Multiple streakers

Questions about unexpected problems.
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xXxEmilixXx
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Multiple streakers

Post by xXxEmilixXx »

PLEASE HELP!

My hermit crab Joe was running around the tank naked the other day, he then moved into a WAY smaller shell that is half his size. There was bigger shells in there for him, and he moved into the smallest shell there was, it didn't even cover his abdomen.
He then moved back into his old shell (Which is painted, I know it is bad for them he just won't move out of it) for around a week or two. Then he was naked once again. He didn't go in his shell so I isolated him. He still didn't move into another shell, and he buried down in the sand and I haven't seen him since. (I'm guessing he is molting? (?) )
Now my other crab Popcorn is naked! All of a sudden he just came out of his shell and is walking around normally like there is nothing wrong!! He has a real cloudy look in his eyes and hasn't been as active as he usually is. Before he came out of his shell, he was extremely active and he use to climb. Then for around two days he just stayed in his shell and did nothing and now he is naked! PLEASE HELP TWO CRABS IN MY TANK ARE STRIPPING!
**Emili**

R.I.P to my beloved hermies who are no longer with us> Pinchy***Harold Zoid***Zoidberg 1***Zoidberg 2***Joe***Edna The Original***Boris***Popcorn***
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Wai
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Re: EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

Post by Wai »

Since so many of your hermit crabs are stripping, I think there is something wrong with your tank. What is the temperature and humidity range in the tank? Are there any bugs in the tank? What have you been feeding them?

Also, please stop typing in all caps. Panicking only makes things worse. Calm down and think what could be wrong.
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emmac350
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Re: EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

Post by emmac350 »

Also, have there been any perfumes/scented lotions/scented candles/smoke/other airborne scent/pollutant in the room with the tank? What are your tank ornaments made of? What kind of water do you offer? How do you treat it before you give it to them?
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ladybug15057
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Re: EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

Post by ladybug15057 »

Seems I sort of wasted time replying to the same exact post. Please do only post once and patiently wait for a reply, most forums are NOT monitored 24/7. But here is the reply that I just posted in the other duplicate thread that I just deleted:

What is the humidity percentage of your tank, where is the gauge located, and did you calibrate/test it for accuracy? (and if so when was the last time you tested it?)
What is the air temp, as well as the substrate temp of your tank on both ends, the cool side and the warm side?
What brand, if any, of ocean water do you offer? Do you use a dechlorinator for the fresh water, and if so which brand?
For 2 hermies to go shell less like this sounds as though there is something amidst with the tank conditions. Any perfumes, candles, cleaners, chemicals being used in your home?
Marie (aka ladybug15057)

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Re: EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

Post by Hermie's rule »

Emilie, you really need to try to comply and give us some information. :) We can't automatically discover what's wrong just like if you went to the doctor and told him some of the general symptoms of a diesiese that you had, he'd ask you a lot more specific questions. :D I understand your being anxious. But anxiety won't allow us to help you. Information will let us help you. Please, please either help us out here and let us help you, or else find the information for yourself.
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Re: EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

Post by Hermie's rule »

Okay, do you have a temperature hygrometer gauge in the tat? Your first hermie Joe sounds like he could be overheated or stressed out due to exposure to chemicals. Your 2nd hermie sounds like he may need to molt or something. What kind of substrate do you have in your tat? :D
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xXxEmilixXx
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Re: EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

Post by xXxEmilixXx »

Sorry I haven't replied lately, I have been quite busy crabbing.

Sadly, they have passed away I have tested everything and done everything that is possible but it seems to me that they were both very stressed out too.
Incase you are wondering anyway, I use B.E. Products Distilled Water, but it has absolutely no chlorine or ANY chemicals in it, all it is is just water.
We do not use any air fresheners or anything like that.
We have two thermometers in both sides of the tank, and one humidity gauge in the cooler side of the tank. It reads at around 70% (I know, I might need to get it a lil' bit higher, it's just the container that we use for the rock pool has cracked and we haven't got anything to put the water in, only a little bowl).
Back to temperature, in the warmer side of the tank it reads at about 28-29 degrees, and in the cooler end it reads at around 21-22-23 degrees. So there is quite a dramatic change.
We have a 100% natural hermy hut, not bought or anything, we just found it and it was PERFECTLY shaped like one! :D Although I'm not sure if it is good or not, because some sort of bug before we got it has been sort of gnawing through it and making patterns. (Diseases?)
We use play sand for substrate for one quarter of the tank, it is deep so they can moult in it. The other 3 quarters are shell grit. By the way, on the bag of play sand it says "Screened & Washed" so I am assuming that it is good.
We have plenty of natural shells for them, but some of them have clear varnish on them. It is hard to find ones that don't :(
We have a proper heat lamp for them and we also have aquarium background for decoration.
I feed them muesli and sometimes bits of fruit or veggies.
So there you have it, I don't know what I am doing wrong but there is something up :( Please help...
Thanks!
**Emili**

R.I.P to my beloved hermies who are no longer with us> Pinchy***Harold Zoid***Zoidberg 1***Zoidberg 2***Joe***Edna The Original***Boris***Popcorn***
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emmac350
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Re: EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

Post by emmac350 »

What is the hermy hut made out of? i.e. what kind of wood? Pine and pine relatives (cedar, etc.) are VERY irritating to crabs and can make them drop their shells and, eventually, die. Did you rinse it in salt water and bake it before giving it to the crabs? That should kill any bugs living in it. You'd need to bake it around 175-200 degrees C or 350 degrees F for around half an hour.

If you need to find non-coated shells, look up hermit crab shells on ebay. You can get 75+ shells of all sizes for under $10 USD. Some shells are naturally shiny, though, so don't just assume that they're varnished.

Play sand isn't necessarily the best substrate for your crabs. Do a search for it in the search box and you will find lots of different information on it. Just because it says "screened and washed" doesn't necessarily mean that it's safe.I think that the shell grit could very well be why your crabs are having problems. It sounds very coarse, and could hurt their abdomens if it got into their shells. I recommend you try again with crabs, just use the shell grit as a dietary supplement (sprinkle a little in their food bowl every so often) instead of as a substrate.

Their diet also appears to have some major holes in it. It's good that you aren't feeding them commercial foods, but if they're only getting muesli (which from what I've seen after looking it up is kind of like oatmeal but with a few more grains in it) and only occasional fruits and veggies, they're missing a lot! They need meat and other proteins in their diet - it helps them to grow when they molt especially, but is needed every day - as well as always having access to fruits, veggies, flowers, nuts, oils, etc. There is a safe food list located at the epicurean hermit forum (you need to join to see it, I think) that is linked http://www.epicurean-hermit.com/index.php?topic=2.0.

The general "food groups" most hermie owners use are (copied from an older post in an older topic because my computer is being dumb at the moment):

1. Flowers - these contain coloring compounds to help your crabs maintain their nice exo colors; I use these flowers: calendula, blue violet, blue malva, chamomile, hibiscus, rose, chickweed, cornflowers, honeysuckle, jasmine, rose, and sunflowers.

2. Cellulose - keep in mind that when you give them cellulose that they will also supplement their diets with cellulose in their tank - tearing apart cocohuts, cholla logs, etc.; oak/maple leaves, dandelion root/leaves, raspberry plant leaves, mangrove and red root pieces, etc. I know my crabs have been tearing apart my cholla because I took it out to clean the tank and the base of it was surrounding with crab poo! So they do eat that if offered. I also offer them pieces of sterilized sponge occasionally.

3. Fruits - fresh or dried fruit. Try to stick to organic if you can as it's generally better for them (less risk of getting sick from pesticides). If you offer commercial dried fruit you should ensure that there are no preservatives at all as most of these can be harmful to your crabs. These are important for the vitamins and minerals in them as well as the coloring compounds. I offer coconut (dried), pineapple (dried and pieces of fresh made from the outside pieces with flesh on them; a byproduct of cutting a fresh pineapple), apples (dried and fresh), bananas (I have a mushy brown one in the freezer that I cut pieces off as well as a dried one), cranberries (dried), raisins (no preservatives), grapes (fresh), strawberries (fresh and dried), orange (dried), mango (fresh and dried), etc. This is the easiest food group to give them as they are usually readily available in your house.

4. Seaweed/algae - these provide very important vitamins and minerals for your crab. These are part of their natural diet and thus are important to offer. I offer spirulina powder, algae crisps, sea lettuce, and kelp. I know other people offer actual food grade seaweed as well.

5. "Other nutritional stuff" - this is where I put things that provide some of the trace minerals required by our crabs. Worm castings, salt (ensure it's a safe salt for the crabs; I use the ones on the addiction site), etc.

6. Nuts/grains - these contain important oils and nutrients for crabs. I have walnuts, pumpkin seeds, 9 grain cereal, 7 grain oatmeal, soynuts, flaxseed, psyllium seeds.

7. Veggies - onions, peppers, green beans (unseasoned), squashes, etc.

8. Chitin/calcium-providing protein - these are freeze-dried shrimp, (dried or dead) bloodworms, (dried or dead) mealworms, (dead) crickets, silkworms, etc. Chitin helps them harden exos properly and prepares them for/helps recover from a molt.

9. Other protein - eggs (hard boiled, powdered), dried silversides, sardines (in spring water), preservative free fish flakes (like bonito or dulse flakes), dried octopus or squid (found at the addiction store).

10. Calcium - eggshells, crushed coral, calcisand, etc.

Treats - bee products, peanut butter (organic/natural), organic noodles, cheese.
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Rack, 23 Sep 08; Benny, 23 Sep 08; Slightly, 3 Jan 09; Nibs, 3 Jan 09; Curly, 3 Jan 09; Spaz, 5 Jul 09

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xXxEmilixXx
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Re: EMERGENCY! PLEASE HELP ASAP!

Post by xXxEmilixXx »

The hermy hut is made out of a gum nut tree
**Emili**

R.I.P to my beloved hermies who are no longer with us> Pinchy***Harold Zoid***Zoidberg 1***Zoidberg 2***Joe***Edna The Original***Boris***Popcorn***
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Re: Multiple streakers

Post by emmac350 »

Emili, I'm afraid that is not safe for your crabs and could be responsible for your streakers.

Another name for "gum nut tree" is the eucalyptus tree, whose wood can be used as an insecticide. Our crabs are extremely vulnerable to insecticides, which is why we can't use pine or pine products in our tanks - it will irritate our crabs' gills and abdomens and can eventually cause death. Unfortunately, your piece of eucalyptus is doing the same thing to your crabs. Eucalyptus is on the "unsafe woods list" located http://www.epicurean-hermit.com/index.php?topic=10.0

I suggest that you remove it from your tank and get a crab-safe hidey for your crabs - maybe you could buy a coconut and make a cocohut with your parents? Everyone I know of who has done this has had a great response from their crabs. Let us know what you decide to do!
Follow the daily lives of my crabs at thedailyhermit.tumblr.com

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Rack, 23 Sep 08; Benny, 23 Sep 08; Slightly, 3 Jan 09; Nibs, 3 Jan 09; Curly, 3 Jan 09; Spaz, 5 Jul 09

If you are contacted privately and enticed to join another forum, please inform a moderator. This is an unethical practice.
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