Ice Cream is dead? :(

[izombie616]

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Play sand (baked all of it when I got it). Its deep enough for all of my crabs to completely bury themselves but it is not at least 6 inches at this time. I will be moving in 2 weeks and didn't want to make the tank too heavy but I am going to add more once the tank is situated at the new place.

2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read? I have one right now, it is near the front of the tank dangling about 1 to 2 inches from the substrate. Temp is usually between 79 and 85, the humidity is usually 85 and up.

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? Yes I have an Ultratherm on the back of the tank.

4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)? Both fresh and salt water. I used Instant Ocean in 1 gallon distilled water. The fresh water is distilled water with Zoo Med Hermit Crab drinking water conditioner. I mixed them both according to the directions for 1 gallon.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I feed them Basic Diet, Surf n Turf protein mix, dried fruit treat, and freeze dried bloodworms all from the Hermit Crab Patch. Then some hermit crab coconut treat that I had got from a pet store (T-rex brand?). I replace the food when either it molds or its gone, or it's been 2-3 days, whichever happens first.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? PP and I have had him since May 27, 2015

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? I believe he molted soon after we got him. He buried down around June 1 and came up around July 1.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? 20g long tank, the lid is glass and I keep a towel over the top because the stupid lid doesn't fit perfectly. I just uncover the lid a little bit when it gets too humid to let it out.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 5 total. The biggest has about a 1.5 inch shell opening I think and the rest are about 1 inch opening. They are fairly small.

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? Around 15

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? No.

12. How often do you clean the tank and how? I spot clean normally every few days but about a month ago I had to do a deep clean because there were some mites of some kind near the food so I threw out all the sand and boiled everything. Wiped the tank down with water.

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? No.

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? Not since the deep clean, since I took everything out and cleaned it. Other than the new sand and fresh moss everything was already in there.

15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)? I bathed him (and the rest of the crabbies) when I did the deep clean before putting them in the iso tank.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
Not so much an emergency anymore, but Ice Cream is dead I'm pretty sure. He was in the moss pit all the time except for when he came down to eat. Yesterday he came down and was near the food (I had just replaced it with fresh food and changed the salt and fresh water) and then was just hanging out next to the fresh water dish. I figured he just didn't want to do anything because I was looking at him so I left him alone and went to bed. This morning he was limp and hanging out of his shell. I tried to get him back into the shell and see if he reacted at all. He didn't react. He has the smell about him, but I have no idea why he would have died. I don't want to give up on him if there is any chance he could be alive, but I'm not sure what to do at this point.

[wodesorel]

I'm so sorry to hear about Ice Cream. Accidents and unexplained deaths can happen. They are wild animals. We say the risk of PPS is through the first molt, but the reality of it is that they don't always do well in captivity, especially if they were older when collected.

Temp, humidity and diet all look good. If you're using distilled then ditch the Zoo Med conditioner - it's a bunch of chemicals they don't need exposed to.

This worries me:

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? 20g long tank, the lid is glass and I keep a towel over the top because the stupid lid doesn't fit perfectly. I just uncover the lid a little bit when it gets too humid to let it out.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 5 total. The biggest has about a 1.5 inch shell opening I think and the rest are about 1 inch opening. They are fairly small.

A 1 inch opening shell is a Large crab and a 1.5 inch opening is a Jumbo. For that many crabs that size you'd need like a 55-75 gallon tank! Are you positive about the shell opening sizes??? You're saying they are fairly small crabs so that really confuses me. Can you give an example of their size overall to something common - a Quarter, an egg, a golf ball, etc? You might be overcrowded, or you might not.

[izombie616]

They are probably smaller than one inch openings. The last time i bought shells i think i was looking at 1 inch and a little bigger for my newest crab because he's a big guy in comparison to the others. And whatever size i got for him was way to big for even him to need any time soon so that's probably why I'm thinking one inch. I will measure when i get home.

[izombie616]

Ok so actually most my little crabbies are about 5/8 inch opening except my big guy who is 3/4 inch opening.

[izombie616]

How do you know a crab is really dead? He has a slight odor but it's not as bad as when i had a crab die in the spring. His eyes are black (i don't know if they change when they die) and when i picked him up planning to take him out side and bury him, he didn't come out of his shell. Like he is limp and hanging out but still attached in the back. Could he have been surface molting? I'm too worried to bury him if there's any chance he is not dead.