Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

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coledofner12
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Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by coledofner12 »

My baby crab, Redeemer, has been streaking. He only does it when i bathe him and put him back in his tank. I just got him 2 days ago. He is very active but I just wanna know if he is either trying to clean himself or if he wants a new shell. I only have one other shell that will fit him but he doesn't like that shell. Does anybody have any idea why he is doing this?
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CrabbyJo
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by CrabbyJo »

First Cole, a new crab should not be disturbed after you've initially bathed him the first time (before he ever enters your tank) and placed in the tank. He needs at least a week or two to destress. He may be streaking because he's stressed out of his mind, so give him time to be alone. I do hope he's in an isolation tank?
Either way, if he's still out of his shell, take it out, rinse it well with dechlor water, spritz a little ocean salt water in it, then place it hole up for him. There may be something irritating his abdomen inside the shell. Also, get several new shells for him as soon as you can, with the type of opening that his species prefers.

Don't bathe him any more. If you provide a water dish deep enough for your crabs to submerge, you will never have to bathe them, they will do it themselves.
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ladybug15057
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by ladybug15057 »

What is the humidity level of the tank? When did you last calibrate the humidity gauge? Where in the tank is the gauge located? What is the cools side of the substrates temp, and the warm side of the substrate temp? What were the conditions like where this hermie came from?
And CrabbyJo is 100% with her advice with a new hermie.
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ladybug15057
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by ladybug15057 »

It appears you may of overlooked this thread you have done? It has come to my attention that you use both a heat rock as well as a heat lamp on your tank. What is the temperature of the cool side of your substrate and what is the temperature of the warm side of your substrate?
by coledofner12 on December 20th, 2009, 11:05 pm
My baby crab, Redeemer, has been streaking. He only does it when i bathe him and put him back in his tank. I just got him 2 days ago. He is very active but I just wanna know if he is either trying to clean himself or if he wants a new shell. I only have one other shell that will fit him but he doesn't like that shell. Does anybody have any idea why he is doing this?
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coledofner12
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by coledofner12 »

I don't know right now. I just change everything around in the tank and replace the substrate. He hasn't been streaking anymore since he found a new shell.
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coledofner12
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by coledofner12 »

I took the heat rock out it was taking to much space.
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emmac350
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by emmac350 »

How often do you bathe your crabs? Bathing really isn't necessary other than a dip in salt water when you first get the crab (to remove any mites) as long as you have bowls of water deep enough for the crabs to submerge in.

Perhaps the baths could have something to do with the streaking - bathing a hermie can stress it out quite a bit as crabs try very hard to get the right concentration of fresh and salt water in their shells. It can take a crab up to several hours to get the right mixture in there, and every time you bathe your crabs, they have to do it all over again.

How often do you replace your substrate? What kind of substrate did you have, and what kind do you now have?

Also, if you've only had this crab for a few days, you should not be handling it. Crabs should be given two months with no handling to avoid stress-related deaths. This article has a ton of information about how you should be treating new crabs. It's based off of a lot of peoples' experience (combined experience of longer than many of us have been alive) so I recommend you check it out.

I'm glad you removed the heat rock - it's been known in the crabbing community for years that crabs often die on heat rocks. They fall asleep on them, enjoying the warmth, and end up overheating and dying a slow death from irreversible damage. Heat sources should be kept away from crabs as much as possible.
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coledofner12
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by coledofner12 »

I bathe them every 4 days.
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ladybug15057
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by ladybug15057 »

Bathing hermies every 4 days is entirely too often. Offer deeper ponds where they can walk through themselves. If you have a 40 gal tank there should be plenty of room to do this.
So since about midnight last night, you have removed the heat rock from your tank?
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coledofner12
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Re: Baby Crab has been Streaking... Why?

Post by coledofner12 »

yea. I had to when I changed the substrate as I said in one of my other post. I need more room for some new crabs. I already have a walk in pond for all my crabs. And obviously, I've signed up twice for the hermit crab adoption place that ladybug runs. I never get a reply, not to be mean but I guess a lot of people think I don't deserve to adopt hermit crabs.
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