Moss pit emergency- naked, freshly molted crab

[purpleperson]

Hi all, I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense as I am quickly writing this on my break at school.

About a week ago my second smallest crab dug down in the sand. This morning I woke up and checked on the crabs. I noticed my favourite crabs shell was empty and that there was a piece of Exo with it. (It was in the moss pit) I feared the worst and slowly started moving the moss around. I found the shell of the crab that I thought dug down, and when I picked it up my favourite crab was in it, the molter nowhere to be found. I slowly started taking out the moss and right on the bottom I found the molter, naked and light pink, just finishing to shed the Exo. I tried reshelling her and was unsuccessful, so I moved her to a small container with a shell that is in her size and all of her Exo. I put it in the main tank to keep humidity and temp correct and covered it up so its dark. Unfortunately I had to go to school and I had to leave like that.... I feel so terrible and I don't know what happened..

Can someone please post the emergency template because I'm on mobile and I couldn't find it..

Please help!!

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I couldn't really handle her because she was SO soft, which made reshelling very difficult. I've also never had to try to reshell a crab on my own before..

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[purpleperson]

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?

Eco earth and plays and mixed, about 10-12 inches

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?

Yes, they are usually on the side near the sub, temp between 75-80 depending on the day, humidity usually always around 80

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?

Reptitherm UTH, size 50-60 gallons

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 salt water and fresh, i use instant ocean for salt water, the ratio that is on the box.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?

I feed a variety of fresh fruits, veggies, meats, leaves etc. Dry food I change every 2-3 days, fresh food almost every evening.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?

I have only had these crabs for a few months, but they have previously been owned by a close friend of min for approx 2-4 years. All purple pinchers

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?

This crab has not molted with me, but has many times with my friend.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?

40 gal glass bowfront aquarium with a glass lid that has a small plastic section at the back that I can open or close for airflow and humidity control

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?

4 including this molter. All between golf ball and tennis ball size.

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

Approx 3-5 per crab

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?

Not that I am aware of.

12. How often do you clean the tank and how?

I do not do deep cleans, but I recently added more sub and re arranged the tank.

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?

No sponges.

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?

Yes, trying out Eco earth for the first time and added a plastic second level. Also one birch branch from a pesticide free area.

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.)?

Not sure what I could add, I'm pretty hands off unless it is for an occasional check up or picture.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.

See original post.


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[wodesorel]

They will sometimes molt in the moss pit, but she shouldn't have left her shell. Something went really wrong. Check on her when you get home and try to get her in a shell - all you need to do is put her bum into the opening and she should uncurl her tail and go inside. There is some risk in handling them when soft but if they aren't in a shell when they harden it can cause deformities that can kill them before their next molt.

Have you ever handled a poached egg? Or just made macaroons? I'm trying to think of soft things that can be easily damaged. It's a lot like that - touching is not the problem, it's the pressure that causes damage. You can guide her in without having to squeeze.

[purpleperson]

Yeah I know. I don't know why she wasn't in her shell, and I don't think she was attacked because she was otherwise unharmed. Then again I don't know why the little one took hers as it is way too big for the small one.

When I was trying to do it I did actually get her bum into the opening, but she didn't take it and she tried getting away from me instead :/ I kind of assumed that touching them while soft wasn't good, but I have never seen one this fresh before. When I get home I will try again asap to shell her if she hasn't done it on her own.

I feel really terrible about this situation. Do you have any idea what could have gone wrong? I'm also confused on why she would have dug down and then come up to go into the moss pit later on. I do not know how long she's been there.


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[wodesorel]

You're not doing anything wrong. You're conditions are ideal.

It just happens sometimes. I know that's not a good answer, but they're wild animals and while we do what we can to make everything perfect for them, we can't always factor in the randomness that comes along with them being animals.

The only thing I can suggest is to check the substrate and see if there's any problems with it being overwet or too dry, especially on the bottom. Cocofiber by itself can be a pain to keep at the right consistency and it can easily get waterlogged or dry out too much. That's the main reason why so many of use and recommend a mix with sand, because it's a bit more stable.

[purpleperson]

alright, I was just worried that I could somehow be my fault.

How would I check if it is too wet? I know that it's not too dry. It is sandcastle consistency for sure at least 5 inches down, I know that from when I changed the water yesterday.

I do have a Eco earth and sand mix though! So it probably is just one of those thing unfortunately...

do you think making the moss pit more shallow or more deep would prevent it in the future?


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[purpleperson]

Well, there is good news and bad news.

Good news: she's still alive! She also managed to re-shell herself.

Bad news: I've come to realize that the "Exo" I saw next to my favourite crab was actually the freshly molted crabs big pincher. As far as I can tell she still has all of the little pincher, and I think she has the rest of her legs. Hard to see at this point.

Which bring us a whole new emergency. What is the procedure of caring for a crab with no BP?


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[wodesorel]

If you got down that far without it being squishy or smelly you should be fine. You'd know if it was flooded once you got to the bottom. It'd be all slurpy.

I have crabs that choose to molt in the moss pit regularly, but they never get bothered for whatever reason. I think a determined crab will end up molting anywhere it really wants to. Did you find ANY exo with her? It sounds like someone came through and found her, had a snack on the exo and then stole her shell. There really should have been some sign of it unless another crab came along.

Great news she's reshelled and alive! Don't worry about the missing the BP, you don't have to do anything different. She'll start to regrow it on the next molt. Just good conditions and a good selection of food so she can charge up for that molt.

[purpleperson]

alright. I'm thinking sand it good then.

She actually had her entire Exo with her, basically the moss pit is a plastic storage container.. I would say about 6" by 4". I found the favourite crabs shell with what I now know was the BP in one corner, the molted crabs shell with the favourite in it in the middle, and the naked crab with all of the Exo in the opposite corner. To me it look like she was almost just finishing pulling out of the Exo.

So if she pulls through she should be okay with the other crabs until she molts again? Or will she have to be in ISO until then?


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[IBlab crab]

Whenever I hear of a crab without a big pincher and not in original shell, it leads me to believe they were pulled out of shell by another crab.Possibly the one who was in his shell.The offending crab pulls the other out by grabbing the shield leg or BP. They like to steal shells when they know the other crab is vulnerable and about to molt or already molted.

[purpleperson]

Yeah I think that now that I saw that the BP was gone. When I first saw her however I didn't notice so I didn't think anything was wrong.


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[wodesorel]

Watch her and see how she does, but if she's acting normal she can go back in with the others. It's really up to you. A second disturbed molt in a row can be a killer. That would be the only reason to keep her separate, so that she can molt again in peace and gain all her strength back.

[purpleperson]

Update: just peeked on her quick to make sure she's still alive. She is! The body parts of the Exo have all been eaten, she is now working on the leg sections. She has also moved the moist moss I left with her around a little bit. Sh is still very light pink, but she did respond to my presence. (Hid in shell, lots of antenna movement) I will not be checking on her frequently. Probably every couple days, but I will sniff the tank everyday just to be sure.

Currently she is in a smaller, dark container in my ISO tank. She has wet moss with her, all of her Exo and a bit of sand. Should I be providing her other food or anything?

On another note, I found a small worm in her ISO cup... Not sure if it is related or not. It could be from outside as that's where I get some of my tank features(moss etc)... Should I be worried about this disturbing her? It didn't seem to be, but I thought I'd ask just in case!


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[wodesorel]

Great news! As soon as she's done with her exo she'll need to start eating and drinking. It really depends on how much movement she has and her personality on how to handle that. Some people can get away with bottle caps of water and piles and food nearby. With Sunshine I put her in shallow 1/8 inch water three to four times a day to allow her to drink, and coated q-tips in honey and then crushed food and calcium so she could eat. Did that for almost a month before she started fussing and it was time for her to molt.

If it was just one worm I wouldn't be too worried. If there were pulled off limbs mixed with the exo it might be a maggot. They'll go after decaying protein.

[purpleperson]

I didn't peek at her today, but no smell so so far so good! Usually this crab moves quite a bit, is very social, and enjoys her shrimp lol. I have some extra Exo terra dishes that will probably be deep enough for her, so I'm probably going to set her up in an ISO with two of those and a shell of food. Of course, I won't do thing until I think she's strong enough to handle it on her own. I'm really rooting for her at this point and hoping she can pull through.

And yes, just the one. I don't think it was a maggot as it was reeeally tiny and dark in colour. It may have been just a little earthworm or something... I'm not overly worried at this point. I just pulled it out and haven't seen another.





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