Woohooo! Two females with eggs! Update P.6! BABIES! (PPs)

[Rocky]

Do the dead ones look any different? (like do they lack the orange bump in their bellies?) maybe the ones that are outcompeted for food are starting to starve :/ (I have no idea how much you're feeding them)
Maybe try crushing FD bloodworms and putting some in? It might get messy, but they might enjoy something new I'm just throwing thoughts out there xD

Here here on the crab love! My family thinks I'm insane, but Riley is totally smitten :3 he and his mom babysat for me and they're always asking about them.. They're not brave enough to hold them yet though he buys shells all the time to

[wolfnipplechips]

The dead ones look just like the swimming ones..just dead. They have great color and everything. I don't think blood worms would sink. I need sinking food for them. But thanks for the suggestion. Maybe if I soak them a while they will sink. I was thinking they need some sort of "veggie" type food. in addition to the protein from the brine shrimp.

I went to Lowes and found the plexiglass and guess what? THEY STILL CUSTOM CUT IT!! So now I am going back tomorrow with measurements. So I got nothing done today except grocery shopping. Still morning here, so I'm going to go tourist watching in the botanical garden. Going to be ponchos everywhere.

[JamesR]

I'm for chucking in anything they could possibly eat in an attempt to find the right nutrients to help them survive (theyre so cool). I don't know if that would be feasible though, and doubtless you've already considered it.

[wolfnipplechips]

Gotta worry about ammonia build up, though.

[wodesorel]

The question will be if they'll accept "dead" food. If they're going after the bring shrimp eggs before they hatch then there's a good chance that if the food particles are small enough they'll go after items that can attract them by scent. The other problem is that we don't know what they do eat at that size - our hermits' diets are mostly plant with some animal protein, but their young may only be carnivore at that stage. And if they don't eat it then it will have fouled the water for nothing. Still, I agree it's important to try in case part of their diet is missing, but I would suggest using a very tiny amount and watching them closely on the first feed to make sure they are eating it and it's not just floating around.

Here's a list of commercial fry foods that might do the trick: http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/toppi ... tp/fry.htm

[JamesR]

Gotta worry about ammonia build up, though.

Ahhhh, ok, I didn't know about that. After a bit of research on aquarium keeping i see how that's a bad idea :p

I haven't been able to find anything beyond brine shrimp with some googling. Now I'm interested, I don't like not knowing things, so tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find anything through my uni's resources.

If someone already has some solid sources, I would appreciate them being messaged to me.

[Skymall007]

Maybe there is some turtle food that could work? My red eared sliders were omnivores so veggie, meat, and mixed foods are available. My reptile magazine always has ads for zoo med. Maybe some of their wurtle products could work.

[Rocky]

Wait.. I just had a thought, and it might be a longshot but.. Do you flush them as soon as you find them? Have you seen any molt yet? What if they're just like adult hermies when they molt, and easy to mistake for dead hermies?
It makes more sense to me for them to molt at the bottom... But again, longshot also I have zero baby experience, so I'm just guessing.
Wouldn't it be a long swim down to molt on the bottom in the wild? Assuming they're in open ocean, not tide pools..

[Mamakins]

So sorry that you've had more losses. Don't get too down though. You are doing a great job and we are all rooting for you. And you are VERY lucky your husband is so involved. My husband won't go near any of my animals (and there's a room full). Except the dogs. If he new what I paid for some of them he might be willing to help out a little more. I can't get too upset though as he finally let me bring a snake into the house. Never thought that would happen.

We'll keep rooting for those babies of yours.

[wolfnipplechips]

I was concerned the ones on the bottom may be molting, too, but I have watched them a lot, and they molt in the water column, above the bottom.

Also, it seems my heater maims them! I couldn't get the plastic-covered heater because it was out of stock, so I got the normal glass tube one. That thing gets HOT. My goodness. It scares me. They touch it and then they just sink and flop around. Wode, get the plastic coated heater!!! Don't get the normal ones! Confirmed baby killer heaters.

Yes, I've told my husband a million times how much I appreciate his help. I am very lucky. He doesn't even like animals except for cats. But he's a good helper.

Thanks for the food suggestions. I'll have to try those next year if I get babies. I'm pretty much broke this month, and can't afford to buy stuff to experiment with. It's been a trip talking my husband into buying more stuff for them starting with the salt, and now this elevated sandbox thing. I doubt I could talk him into buying them more food. But maybe next year.

I think some babies may be into the third larval stage. I'll have to try to get pics today.

[wodesorel]

I never even thought about a heater!! I'll be using the hot room upstairs so won't even need one.

The (pardon the term) cheap glass heaters can get way too hot, and it may even be malfunctioning if they're getting hurt. Are you sure it's heat and not that the heater is electrified? (It's happened. If your hubby has a multimeter it would be easy to test for.) I would recommend these, but they have an indicator light that runs red and green to show if it's working and that might screw them up. http://www.aqueonproducts.com/products/pro-heaters.htm

However, this is the brand that I have in all my tanks, and my oldest is 8 years. They are made in Italy, and the factory was originally owned by Marineland (called Stealth heaters) and was bought out by Aqueon a couple years ago. (And Marineland's new heaters made in a different place were recalled shortly thereafter for electrical discharges, overheating, and exploding.) What's special about those heaters is that I can grab them while they are actively heating the tank and they only feel sightly warm to the touch, which is something that I love. (Along with them being filled solid with epoxy so there aren't any leaks.)

[wolfnipplechips]

If it was electrified, I think wouldn't the water be conducting it, too? I touched it (yeah, dumb, I know, but that's me), and it was just hot and I didn't get zapped or anything. But it's hot hot, not normal warm or anything. I want to take it out, but I don't want the babies to freeze or have their body functions slow down.

[Skymall007]

There are some heaters for baby turtles, I wonder if those would help. I don't know much about heaters though or if that is already being used. Would also a side tank heater work?

[wolfnipplechips]

Got some baby pics today. I can see some molts in the tank, and some look bigger, so I think some are in stage 3, but I did not get any pictures of any stage 3's.




















I'm really thanking my irresponsible impulsive 18-year-old self for buying this macro lens 4 years ago. Otherwise, I'd just have blobby blurs to show you guys.

[Skymall007]

THEY LOOK AMAZING! I love the photos! I love how orange they are lolz It is so exciting that some of them are in stage 3!!!!!