Hi,
I've had hermit crabs for about 2.5 months, started with three and about a month ago got another two, all has been going well until tonight.
While tidying up the moss bed tonight, I found a limb and a claw. Do these ever grow back? (I think I already know the answer is "no" but I have to ask.) I've also notice a mild "fishy" small, which I'm hoping is just the lost limbs and not a dead crab.
I have been able to inspect two crabs so far and they look alright. This have been quiet in the tank a fair bit lately - although late one night last week I did notice one of the crabs has a whitish "ashy" look to his limbs - which after reading a couple of the crab care FAQs looks like one of the molting indicators.
I'm going to try and keep an eye out to identify who I'm seeing moving around and hopefully identify if one has gone to ground. Once I've identified who it is should I move him to an isolation tank? Or perhaps use the cut off soft-drink bottle idea to create an "in place" isolation area for him/her?
I'll also keep a nose out for that fishy smell now that I have removed the limbs to see if it goes away or not.
This is a first time experience for me, so all advice is valued.
In Melbourne, Australia, BTW.
1. Substrate used? Half eco-earth, half sand with a reasonable amount of blue calci sand included. Sand is over the heat mat for good transference.
2. Humidity % level in crabitat? That is one thing that does fluctuate a bit but never gets below 60%. Usually around 70-75% although sometimes after wetting the moss or giving the tank a bit of a spray it goes up and the sides mist up - I usually leave the lid ajar a bit until it drops to an acceptable level.
3. Temperature of substrate in crabitat? I have one thermometer that is sitting at ground level which reads 28C (82.5F) most of the time. On a cold day it'll go down to 22C (71.5F).
4. Temperature of crabitat? See question 3.
5. Location of gauges? Temp gauage is a little upright one that is sitting near one corner, over the heat mat. Humidity guage is stuck to the glass as the heat mat end of the tank, about an inch above the substrate level. You can see the temp guage in this image: http://home.alphalink.com.au/~michevan/ ... 233502.jpg
6. What is your heat source? Under tank heat mat - attached to a termostate.
7. Types of water available? Fresh and salt water in separate pools.
8. Dechlorinator used? No - have used either boiled and then cooled water and more recently water from a Stafani water purifier which is also what we use for our own drinking water (it does a very good job.)
9. What do you feed? Mostly Jens Crab Crunch Hermit Crab Food, plus bits of dried fruit and peanut treats. There is also a bit of cuttlebone in the tank.
10. How long have you had the crab in question? 1.5 - 2.5 months.
11. Do you know the species? Australian pet.
12. Do you bath them, if so how often and with what? No, believe leaving them to it with the salt water avaiable is the way to go.
13. What type of housing are they in? Tank? Plastic box? Glass aquarium tank.
14. What size is your tank? 2ft by 1ft 4in by 1ft 4in high (a little wider and taller then your average 2ft tank).
15. How many crabs are in the tank? What size are they? 5 crabs, medium size (you can see the black shell of one of them near the temperature guage in the above picture link).
16. How deep is the substrate? Average about 1 inch.
17. If you take your hermies out daily to exercise, do you mist their gill area first? No, they do not seem to like being handled very much, so for the most part I observe only.
18. Has there been any cleaners, paints, perfumes, air fresheners, candles, or smoking near the crabitat? No.
19. How often do you clean/sterilize and how? Haven't had the tank long enough - am planning to do a full clean and replace the substrate in September (for some reason I though you needed some gravel mixed in or underneath the eco-earth, so I've ended up with eco-earth with pebbly gravel through it, which I'm wanting to replace).
20. Any unusual odors? The fishy smell I mentioned above.
21. Do you use sponges? Are they rinsed daily with dechlor water? Are they exchanged every 2 days for a sterile one? Have one sponge in the fresh water bowl. Rinse with boiled water when ever I take the bowls out to clean.
22. Do you feed fresh food? When do you remove it? See question 9.
23. Are your hands clean before handling? Yes.
24. Has there been anything new added to your crabitat recently?
Yes, added a large piece of driftwood purchased from the pet store as something else for them to climb over - they haven't shown much interest in it yet.
Found a limb and a claw, think I may have a molter...
ok---yes for sure the body parts can grow back that is the cool part about crabbies---you should see if the leg/claw are hollow by crushing it- it should crumble--if hollow then that is from a molt (hang onto these it comes in handy for other crabs or the crab in question)--if solid (yes that will create a smell) then someone dropped it and or dropped it from a molt.
I think you should work on your temps/humidity being consistant. A very cheap way to do that is to add a bubbler to your water dishes and some sponges--while some fluctuation is ok you dont want that happening alot.
Please buy some dechlorinator- its very cheap and will ensure you are doing the most for the crabs in the way of removing metals and toxins.....a bottle last a long time if you can get Aquarium Pharmecuticals they are a good brand--you do not want slime coating in the water.
Try to offer a wider varity of foods--fresh organic and NarNar's kibbles that she sells here and other hermie stores have lots of good proteins and oils that are essential for a long happy crabby life.
your off to a great start and we can all help you.........I hope you can figure out what crabbie belongs to those parts--keep us updated
I think you should work on your temps/humidity being consistant. A very cheap way to do that is to add a bubbler to your water dishes and some sponges--while some fluctuation is ok you dont want that happening alot.
Please buy some dechlorinator- its very cheap and will ensure you are doing the most for the crabs in the way of removing metals and toxins.....a bottle last a long time if you can get Aquarium Pharmecuticals they are a good brand--you do not want slime coating in the water.
Try to offer a wider varity of foods--fresh organic and NarNar's kibbles that she sells here and other hermie stores have lots of good proteins and oils that are essential for a long happy crabby life.
do yoiu really mean September--its December now and that would be way too long to wait to do a deep clean..a small tank you should do IMHO every 2-mosHow often do you clean/sterilize and how? Haven't had the tank long enough - am planning to do a full clean and replace the substrate in September
your off to a great start and we can all help you.........I hope you can figure out what crabbie belongs to those parts--keep us updated
CrAbBy aNd PrOuD
crabbin since 2005.
crabbin since 2005.
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Guest
Topic author
RE: Cleaning tank - Doh, yes, I meant December. I'm planning to do it between Christmas and New Years.
An update: Started clearing out the moss, and found more limbs. Have now done a thorough search of the tank and it looks like I've lost one. The last shell I saw him in is empty and although I didn't find a central body mass, I found enough bits I've probably got most of him out.
I did find the forth crab well buried. I picked him up long enough to feel him move inside his shell then put him back. He's pretty much dug himself right back in and under the (damp) sand. Usually after being handled they'll scuttle off to a back corner of the tank and sulk for a while, so this is atypical behaviour. Now that I know the general area I can keep a gentle eye on him (without moving him again of course) and if he seems to have stayed in the same spot without moving for a while then I guess he's molting.
Is the thinking that I should move him to an isolation tank (which I will have to buy and set up) or just leave him be for now?
The bubbler idea is a good one, I'll investigate that for the humidity. The temperature I'm not that concerned about, it doesn't vary that much (less then it would in the wild I imagine), but maintaining the humidity in there has been a laborious process. (I'm still wanting to find temp and humidity sensors that can feed the information back to my server, which can then monitor and alert me of issues - anyone?)
I'm not concerned about using dechlorinator - using the water from the (good quality) water purifier is probably doing a better job, and I'm reluctant to stick any chemicals in I don't have to. You're welcome to try and change my mind on this if you feel strongly.
The funny thing about the crab that's died (Doug was his name) is that he was one of the two more recent additions, and he seemed fairly active and aggressive. Often find him poking around other crabs that were curled up in their shells. Maybe someone finally got sick of him...
Anyhow, Terry, Isosceles, Heide and Nick (the suspected molter) live on.
An update: Started clearing out the moss, and found more limbs. Have now done a thorough search of the tank and it looks like I've lost one. The last shell I saw him in is empty and although I didn't find a central body mass, I found enough bits I've probably got most of him out.
I did find the forth crab well buried. I picked him up long enough to feel him move inside his shell then put him back. He's pretty much dug himself right back in and under the (damp) sand. Usually after being handled they'll scuttle off to a back corner of the tank and sulk for a while, so this is atypical behaviour. Now that I know the general area I can keep a gentle eye on him (without moving him again of course) and if he seems to have stayed in the same spot without moving for a while then I guess he's molting.
Is the thinking that I should move him to an isolation tank (which I will have to buy and set up) or just leave him be for now?
The bubbler idea is a good one, I'll investigate that for the humidity. The temperature I'm not that concerned about, it doesn't vary that much (less then it would in the wild I imagine), but maintaining the humidity in there has been a laborious process. (I'm still wanting to find temp and humidity sensors that can feed the information back to my server, which can then monitor and alert me of issues - anyone?)
I'm not concerned about using dechlorinator - using the water from the (good quality) water purifier is probably doing a better job, and I'm reluctant to stick any chemicals in I don't have to. You're welcome to try and change my mind on this if you feel strongly.
The funny thing about the crab that's died (Doug was his name) is that he was one of the two more recent additions, and he seemed fairly active and aggressive. Often find him poking around other crabs that were curled up in their shells. Maybe someone finally got sick of him...
Anyhow, Terry, Isosceles, Heide and Nick (the suspected molter) live on.
I dont have the energy to convince you what you should do with the water 
-- there are threads here that explain it, keep in mind what the crabbies put in there body is stored in their exo so its a constant circle--too much of the bad stuff can lead to death- if I have time I will look for the thread---
all my crabs molt in the main tank--I have had like 2% issues in a year and a half--they dont get iso'd in the wild but some people are more comfortable with it-- I think it stresses the crab--now if you dug it up and it already shed then yes I believe in ISO until the crab hardens .
Im sorry for your loss
-- there are threads here that explain it, keep in mind what the crabbies put in there body is stored in their exo so its a constant circle--too much of the bad stuff can lead to death- if I have time I will look for the thread---all my crabs molt in the main tank--I have had like 2% issues in a year and a half--they dont get iso'd in the wild but some people are more comfortable with it-- I think it stresses the crab--now if you dug it up and it already shed then yes I believe in ISO until the crab hardens .
Im sorry for your loss
CrAbBy aNd PrOuD
crabbin since 2005.
crabbin since 2005.
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brandi9976
Topic author
I'm sorry for the loss of you crab.
You may also consider adding deeper sand it should be 1 1/2 times as a deep as your largest crab so they can bury completely to molt.
Is the water that goes through the purifier tap water? Or is it special bottled water? (I've never dealt with a purifier) For peace of mind if the water going through the purifier is tap water, you may call the company that made it and ask if the purifier takes out chlorine and chloramine, if it does then don't worry about a dechlorinator if it doesn't and you don't want to use dechlorinator then consider buying spring water for them in bottles. Over the long term the chlorine and chloramine will burn the crabs gills and make it impossible for them to breath. Hope that helps some and gives you an alternative to a chemical you don't want to use.
You may also consider adding deeper sand it should be 1 1/2 times as a deep as your largest crab so they can bury completely to molt.
Is the water that goes through the purifier tap water? Or is it special bottled water? (I've never dealt with a purifier) For peace of mind if the water going through the purifier is tap water, you may call the company that made it and ask if the purifier takes out chlorine and chloramine, if it does then don't worry about a dechlorinator if it doesn't and you don't want to use dechlorinator then consider buying spring water for them in bottles. Over the long term the chlorine and chloramine will burn the crabs gills and make it impossible for them to breath. Hope that helps some and gives you an alternative to a chemical you don't want to use.
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troppo
Topic author
Hi Evan,
Your crabbies would be C Variabilis (crazy crabs,Aussie crabs) same as mine
Yes the deeper sand/substrate is a must because Aussie crabs like all other varieties,like to dig down to sleep,destress and especially molt. When they dig down to molt,if there's not enough sand covering them,the other crabs will smell this and dig up the molter and attack/cannabilise it which is not a pretty thing to see
How large is your biggest crab? If it's say,a medium or a large crab that's up to a couple of inches in height,then it would be good to make the substrate at least one and a half times the height of the crab(if that makes sense),therefore 2 inch crab=5 inch substrate. But the deeper the better
It could be also because you haven't had your crabs for long that one crab has gone through PPS(post purchase stress) and has dropped limbs because of that.
Good luck with the rest hey?
Your crabbies would be C Variabilis (crazy crabs,Aussie crabs) same as mine
Yes the deeper sand/substrate is a must because Aussie crabs like all other varieties,like to dig down to sleep,destress and especially molt. When they dig down to molt,if there's not enough sand covering them,the other crabs will smell this and dig up the molter and attack/cannabilise it which is not a pretty thing to see
How large is your biggest crab? If it's say,a medium or a large crab that's up to a couple of inches in height,then it would be good to make the substrate at least one and a half times the height of the crab(if that makes sense),therefore 2 inch crab=5 inch substrate. But the deeper the better
It could be also because you haven't had your crabs for long that one crab has gone through PPS(post purchase stress) and has dropped limbs because of that.
Good luck with the rest hey?