two crabs dead, one not confirmed.

[CrabbyJo]

It may very well be the sea salt you used. We have tried to stress many times that you canNOT use human grade sea salt, it MUST be sea salt from an ocean mix made for salt water aquariums. I'm sorry if you missed this information, we try to stress it everywhere.

It's not so much about what is in the table salt (called sea salt or no), although anticaking agents are likely harmful to your crabs. It is really about the nutrients that are required from the ocean salt. Enzymes, electrolytes, and other nutrients. It's also important to have a correct salinity mixture, hence the need to mix the salt according to package directions.

Please do take the salt you are using out of the tank. If you have used it to mist the tank or to soak the bedding, you will want to replace the substrate asap.

You may never really know for sure what caused the deaths of your crabs (Other than the molter), but you really do need to take care of this salt situation.

Also, the rainwater, in what do you catch it? Does it happen to run off the roof or anything? Down a drain pipe? Straight from the sky into a container?


Also, I don't see that you offer any calcium sources other than the shrimp? Your crabs need a very wide variety of foods. You will want to pick up some spirulina and kelp at the grocery store - you can find them in the bulk section of the natural foods, usually. Otherwise, you can order some good crab mixes online that contain seaweed and mealworms and other important foods your crabs need.
I'm afraid what you are feeding them is just not enough.

Try boiling an egg (save the shell when you peel it) and offering them the cooked yolk, and sprinkle the crushed eggshell on top. You can leave eggshell in the tank for long periods too, so maybe even leave it in all the time. Also, did you know that your crabs would LOVE a chicken or beef bone (like ribs) if you crack it open with a hammer so they can get to the marrow? I use a heavy marble rolling pin to mash bones for mine. It crushes them open and I just lay the half bone or chunk (small bones lol) in the tank. They love it.
Start using your imagination. Put a protein source in their food dish every time you feed them, and it's better to find some whole grain meals to replace the processed cereal you are giving them. The natural nutrients have been processed right out, and there is really not much left. you can also find some of those in the natural food section in your grocery store. Any grain, the closer to natural the better! You can even buy whole grains and grind them up in a coffee grinder.

Here is a great link to help give you some more ideas: Beginner's List

[ladybug15057]

As with tap water and boiling it doesn't boil all the harmful things in it out. Well same with boiling rain water, depending on how it is collected as CrabbyJo mentioned has a lot to do with what all can be found within it. Another thought too is where the 'rain' has come from. A cloud does not instantly form over ones home and decide to release the rain. It normally travels miles and the water that forms the rain is gathered from the atmosphere. If there are any industries, etc. the pollutants from it can be absorbed into the clouds as well.
(please visit link for more reading)
http://crabbywiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Rain+water

Impurities of rain water:

Rain water tends to become impure as it passes through the atmosphere. It picks up suspended impurities from the atmosphere such as dust, soot and microorganisms and gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen and ammonia.

Gaseous sulphur and nitrogen oxides are emitted from power plants that use fossil fuels.

There are so many members here and I am sorry but I for one cannot always remember who posted what when, or do I have time to search through all their posts to try to find who did what when. But I don't see where you answered Emma's question regarding the rock you mentioned about having in your tank. Where did you get it and what species is it?
CrabbyJo is correct too about the ocean/sea water. It has been discussed many times throughout HCP.
As for your other hermies appearing ok, I hope they are. But until recently these who just passed appeared ok too but slowly started to display sluggishness and then passed. This does not mean there cannot be a complication brewing, some hermies are a little stronger than others and take longer for them to show the effects of something. (like humans, all tolerate illnesses differently and some get sick more than others)
Another link that may help with some of the food sources too is:
http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... storyid=25

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... storyid=44

[Wai]

Pure water boils at 100'C. If impurities are added to the water, then the boiling point of the mixture will increase. For example, let's say that the tap water from your home boils at 102'C. When you boil the tap water, any substance that has a boiling point of 102'C or below can (but not always) evaporate away from the tap water in the form of a gas. However, substances with a boiling point above 102'C will remain in the tap water, because more heat energy is required to convert them into their gaseous forms.

As Marie said, boiling tap water is not a reliable way of removing all impurities, especially if the impurities have boiling points well above that of the tap water. I suggest adding excess dechlorinator that can also neutralise heavy metals to the water.

[crabcrazygal]

i just remembered a few other things i occationaly put in there food bowl.
crushed cuttle shell
and crushed nuts (many sorts)

i am hesitent with putting meat and stuff in there food bowls, because i dont want to leave it in there too long, how long can i leave meat in the tank for?

i dont know what type of rock it is but it is darkish brown, and looks a bit like grael, but it is bigger.
before i put it in he tank, i scrubbed it with lemon juice, and put it in boiling water.
we had it in our backyard, and my dad said that it should be ok to put in there.

i am definently going to a pet store tomorow, and i was paid yesterday, so i will look up safe sea salts, that i can use, and see if they have any.

i think that the rain water goes strait into the tank.
if i dont live anywhere near any factorys, or places that would emit any pollutants, would hat make the rain water more safe?
also wouldnt the rain water be the same as the fresh water sources as where you find hermit crabs in australia?
if not, i have this go-pet dechlorinater, that came with a tank i go ages ago, is that safe?

i will get some of the stuff on the lists provided by you guys.
i feel quite ashamed that i havent been looking after my crabs as well as i could, and i am going to make it my mission to improve there crabitat and etc as much as possible
thank you all again for helping me.

[crabcrazygal]

dont wory about the "how long should i put meat in the tank for", because i just read the answer pretty much, on one of the links provided lol

[CrabbyJo]

CCG,
I'm right there with ya. I had a crab die from heat damage because I was careless about not temping the substrate over my UTH. I also thought, heck those things don't get THAT hot, it's probably fine, blah blah blah. I think we all may be a little guilty of thinking, at the start, that maybe everyone is a little TOO picky about what they say the crabs need. I'm afraid I was proved wrong. They really do need the humidity, temp, substrate, food, etc. to be monitored and carefully looked after. They may live 6 months or a year without watching these things carefully, but to have them live longer, you really do have to follow every bit of detail as to what the care sheets say they need.
I lost a crab who buried himself on top of the UTH, and I was arrogant enough to think that the UTH couldn't possibly be THAT hot. Three weeks later he died from heat related damage. When I finally did temp the substrate over the UTH, I found it was 100*F! That poor crab. I now have a thermostat connected to it so it won't go above 81*F, and I still temp it from time to time to make sure the thermostat is still working.

Enough about me -
It's hard to say what is in the rainwater even though you aren't near any industrial sites. Particles can travel in the atmosphere for thousands of miles. When volcano blows, the ash can travel halfway around the world, depending on how high the plume goes. Who can say how many pollutants are carried how far in the atmosphere that comes down in the rainwater?
I think you'd have to actually get your water tested.
Is there someone you can ask about the details of your rainwater collection system? Ask them how it is filtered, and what impurities it filters out? I looked online and see that there are some systems that filter the water and keep it from growing bacteria and such. It may be perfectly safe for your crabs, but it's best to educate yourself about your water system. Just sounds like a good idea all around!

Check out the beginners food list, and try adding a bunch of variety to their diet. Heck, I'm more worried about fresh fruits than meats, because the fruits get moldy so fast! I will leave meat in for a couple of days, since it seems to dry out rather than rot. (Make sure it's cooked). Remember, our crabs are scavengers, and they like to eat "ripe" and rotting foods in the wild.
I highly suggest ordering some of the more quality foods for crabs online, the ones that contain seaweeds and copepods (mealworms) and maybe get some dried bloodworms and shrimp (make sure no preservatives, that the cans only say "contains only shrimp", etc.) to supplement your crab's diet. Even if you can only buy one item at a time, they last a LONG time, and you can eventually get a pretty good variety for them.

Any salt mix that is meant for saltwater aquariums will do, your pet store will have a good mix.
Many use Instant Ocean, but there are a couple of other good brands out there.
I'd give links, but it's time to get to work!
Good luck!

[ladybug15057]

Little note too about the rain water (along with what CrabbyJo pointed out) going into a tank...such as well water? does this mean it is pumped used through pipes?
Rain water from the hermies natural home, majority of hermies live along/inland of the beaches. This means most of their rain water comes across/from the ocean and may also be a little more salty than that of rainwater inland.
And CrabbyJo I do remember when your little E overheated. Reason I was so dang persistent for you to check your substrate temp was because we had a post molter overheat here back in 2001. 3 days post molt and sorry... might as well say cooked alive. Why I also did the article later regarding checking the substrate temp as well as the air temp of the tank. Such a sad way though to learn.

[CrabbyJo]

It really is a sad way to learn. He was a PP though, not that it really matters. A heat damaged crab is a heat damaged crab.
I do hope to see more people stressing the need to temp substrate, so we can really get the word out. I had no idea how really important it was, and vitally important when a UTH is used.

[ladybug15057]

I'm sorry, I thought your hermie was an E. The post molter here who died in 2001 due to overheating was an E. (next day, purchased the thermostats for our tanks here)
And same as we had an E die here due to the lack of ocean/sea water. Catch being, I was no wiser that he was an E or anything about ocean/sea salt needs. (didn't have a computer at home the first 9 months of our crabbing and pet stores, well they knew about as much as I did at that time) When the ocean water pond was added to our tanks though I was shocked as how the PP's shoved and stayed in the ponds as much as the E's did at first. Lots of pincher shoving, had to add a second ocean/sea pond in all the tanks.

[crabcrazygal]

ok i found the go pets thingy, and on the front it says it is a water "conditioner", and that it removes any metals, and other things in the water that might cause harm to fish.
is it still useable for my crabs?
i am currantly about to get a list of safe sea salts (mixtures, or what ever.)