New here! Help! Substrate mistake!

[windywendy00]

I purchased three pp's last night from persmart. My son and I have been buying and collecting materials for the crabitat for the last two months. I've read this forum for hours! However, in the excitement of getting everything set up and ready, I did not remember to add water to the ee. I also realized after I put the crabs in there a 5:1 mix is what you guys recommend. I planned to go get sand today and redo the substrate. However, one of the crabbies has gone under! I'm really worried because the ee is dry and he won't be able to tunnel.

What do I do? Wait for him to come up or change the substrate?!?

PS - my son and I are super excited to have our crabs. He kept running in my room last night to report their every move. They are definitely skiddish but moved around when we weren't looking.

PSS - I also now realize I need deeper water baths. The salt water bath was completely empty this morning! Oh and I need a UTH as well. I have read up on those and found a link to reptile basics. Annnnndddd I need more shells. Thought I was prepared!




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[windywendy00]

Update, the other two crabs are now "under" as well. But I really think they are not too deep. I can see mounded substrate.


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[hermieluv1]

Yes, you need a uth, and damp ee mixed with substrate. Until you get your uth, which are only available online, you can use a heating pad and/or lamp, although the lamp will tend to dry things out.

Did you get moss to keep the humidity up?

What are the wood chips?

[wodesorel]

Sometimes it's worth the risk to dig. They've been down one day, they wouldn't have started molting in that time, and getting them into proper substrate now is the key for their survival since their first molt in captivity is the riskiest and hardest. Get them all up, and get the substrate fixed - no worrying needed!

Remove all the wood chips, add in a bag (probably two) of playsand from the hardware store (two bags will be $8 max, hopefully a lot less) and wet that and the EE down with dechlorinated water and mix it up well. Should take you about 15 minutes to do, and then the crabs will be able to molt safely. The 5:1 is just a recommendation. A tank that has more EE is not harmful, and it will also give you a higher humidity boost and be lighter in weight then if it was mostly sand.

You can buy UTHs at any pet store, but the brands sold there are hit or miss on if they will actually supply enough heat to work. Ultratherms are extremely well recommended by those who have them and they come in bigger sizes at a better price, even with the shipping costs.

[windywendy00]

Thank you for the quick replies! No, I need moss too! I'm misting with the de chlorinated water to keep the humidity up. I misted once last night and once this morning and that has been sufficient.

The wood chips were a mistake too. I saw a YouTube video on how to set up my crabitat and that is what the guy used. I should have known better to check the forum first! This will be my go-to place from now on.


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[windywendy00]

Update. Got the sand in! Two of the three are moving around. Seem to be a little less skiddish. The small one hasn't come out of his shell since I dug him up. Hope he made it. He's my son's favorite already! His name is Hermie. Here's a pic of Parker and Hermie. Second pic is if one of the bigger guys. We call him Zeb because he had zebra stripes on his shell. He's the most outgoing so far! Thanks again!!




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[hermieluv1]

That is one happy little boy, and some happy crabs!

[Breeezy]

He is adorable! I'm so happy to see such a cool parent helping their kid learn about how to properly take care of these wonderful creatures! I know a lot of people don't/can't take out the time to do this.

[Crabinski]

PSS - I also now realize I need deeper water baths. The salt water bath was completely empty this morning! Oh and I need a UTH as well. I have read up on those and found a link to reptile basics. Annnnndddd I need more shells. Thought I was prepared!

Welcome to the club. Might as well learn it now, windywendy00 -- we are never, never fully prepared ! As soon as you buy more shells, you realize that the crabitat needs more things for the little guys to climb on so you buy some cholla and netting. That done, can you sit back and just enjoy the crabs? Nooooo, because you'll read someone else's post and just love their idea for whatever and want to start in on that project. Oh, there's a terrific vendor for natural crab foods? Let's place a small order! It's endless so get used to it upfront. All that said, crabbing is a wonderful addiction, one none of us would give up readily.

[Ryry]

Crabinski is completely correct! You will be addicted and You are not alone in beginner mishaps! I'm glad you were able to get the sand and water in the tank. Those things are very important! You guys will most deff find more things you want to add along the way- the big purchases should be mostly out of the way tho! You can get moss and plants at a petco type place or my favorite is Amazon lol. The moss really does help humidity and the crabs love it! I am currently on a shell addiction kick. I think I enjoy getting the shells more than they do!

[windywendy00]

You guys are awesome! I purchased some moss and hemp yarn on Amazon last night, shells from Naples and my UTH from reptile basics!! I am totally going to crochet some type of hemp climbing feature. My son, Parker, is still giving me constant updates on the crabs, but what he doesn't know is I'm in there a lot checking the temp, humidity and such. Humidity is a good 85 and temp is 75. Trying to get that up with a heating pad until my UTH gets delivered.

They definitely seem to be less scared of us now. I think they like their new home. I found it interesting though that they all went under on the first night but after I dug them up and put the sand mix in they are all just chillin up top.

We return back to school next week, I'm a teacher. Hope I can get everything somewhat stabilized by then!


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[Kitten]

I like your idea of crochet climbing features.

[aldebaron0626]

WindyWendy I googled crochet net and found a really awesome simple pattern. http://newstitchaday.com/how-to-crochet ... sh-stitch/
It includes written instruction and a quick video.


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[windywendy00]

@aldebaron0626 that looks perfect!!


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[hermieluv1]

Bookmarking this. Thanks for the link!