almost buried him, but after my daughter calmed me down I decided to put both parts in iso, and see what's up. Maybe he molted in the salt water, then crawled under the water dish? But where the heck is his shell?

I'm seriously stressing out. How do I tell which is what?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:52 pm

Okay. Belay that. I think the one floating was Shiloh because he's NOT in his shell. Which means he's dead. I'm pretty sure it's him because his tail curls and he was in a real spiral-y pointy shell.

Somebody help me!

Spongebob is still in his shell and he's okay. And Mantis is under the water dish but I'm going to put him in iso.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:53 pm

Does one of the parts have a white, grubworm-looking soft part on it? That would be your crab's butt. They don't molt this part.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:57 pm

The exo should be very light and fragile. Like a locust exo...great example given by Amy_Caiden recently. It won't have that slimy curled worm on the end.

Also, all hermit crab abdomens are curly like that. Like a shrimp.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:02 pm

Okay, I'm trying not to hyperventilate. I have no idea why I'm spazzing out so bad about this.

The one in the water had the big butt. Curly shrimpy looking thing. So that would be a body. Whose, I have no idea. The one under the water dish looks smaller, and pink. Maybe exo, maybe my other crab. Maybe the other one dug under to molt somewhere?

Could he still be alive if he was floating in the water?

Okay, all the reading I've done and I am SOOO not prepared for this!

Edited to add the smaller one broke when we moved it. We put both in the iso tank. I'm PRAYING that the small one is the exo and they both belong to the same crab.

I don't know if I can handle crab ownership if it's this stressful!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:10 pm

Definitely iso the one in the water dish; he can still be alive. When they molt, they definitely lose lots of energy. Iso him with the smaller one that broke; that sounds like exo to me since it easily broke. He will need to consume the exo to get its nutrients. I know, gross.

I think your idea about them both being the same crab is probably correct. Make sure you add the water dishes and some honey to the iso.

I had a molt right after I first started caring for hermies and I freaked too!

P.S.--Friendly reminder: Please don't use profanity, even if it's "crypted". Family friendly site "house rules". Thanks

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 6:13 pm

Okay, after a quick 50 bucks at the pet store...

Crab body (Shiloh) and assumed exo are in the iso. They don't look good. But anyway. Has salt and fresh water available, food and honey, and a hermie hut in case he wants to hide but is too tired to dig. Quick got another UTH since that tank didn't have one, and another heat guage since the one I had in there was up by the light and I needed one down by the substrate.

He's all covered in sand. Should I spritz him or just leave him alone?

And now I just have to figure out where Shiloh went. His shell is there. ???

I know on some level I should feel like a good crab mommy if they both thought conditions were good enough to molt. But I feel like the worst mommy ever.

Thank you for all your help, Mel and Tokaia.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Apr 18, 2006 9:18 pm

It's overwhelming to have all that action before you get in the groove of caring for hermies. Don't feel bad at all.

OK, let me see if I follow...
Shiloh and exo are in iso...with all the necessary stuff by the way.

Don't spritz, let's give him time.

You don't know where Shiloh is? I thought he was in iso?

Don't give up hope, you're doing great!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:59 am

Sorry, meant Mantis was in iso.

Once he started drying up, he got very fishy-smelling.

RIP little guy. So he's gone now.

Shiloh is missing, naked.

He was in his shell Monday night, but came up missing Tuesday night. (Shell is still there, just empty.)

Spongebob is fine, so I put him in the iso tank once we buried Mantis. I figure if it's anything in the main tank's water/substrate, etc, that maybe putting him in there will help. It's small, but conditions are good. 80/80 w/fresh and salt available, cholla wood and a hermie hut.

This has been just exhausting.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:59 am

Sorry for the double post - kept getting a debug message.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:57 pm

Poor Mantis. I'm so sorry about that.

It's a good idea to keep Spongebob in iso until Shiloh's situation runs its course.

It sounds like Shiloh is completely stressed. It could be a case of PPS--Post Purchase Stress. You have done all you can to make him comfortable. Did you buy these hermies together at the same place? Maybe their previous environment was poor.

Have you filled out the template? If not, go ahead and fill out the template (at the top of the Emergency topic), and let's see if you can improve on your hermie care and crabitat conditions.

Again, I'm sorry about Mantis.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 6:56 pm

If the crab or exo has a butt, it's the crab.