"Windows"

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 4:25 pm

I was reading on Wikipedia (I know it's not a perfect source but) and there was an interesting sentence:

Normally the molt is started by digging down into the moist substrate (with its shell) and creating a little cave. There total darkness triggers the secretion of the molting hormone ecdysone.

So my question is this, if a crab digs down and leaves a 'window' and the crab is molting, would it be better to tape something over that spot in order to provide the crab with "total darkness"?
If they need darkness for this hormone would a molting crab be more likely to die if it has left a 'window'?

Rhoney · Post by **Rhoney** » Sun Dec 30, 2007 5:01 pm

I think what the mean is the dig more a a dome hole, covered on all sides. I do cover up windows that they do leave so when I turn on the lgiht it doesnt freak them out. I noticed more dome shaped holes too when mine molt (70% of the time that is)

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 12:56 am

Thanks, I folded a black piece of construction paper and taped it over - just in case. Even if the only reason is not to freak them out that sounds good enough

MudCrabDude · Post by **MudCrabDude** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 12:59 am

In my case, when the crab accidentally digs into the corner and leaves a "window", they would usually cover up the window themselves...*sighs*...

....and almost always before a photo opportunity...*double sigh*.....

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 12:42 pm

The only windows I've ever had was for Stitch, and he was in iso with a towel over the tank... So he never got any light in there anyways. Other than that, my only glimpses have been from my guys loving to molt under dishes...

Thanks guys... Freak the living daylights out of me everytime I change the water...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 5:05 pm

Thanks for the visualization

Pretty good story

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Dec 31, 2007 8:20 pm

Some of mine leave a window when they go down. But they invariably move, which closes the window.

As usual, they know what they're doing, so I would just leave them alone and let them decide if they need any light while molting.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 10:30 am

That makes sense, I guess if there was still light because of a window they would just keep digging until they found the right conditions...
Common Crab Sense

Thanks

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 11:19 pm

I've seen them "open" and "close" their windows, so I think they know how to control their own light situation. I just posted about my little guy who had a window for weeks, then closed it just for his actual molt and then opened it right up again. I guess you just give them enough substrate and they figure it all out for themselves

.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:17 am

peggycats wrote:I've seen them "open" and "close" their windows, so I think they know how to control their own light situation. I just posted about my little guy who had a window for weeks, then closed it just for his actual molt and then opened it right up again. I guess you just give them enough substrate and they figure it all out for themselves .

Thank you for posting this! I have one molting since just before Thanksgiving. He has opened and closed *windows* in the corner he buried himself in. I had figured that if the light was too much, he would just cover it. Right now... as of about 4 days ago, he has a window in the bottom of the tank, and on each side beside him. He has moved the sand around several times. I've used these changes in openings to assure myself that he's still alive. My hubby has asked me several times if it's dead, and I keep telling him that as long as I see a change in the windows every couple of weeks, I'm sure it's alive.

It's driving me nuts that it's taking so long to molt! We have our first 2 crabs, and just got them in October... from a friend that was going to throw them out! We love them and have tried to learn a lot about them so we can treat them well.

Thanks again.
Brenda

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:18 pm

Ahhh! Throw them out?!
I'm glad you took them in. I don't understand when people think that the crabs aren't very interesting. They are fascinating and fun!
Thank goodness for this forum where I can say that without someone rolling their eyes at me :roll:
Have fun

hermietastic · Post by **hermietastic** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:51 pm

My crabs never leave me windows.

But right now I have a crab sufarce molting.....just a tad bit scary!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:08 am

One of my crabs left a window but closed it a few hours later. He has been down for about a week. Another of my crabs decided that it would be a good idea to build a mountain under the hidey hut and molt there. :roll: Weirdo.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 10:20 am

Braveshell wrote:Ahhh! Throw them out?!
I'm glad you took them in. I don't understand when people think that the crabs aren't very interesting. They are fascinating and fun!
Thank goodness for this forum where I can say that without someone rolling their eyes at me :roll:
Have fun

Yep... throw them out. She had taken 3 and gave them to a pet store. When she told me that, I told her that my son had been asking for a hermit crab. About a week later she called and said she *found* two more that had escaped and wanted to know if I wanted them. If not she was going to just throw them away... ack!
She told me to buy hermit crab food and put a sea spong in with them for water. She brought them to me in a tiny plastic bowl with a lid w/ holes. It had a small sea sponge in it.
She told me nothing about substrate so I put them in a 2 gal tank I had with some fish tank rocks... stuff I had at the house (She brought them to me the day she called to get rid of them). I went to work researching and within a week I had sand for them... a couple of weeks later a friend gave me a 10 gal tank. I NEVER bought teh HC food... that was the first thing I learned... and started cutting them up real food/ veggies/ eggs we have at the house.
My 10yo and I read and read online to learn how to keep them happy. *lol* Now my hubby says we have spoiled crabs! They have a heater under part of their tank, a fresh water station, a cat bowl with salt water (yep... I went to the pet section and found a nice oblong shallow cat bowl for these darlings), cuttlebone, a few sea sponges, and always a variety of fresh food.
For now, we have a divider in the tank since the one is molting. I think the other one will molt soon, too. He's losing his color and has been digging around a bit differently than before. I think they are molting/ getting ready to molt bacause they finally have good food and a proper substrate.
Right now my dilemma is shells. They came with only the shells on their backs. At least they are natural shells, but the one that is molting is in a shell that is too big (I think) and the other one is in a shell that may be getting too small for it (folded up he is on the outer edge of the shell, but still *in* it. I have had trouble finding appropriate shells locally that are similar in size with roundish openings. I've resorted to looking in craft stores at shells, and haven't had much luck.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 3:15 pm

Here are some excellent sites for shells and other supplies. The owners are all fellow crabbers:

Naples Shells
The Crabbage Patch
The Happy Hermit
Els Shells
Beauty Shells