New Crab Died :[

[namoosa]

Hello everyone. Last Wednesday I purchased two new crabs to add with my other two. One of my crabs (Blister) has been running around the cage into everything and eats, eats, eats!! The other crab (Boo) has just sat in a tree or behind the tree. I never seen him eat any these days. Today I opened the tank lid to check everything and give them fresh water and I smelled a fishy smell. I thought it was my crab that's been under the sand for 7 weeks now, so I pulled out the aquarium and looked through the glass on the bottom and he was moving. I picked up Boo to check him and his big pincher and a leg fell off! He didn't fall out of his shell, but he was dead. He had a very strong fishy odor that would knock you down. I also found his small pincher and another leg laying next to where he was. I just don't understand what has happened I thought I was bringing him from a bad life to a better life. What would cause something like this?

[emmac350]

It sounds like it's most likely post purchase stress - it's a big killer for crabs, especially if they've been in the pet store for too long. To confirm this as the cause of death, can you tell us everything about your tank? Let's see, let's try these questions for starters (please, be specific and give brand names wherever possible):

How big of a tank do you have? Glass or acrylic?
What type of substrate do you use?
Is it damp?
Do you offer dechlorinated fresh water? If so, how do you dechlorinate it?
What about salt water? What brand do you use?
How deep are your water bowls?
What is the temperature and humidity inside of the tank?
What kind of heating device do you use? If you use a UTH, do you measure the substrate temperature?
What do you feed the crabs on a daily basis?

Please answer those questions and we'll try to help you as best we can.

[CrabbyJo]

Namoosa,
I remember seeing pictures of your tank recently, and I think you have a pretty good setup for your crabs from what I understand. Do answer Emma's questions as best you can though, just in case it's not PPS that killed your poor crab.

When purchasing new hermies, it is highly recommended that they spend at least a week or more in iso, depending on the conditions they were taken from.
If the pet store has pretty decent conditions, you can usually iso for about a week then put them in the main tank, just to make sure there is no disease or mites, and to give the new crabs time to destress and get used to food always being available.

If the pet store has bad conditions, they will need to be isolated longer. The idea is to start them off in your home at conditions close to the pet store, then slowly bring the conditions up to your main tank conditions. This can take a week or several, depending on how bad pet store conditions were.

Here is a link explaining adapting your crabs so they are less likely to die from PPS:
Preventing Death

Hopefully that is all it was. Once you answer Emma's questions, we can make sure. I'm very sorry for your loss.

[namoosa]

This is what I have:

How big of a tank do you have? Glass or acrylic? 10 gallon glass aquarium
What type of substrate do you use? I use sand from the ocean, got it when I went to the beach
Is it damp? It is damp, has became more wet since I have air bubbles in the water
Do you offer dechlorinated fresh water? If so, how do you dechlorinate it? Yes. I use Instant Dechlor, make gallon jugs
What about salt water? What brand do you use? Instant Ocean, make gallon jugs
How deep are your water bowls? Regular water is deep enough for them to stand in, but don't cover the shells, salt water is deep enough for them to be submerged, of course I have a rock so they can climb out.
What is the temperature and humidity inside of the tank? For a few days the temp was 82 and humidity was around 90%, lately it's been staying at temp 80, humidity 80-82%
What kind of heating device do you use? If you use a UTH, do you measure the substrate temperature? I use one heat lamp that I have on the back of the glass shining in, it's a 50 watt bulb, I also use a uth, but I use it on the side of the tank. I don't always have the uth turned on.
What do you feed the crabs on a daily basis? I feed them bananas, oatmeal, dried shrimp, cuttlebone, dried blood worms, honey, and some crab food from a package.

[ladybug15057]

I am sorry for you loss, but A heat lamp with a 50 watt bulb on a 10 gallon tank sounds to me as though your temps are too high. With the warm temp of 82*F, what was the cool side reading?
Whether you have the UTH on the side or bottom, regardless if one uses a light one needs to monitor the substrate temp as well as the air temp of the tank. A light is just as capable of making a substrate temp too hot as a UTH is. Hermies are cold blooded creatures and MUST have a cool side and a warm side to the tank at all times.
A humidity level of 90% if the gauge was calibrated and reading correctly is way too high. I'm sorry but a 90% humidity level for a few days is a long time to not be able to breath correctly.

[namoosa]

What do I need to do to monitor the sand temp? I have a thermostat, but it's not one that clicks on and off at a set temp. On one end of the tank I have the heat lamp, and 2 water dishes, this is the end that reads a temp 75-77. The other end of my tank which has the uth on the side wall, food, and trees has the temp of 80 and humidity that runs between 80 and 90%. So the heat light end actually has a lower temp reading. I tried a 25 watt heat bulb and it did nothing! I had a hard time keeping the temp even 65 degrees. I have a plastic hood, so that could be some of the reason. I have now put a plastic trash bag around the hood to hold in more heat and humidity. I have read on many websites such as this one that a humidity of 90% is good, but it can cause mold. Honestly, I don't know what to believe anymore because so many people say different things. I don't know what I can do to make things better. I just want my crabs to be happy and healthy!

[ladybug15057]

I understand namoosa and it does appear you are truly trying. A word of caution, be VERY careful what you read where. Whereas the internet can be full of great information there is also outdated as well as bad information out there. (I just did a post this week about a web site and its poor care info about tap water)
Anyway I just checked and Wai has updated the humidity Crab care here at HCP and its highest is 82%. I suggest reading the Crab Care section here and if you have questions please ask. You are also a member of CSJ, and can read the caresheets there that are still needing updating here. (soon Wai will be on break from college, so please be patient) Whereas a low humidity level can cause the hermie to slowly suffocate, too high is almost like them drowning due to the air being too thick.
It sounds as though you have a rheostat as opposed to a thermostat for your tank? If one is to invest into something to try to regulate the tanks heat one needs a thermostat where one can set the temp. It reaches that temp it turns off, if it dips below that temp it turns back on.
To check the temp of the substrate, one can do so by a thermometer with a probe:

Thermometer

Target sells a digital one

[Wai]

Anyway I just checked and Wai has updated the humidity Crab care here at HCP and its highest is 82%.

Currently, the range I put in the Crab Care section for ideal humidity is 72% to 82%. I thought 70% was pushing the limits, but hermit crabs can tolerate a little more than 80% quite comfortably, so I "bumped up" the range a little. Would a range of 75% to 85% be better? What would you guys suggest that I put as the "standard ideal" humidity range?

Also, something I learnt from my respiratory system lectures:

The air that humans breathe in gets hydrated with water vapour before it reaches the alveoli sacs in the lungs. Diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide molecules occurs through pores between the alveoli sacs and capillaries. The air is moisturised to prevent it from damaging the alveoli sacs by dessication.

Now, I don't recall reading that hermit crabs have lungs, but I know they have modified gills that allows them to breathe air. However, if hermit crabs can only breathe comfortably in humid conditions, does this suggest that their bodies lack the ability to hydrate the air that they breathe themselves?

[namoosa]

Thank you all so much for all the information. I have got the humidity down between 75 and 80, I hope I can get it to stay this way. Now I'm having another problem, today I took out the water dishes to change the water and at the bottom of the tank I see that there's some standing water! I don't know how I can get it all out. I soaked up the water that was under the water dishes, but I don't know what to do about the rest. I guess I can just change the sand, but I have 2 crabs that are fully buried! One has been buried for almost 8 weeks. I think my water bubbler has spit out too much water, so now I am not using it. What can I do in this situation?

[emmac350]

You can get a "connector" set for the bubbler that contains a check valve - basically, it's a screw that limits how much air goes through the tube, thus, limiting how much gets splashed. I have mine down just barely above being completely closed, and it still can get my 30g tank above 90% humidity. The connector set I got was at the pet store by the air pumps and tubing and cost like...$2, if I remember right.

Wai, I didn't think that crabs breathed the air, I thought their gills took in the humidity (water vapor) and converted that into oxygen, but that was just kind of what I figured after reading that they needed humidity. I would be very interested in how that actually works if you find anything about it.