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Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 05, 2006 8:28 am

It is the cover to a kritter keeper, but we donâ€™t use it anymore, we bought that when we bought the first crab, Oddish, but we moved to a regular glass tank shortly after. Right now we use the kritter keeper for isolation, but we just bought another 10 gallon tank last night because it was only 8 dollars! The pet store changed locations and had a â€œgrand openingâ€

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 05, 2006 10:08 am

Welcome to the HCA. Nice crabs you got there. Hope you have as much fun on this site as I do.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 05, 2006 6:00 pm

It really is hard not to keep getting more and more hermit crabs. I have seven right now, and I'm adopting four more tomorrow. Of course, I'm getting a bigger tank, too; 10 gallons just doesn't cut it when we're talking about 11 crabs.

Gizmo is a real cutie pie! As for the shell thing, I hope Godzilla can behave himself. I've never had a serious problem with that, so I don't know what to tell you. Maybe he'll relax after a while. I've heard that hermit crabs who have come from bad conditions where shells and food are scarce can be aggressive like that, so maybe it's just what he's been conditioned to do.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 05, 2006 9:59 pm

Protein lots of Protein is the only other thing i can think of other than lots of shells. I give mine those freeze dried krill and plankton with their food. Maybe he is having PMS (per molt Symptoms)sometime it can make them a bit of a bully. I had a crab and boy was he crabbie(his name)he changed shells and molted and you would not know it was the same crab... he is a sweetheart now. What is your humidity and temp currently?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 05, 2006 10:13 pm

Your newbie is very pretty too! Is it an E, or Rug, I can't really tell, although I'm leaning tward E.

supercrab gave a good suggestion with the protein, and premolt ideas. I've had crabs get very crabby premolt. Sometimes it just takes time for them to become less competitive, and they could be working out some dominance issues too. Some people even try behavoir modification of moving the crab to the oposite side of the tank every time they see agression, or lightly tapping the top of the shell.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri May 05, 2006 11:59 pm

Lastat is a beautiful rugosus crab AKA ruggie it's a beautiful picture you can see his stitch marks so well........ and his color is remarkable i bet with a high color enriching diet after his next molt he will prolly come up jet black!!!!! hehehe your so lucky

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat May 06, 2006 11:29 am

I cannot really tell what specie until I see a side shot...are the eyes candy corn shaped (wider at the eye and tapering down to the head) or is it more or less the same size on both ends? Does his last leg segment on his left side look like a hook shape (more flat more curve) than the right side?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:37 am

I got about 10,000 shells (or a package) from Wal-Mart over the weekend, boiled them and put them all in the kritter keeper I have Godzilla isolated in. I keep trying to put him back in the regular tank with the others, but he keeps flipping Gizmo and Oddish over and trying to get their shells. It seems he wants nothing to do with Lestat, but I assume itâ€™s because he has a weird shell. I read the protein thing on Friday and gave him more food with protein, some blood wormsâ€¦ he hasnâ€™t changed his shell and he doesnâ€™t seem ready to molt, heâ€™s really active.

Secretly, Iâ€™m thinking about setting up a second tank with some crabs that are larger than him. I like to think that they can defend themselves.

In the main tank the humidity hovers between 70 and 80, it seems really dry lately so it dips down below 70 sometimes, but we never let it get below 65 without doing something about it. Usually we catch it before it gets below 70. I canâ€™t be sure of the temp and humidity of the two kritter keepers weâ€™re using for isolation. I know clawdiaâ€™s is looking good. Itâ€™s right next to the main tank so it can get some of the heat from the heater and I spray it as often as I do the main tank to make sure itâ€™s moist. I also have plastic wrap over about 70% of the cover to keep in the moister. I spray Godzillaâ€™s just as often as well, though it might be a little cool. Oh, the main tank is at about 75 degrees, I forgot to say that!

I canâ€™t be sure about my new guy, Iâ€™m still having a hard time distinguishing between Eâ€™s and Ruggies. I thought Gizmo might be a Ruggie because heâ€™s got black marks under his eyes, though I really canâ€™t be sure of that still! I have a hard time looking at them closely to see the small differences while Iâ€™m actually holding them, I have an easier time with photos, but then I have a hard time getting the photos!

I looked at the play sand in Wal-Mart, but it was all colored so I didnâ€™t know if it was safe. I ended up getting white play sand at Home Depot, but I wasnâ€™t sure if white play sand was actually colored or what. Is what I bought safe?

Sorry for the really long post, we currently donâ€™t have internet at home so I havenâ€™t been on all weekend!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:47 am

Sand is usually sand color like at the beach...I do not know what you mean by white. I know for sure the sand Toys R Us sells is clean and good, I have had no problems with it and it is only about $4.50 for a big bag. I think I have heard some people say they have used home depot sand but I cannot say if it is the same sand you have or how clean it is. Hope this helps.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:50 am

The white kind isn't colored (at least the kind I get isn't). Does your E/Ruggie have stitch marks on his claw? IMO, Ruggies tend to look dainty and pretty; E's are cute and look like Pokemon or something with their chubby little eye stalks.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:51 am

Hi, welcome to this great site! I was laughing out loud when I saw the name Lestat and looked at him. He looked black to me, all dark and mysterius like Lestat was in the book

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon May 08, 2006 8:51 am

We went to Toys R Us as well, before Home Depot, and they were all out. The white sand I got looked to me like the sand where they have white sand beaches in all those places Iâ€™ve never beenâ€¦ but not like boring brown sand weâ€™d find around here. Though, Iâ€™m land locked. Itâ€™s not a big deal if I canâ€™t use it, considering I spent 4 bucks on it, but it was the only bag of sand to be found that wasnâ€™t orange or blue!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 09, 2006 8:44 am

I missed the two posts above mine because they were made while I was typing! I just noticed them today.

Good to know about the sand.

Last night I mentioned to my husband that sometimes crabs get more aggressive before they molt, but that I didnâ€™t think that Godzilla showed any other signs of molting. Then he reminded me that in one night Godzilla ate half of a baby carrot! Iâ€™ve never seen any of my crabs eat so much in one night. It couldnâ€™t have been multiple crabs, he was isolated for his aggression.

I keep trying to put him back in the main tank because keeping up 3 tanks is getting to be too much! We tried to put him back in again last night, but once again he kept flipping the other crabs and trying to get their shell. He even got after Lestat. I kept moving him away and hoping he would get the message, but he didnâ€™t so I had to remove him for the night.

He took a look at one of the new shells I got him, it looked like he was cleaning it out or adding salt water to it (it was right next to the dish). We thought he was going to change, but he didnâ€™t. I ordered some shells from Naples on Friday, but weâ€™re still waiting for those.

He was drinking a lot of water last night, Iâ€™ve been giving him loads of protein and calcium rich foods, and now that I know the sand is safe I plan to set him up with a better isolation tank, one thatâ€™s ready for molting rather than time outs! Right now itâ€™s just repti-bark because thatâ€™s all I had. (My crabs seem to love it, is that okay? They have sand and a small amount of gravel as well)

Iâ€™m still worried about Clawdia. She hasnâ€™t moved at all in weeks, she above surface, and she just looks dead. Thereâ€™s a small smell coming from her, but from what I understand the death smell is really strong, and they give off a faint smell when theyâ€™re molting. Sheâ€™s half way out of her shell, much like she would be if she was just sitting there alive, but she just hasnâ€™t moved. I just keep giving her new food and water and keeping it warm and humid, hoping for the bestâ€¦

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 09, 2006 11:23 am

Repti bark is not good for molting because crabs cannot dig in it so you should change that if your crabbie is looking to molt. Put the sand in so it is 2x the height of the crab and make it sand castle wet. I would touch Clawdia at this point and see if she moves, if she molted she would be eating her exo but if she is just sitting there with a smell she might be dead. I hope it is not the case but I would check if it has been weeks. Good luck and keep up posted.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue May 09, 2006 11:37 am

I plan to buy a cover for the new 10 gallon and set him up with a proper isolation tonight now that I know the sand is okay.

My husband went to pick up Clawdia a couple of weeks ago, because she just looked like she was sitting there. She didn't go back into her shell at all, and actually fell out a bit. We didn't notice anything strange for days before that, other than she had been drinking a lot of water. I've moved her out of the tank and into isolation with a scoop, but she didn't move at all then either. I'm assuming it's not just her exoskeleton and she left the shell - unless she neatly put the exo back inside her shell...