Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Where we discuss the behavior of our hermit crabs, as in fights, pecking orders, shell swaps, etc. Please post all naked-crab posts in the Emergency forum.
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singlemomwithcrab
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Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Post by singlemomwithcrab » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:08 pm

So my Crabbies have been going nuts the last three days :banana:

The substrate is torn up, holes everywhere, and the cuttlebone is looking really rough. I have it stuck in the sub like a surf board.

So my question is, how often do you typically pull the surface decorations like hides out and smooth the substrate?

Don't want to undo good progress!

:reindeer: :reindeer: :reindeer: :reindeer: :reindeer: :reindeer: :reindeer: :reindeer: :santa:
"Do or Do Not. There is no try"
50 PPs, 1 E

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megmaholm
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Re: Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Post by megmaholm » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:12 pm

Ha!! Must be contagious, since mine have been crazy recently too. I generally smooth the substrate a couple times a week, or whenever it starts making my eye twitch. I don't usually pull out decorations and stuff since I'm lazy; I just smooth around them.
Crabbing since July 2014! 75 gallon with 12 Purple Pinchers.

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singlemomwithcrab
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Re: Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Post by singlemomwithcrab » Wed Dec 17, 2014 2:20 pm

Only three holes are out in the open, but it's starting to look like there are sink holes under every hidey hut/decoration.
"Do or Do Not. There is no try"
50 PPs, 1 E

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Crabinski
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Re: Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Post by Crabinski » Wed Dec 17, 2014 6:24 pm

Ditto with my guys! What's up with our crabbies :o ? Like megmaholm, I tend to just smooth around the decor and lightly backfill any deep holes with the EE they've tossed out while "rampaging."
PPs are Big Enzo, Charles Paris and Mr Pinch
On the Big Beach in the Sky: Murray, Gino, Oscar, Gordon, Ignatz, Harry and King Felix the Pale
Also Mom to Imogene the Syrian Hamster

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singlemomwithcrab
Posts: 460
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2014 4:59 pm
Location: Lehigh Valley, PA

Re: Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Post by singlemomwithcrab » Wed Dec 17, 2014 7:50 pm

Maybe they can communicate with Santa and are planning their own party?

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"Do or Do Not. There is no try"
50 PPs, 1 E


hermieluv1
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Re: Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Post by hermieluv1 » Fri Dec 19, 2014 5:11 am

Mine are digging a lot also! Woke up this morning and, I swear, the whole tank looks like a mole went from one end to the other!

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KellyCrabbieLove
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Re: Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Post by KellyCrabbieLove » Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:29 pm

I fix it when I feed them. Usually when I sneak down to spy on them they have already tore it up. That usually ends with me grumbling and sometimes swearing when I go back upstairs.
#1 rule of crabbing - crabs are weird.
#2 rule of crabbing - see above

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Cydonia1
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Re: Crabs gone WILD - not streaking - substrate question

Post by Cydonia1 » Sun Dec 21, 2014 9:41 pm

I think it's some sort of seasonal thing for them, maybe preparation for breeding season? The first week of December everyone but two went down to molt at the same time, and now they've all came back up and there's hole under and next to everything, all three hides, two under the driftwood, one between the water dishes, and a giant uncountable minefield of craters under the moss pit. I'm going to wait until I stop seeing any new pits to clean and fix everything back up, don't wanna clean it up for nothing, it might encourage then to dig more!

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