Legs

Questions about unexpected problems.
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harleyucollins
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Joined: 26 Apr 2010, 12:50
Gender: Female
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Total gallons: 31
Total tanks: 3
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Re: Slow moving

Post by harleyucollins »

What exactly is the type and brand of substrate that you have?
It's a mixture between eco-earth and (i think) repti-sand.

Do you keep it dry or sandcastle wet?
Sandcastle wet

What brand of dechlorinator do you use?
Instant Ocean marine conditioner


What brand of ocean salt mix do you use?
I use the kind that my mom uses for her salt water fish tanks...
It's instant-ocean salt crystals

What decorations/items do you have in the tank?
I have a rock (that used to be in the salt water fish tank, it's been out of there since we've gotten them), multiple shells, food dish, cave item, a wrecked ship ornament, salt water and fresh water

What is the temperature range in the tank?
Warm end?
Cool end?
I'm not real sure what the temperatures are on the ends, I have the temperature gage in the middle and it reads about 73 (is that bad?) but i have a under-the-tank-heater on the side of the tank, because i read somewhere if it's on the bottom that the crabs could end up molting there and burn themselves.

What is the temperature of the substrate? I'm not sure, but I know it's cooler around the bottom.

What type of heater do you have on the tank? Zoo-med repti therm u.t.h., but it's on the side

Do you feed your hermit crabs commercial foods? If so, what brand? rarely. tetrafauna hermit crab cakes and gardner's hermit crab food.

Do you feed your hermit crabs fresh foods? If so, what do you feed them? (As much detail as possible)I give them oats, cuttlebone, strawberries, apples, dried bananas, cucumber, un-seasoned, un-processed meat (chicken mostly), little pieces of bread...

Do you change their food out daily? I change it every other day.

Do you bathe your hermit crabs? sometimes.

If so, what temperature is the bath water? lukewarm

Do you add a special treatment other than regular dechlorinator to their bathwater? If so, what brand? no

Have you done a deep clean, and if so, what did you use to clean the tank? i haven't done a deep clean since i got the new tank, no.

Has the tank been exposed to any chemicals or scented items lately, such as fingernail polish remover fumes, scented candles, cleaners, perfumes, etc.
no


I bought a 20 gallon long tank about a month ago and moved everyone in to there, I haven't found any of the fuzz balls since I moved them into there. And Dozer was never exposed to the spanish moss when we had it in the other tank.
Proud owner of 10 hermit crabs.
6 PP's - Dino, Squirt, and Squishy (Other three unnamed)
4 E -Reo-ohki, Pip, Magnus, and Tien
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harleyucollins
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Posts: 81
Joined: 26 Apr 2010, 12:50
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 10
Total gallons: 31
Total tanks: 3
Location: Pennsboro, WV
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Re: Slow moving

Post by harleyucollins »

Oh and also, the humidity is about 78 (is that ok?)
Proud owner of 10 hermit crabs.
6 PP's - Dino, Squirt, and Squishy (Other three unnamed)
4 E -Reo-ohki, Pip, Magnus, and Tien
CrabbyJo
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Joined: 21 Jan 2009, 13:31
Gender: Female
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Total gallons: 85
Total tanks: 4
Location: Alaska

Re: Slow moving

Post by CrabbyJo »

The humidity is great. The temperature is definitely on the low side, you need to get that up asap. It can be about 73 on the cool end (or even 70) as long as they have a warm end they can move to that should be as warm as 78-83*F. Too long at a cool temperature can cause them to begin to go dormant, which is not good.

It would be good to know the temp at the warm end, especially the substrate temperature. Try to take the temperature away from the heating pad - just not near the glass it's on. Further away from it, perhaps halfway or all the way on the opposite glass at that end. HOpefully you have a thermometer you can do this with.

To temp the substrate, you can get a kitchen thermometer, the probe kind, and take the temperature. You can find something like this at Walmart for only a few dollars: http://www.hardwareandtools.com/General ... 70495.html

You say your substrate is "sandcastle wet", and I realize I should have worded my question a little better, because that usually refers to only sand. :)
So your EE is damp, does water pool on the bottom of the tank at all? Is it just moist, or pretty wet?

Most of your conditions sound pretty good, and you have a good water treatment that removes heave metals.

As for the commercial foods, it's hard to find descriptions with ingredients online, so just check the labels. If the foods you have contain Ethoxyquin or Copper Sulfate, we highly recommend you toss them immediately. Those preservatives have been linked to molting abnormalities and are suspected to be a slow toxin for the crabs. Hermit crabs are very sensitive to some metals, and copper is one of them.
It sounds like you are giving your crabs a good variety of foods, try throwing in some leafy items as well, like cilantro, maple leaves, oak leaves (they need the tannin and cellulose) and it would be good to get some cork bark and cholla wood or the like for the tank, as they will also nibble on those items. You can give them other grains as well, such as brown or long grain rice, wheat, barley, etc. Just pick up small amounts in the natural food section of the grocery store. While you're there, you can get them some spirulina and kelp granules, or pick up some seaweed/algae sheets from the pet store. I also highly recommend a regular addition of these seaweeds to their food dish each day.
Here's a great link to help you make sure your crabs are getting a balanced diet without commercial food: http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... storyid=48

So to tidy up all my talk, get a thermometer and fix the temperature range in your tank. Other than that, I am not sure whats up. Hopefully someone else will be along later to add some thoughts or suggestions. Weekends are generally not great as people are so busy.
6 hermit crabs - 3 PPs and 3 Equadorians
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harleyucollins
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Posts: 81
Joined: 26 Apr 2010, 12:50
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Re: Slow moving

Post by harleyucollins »

Ok thanks! I will be able to head to wal-mart in a few days, so I will get a thermometer then. :]
Proud owner of 10 hermit crabs.
6 PP's - Dino, Squirt, and Squishy (Other three unnamed)
4 E -Reo-ohki, Pip, Magnus, and Tien
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harleyucollins
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Posts: 81
Joined: 26 Apr 2010, 12:50
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 10
Total gallons: 31
Total tanks: 3
Location: Pennsboro, WV
Contact:

Re: Slow moving

Post by harleyucollins »

Dozer has died... how can I tell whether or not it was from a disease?
Proud owner of 10 hermit crabs.
6 PP's - Dino, Squirt, and Squishy (Other three unnamed)
4 E -Reo-ohki, Pip, Magnus, and Tien
CrabbyJo
Coenobita
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Posts: 1849
Joined: 21 Jan 2009, 13:31
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 7
Total gallons: 85
Total tanks: 4
Location: Alaska

Re: Legs

Post by CrabbyJo »

It's really hard to tell, Harley. If the temperature has been low for a long time, that could possibly have been part of the cause.

The UTH on the side, is it low enough to warm the substrate, or low enough the crabs can bury or sit right next to it and get very warm?
6 hermit crabs - 3 PPs and 3 Equadorians
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please feel free to share information from this website, but please be sure to give credit and a link back to the information. Failure to give credit is plagiarism. Don't take credit for someone else's information.
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ladybug15057
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Re: Legs

Post by ladybug15057 »

I am sorry to hear Dozer has passed, and as CrabbyJo mentioned it is hard to say why he passed. He also had just molted a couple weeks ago and it maybe he hadn't fully recovered from it as well as lacking a couple of things.
Marie (aka ladybug15057)

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CrabbyJo
Coenobita
Coenobita
Posts: 1849
Joined: 21 Jan 2009, 13:31
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 7
Total gallons: 85
Total tanks: 4
Location: Alaska

Re: Legs

Post by CrabbyJo »

I had also forgotten the beginning of the thread where you found exo parts on top of the sand. if the other crabs got his exo, and he wasn't able to eat it, that may have contributed to his illness and death, possibly.
6 hermit crabs - 3 PPs and 3 Equadorians
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please feel free to share information from this website, but please be sure to give credit and a link back to the information. Failure to give credit is plagiarism. Don't take credit for someone else's information.
User avatar
harleyucollins
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Posts: 81
Joined: 26 Apr 2010, 12:50
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 10
Total gallons: 31
Total tanks: 3
Location: Pennsboro, WV
Contact:

Re: Legs

Post by harleyucollins »

Yeah, I had gotten to thinking that on my home from work tonight. It was his exo parts that they were taking and when he came up he looked red-ish. :( I just hope that none of the others die..
The UTH is high enough to where it can't heat the sand, but not low enough to where most of them can touch it.. is that ok? I also have another one, should I put that on the same side also to help with the tempature?
Proud owner of 10 hermit crabs.
6 PP's - Dino, Squirt, and Squishy (Other three unnamed)
4 E -Reo-ohki, Pip, Magnus, and Tien
User avatar
harleyucollins
Zygote
Zygote
Posts: 81
Joined: 26 Apr 2010, 12:50
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 10
Total gallons: 31
Total tanks: 3
Location: Pennsboro, WV
Contact:

Coming up before hardened

Post by harleyucollins »

I have been gone for a few days and my mom has been looking after my crabs for me. I have come home today and noticed a few crabs were up and about. And I noticed one of them was one that was molting last week. So I picked him up and he was REALLY pale and I was curious to see if he was hardened yet so I poked him.. and he was still soft. Is this bad???
Proud owner of 10 hermit crabs.
6 PP's - Dino, Squirt, and Squishy (Other three unnamed)
4 E -Reo-ohki, Pip, Magnus, and Tien
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