Wardley 3 in 1 water conditioner - making crab streak?!

[nielleshee]

My crab has been acting very strange as of this morning. I found him naked and scurrying around so I put his shell close to him and left him alone for a bit. After an hour he was back inside, but not as...relaxed as he usually is. He has a strange kind of posture, kind of slumping forward, and there is a lot more of him hanging out of the shell than usual.

He is also not as alert as usual, when I stick my hand in front of him he does not retract as quickly into his shell (although maybe that is because he is used to me?)

His shell is kind of large, could it be that it is getting too heavy for him?

I ordered new shells for him, but they haven't arrived yet! I just need him to hang on a bit if it's about the shell.

However, my real concern is that something about the Wardley water conditioner is making him stressed out. Is that possible? If I used too much could it have an adverse effect on him? I only noticed some changes after I started using the conditioner, but that could be a coincidence.

thanks!

[emmac350]

If you use more of the conditioner than it says to, you can leave excess conditioner in the water that can poison crabs. Think about it this way - in an ideal situation, your water will have X amount of stuff to be neutralized (chlorine, chloramines, etc.) and you will put in just enough conditioner/dechlorinator so as to be able to neutralize X amount of that stuff. So you'd have an equal pairing and your water would be safe. If you have X amount of stuff in your water and don't put in enough conditioner (say, .5X), your water wouldn't be fully safe because there'd still be .5X amount of the bad stuff you're trying to get out of the water. If you have X stuff in the water but put in 2X amount of conditioner, then you'd have X amount of un-neutralized conditioner floating around in the water with nothing to bond to.

That's why it's always important to only use as much dechlorinator or water conditioner (correct me if I'm wrong, everyone else, in assuming that this is a good product; I looked it up and the description sounds legit) as you need. Using more will leave excess dechlorinator in the water, potentially harming the crabs. In the same way, it's important to not use dechlorinator if you're using distilled water because the dechlorinator will have nothing to bond with. That's why I use distilled water - no adding dechlorinator to the water and hoping I added enough/didn't add too much.

[nielleshee]

Thank you for the quick response!

The problem with the conditioner is that it's designed for mixing with 10 gal of water at a time, and I had to scale it down for 1 gallon. I think the ratio was 4 tsp to every 10 gal.

I guess that would make it .067oz to every 1 gal, but that's pretty hard to measure, I must have put too much >.<

I hope the damage is not too severe. He's doing this weird thing where he has his shell on crooked! It's like he's just barely hanging onto the edge of the shell but not coming all the way out.

[nielleshee]

Update: So, he streaked again.

I took his shell, boiled it and returned it to the tank.

I looked up the kind of shell and it appears that his current shell is some kind of murex, possibly uncomfortable for him? Or heavy?

I decided to try a no nonsense approach. I had two good sized snail shells and I picked him up and gently popped him into one of the shells. He retreated into it and then scuttled into the cocohut.

Smooth sailing from here? Hopefully that's the end of this stressful episode, he SEEMS to be ok now.

To be honest, I was terrified that he went streaking because all of the streaking cases I read about here ended in death!!!

He isn't really "settled" into this shell, though, still sticking himself out a lot. My tank can't be too hot! I think it's a bit cold, if anything. I put a blanket around it to warm it up a tad.

[CrabbyJo]

What is the temp in the tank?

I'm not sure about the Wardley's - it has something in it to neutralize ammonia, which is completely unnecessary for hermit crabs. Too much of it could be a problem.

Try picking up some distilled water for him for a while so you don't have to use the conditioner, so you can give him a break from it.
If you can, find a water conditioner that neutralizes heavy metals and removes chloramines, that's all you need. No stress coat.

What ocean water mix do you use? How much do you mix?

He sounds as if he's uncomfortable in his shell, which could be just plain discomfort in his abdomen, if it's not something within the shell itself.

If he's been fine with that shell, it's unlikely it's suddenly become a problem for him.

shoot me some answers, and hopefully we can figure this out for your little guy.

[nielleshee]

GAHHHHHH, he streaked again this morning. He was naked inside the cocohut I tried to put him back into his original shell, I felt inside and there isn't anything sharp or grainy. He is sitting in the corner now, sort of inside the shell. But he doesn't withdraw all the way inside the way he normally does.

The temperature is 72 ish degrees. Maybe a little cold.

Humidity is pretty good too.

I was using the crab saoking salt stuff, which I learned is actually not so good for crabbies. I ordered some Oceanic Mix online.

Could it be that he's getting ready for a molt?

When I first started out I bought a bad substrate for him, but I just ordered a bag of aragamax sugar sized sand online, just waiting on that now. Is he getting stressed because the substrate upsets him?

Thanks everyone!

[emmac350]

That depends - what kind of substrate is it? Some substrates can do that to crabs (most notably ones containing pine, cedar, or cypress.

As for feeling in the shell, there may be something in the shell that's too far back for your finger to go that is irritating his abdomen.

Go look at this topic - viewtopic.php?f=24&t=3343 and read through it; I recently went through (over a year after having gotten the crab in question) a similar situation. She streaked, her abdomen was swollen, and she was rather lethargic. Does she look like your crab did?

Hopefully, if she did, your crab can have success like mine just recently did - just surfaced after (I'm fairly sure) molting.

[nielleshee]

I had part gravel, part hermit crab sand, which is probably the worst combo ever. After research I realize I'm doing a lot of things wrong, and that hermit crabs aren't as easy of a pet as I thought!

Thankfully, all of my new stuff is in the mail, so hopefully he can dig to his heart's content if he just hangs on for a week!

Something interesting about his streaking behavior is that he was extremely active, scuttling around, not lethargic at all.

I had a feeling maybe the humidity was not enough so I put a big wet towel over the tank (this is temporary) and put my humidifier closer. I left for class two hours ago, and I just returned. When I walked into the room I caught him trying out a new shell, which pleased me immensely. I physically coaxed him into 3 different shells yesterday, but I think him trying one out of his own accord is a good sign. I got rid of the wardley water, and for now I'm using some bottled spring water until I can figure out a better way.

I wonder if he's lonely? Does solitude cause a crab to streak? I want to get him a friend, but at the time Petco didn't have any crabs that looked like they were in good condition (besides him).

[CrabbyJo]

Glad to hear the Wardley is gone, and also that he is so active, it's encouraging at least.

yes, it's too cool in the tank. Get that temp up to 74 at the minimum, try to get it to 75 or so and keep it there (or a little above) with one end cooler than the other (72 would be ok there, as long as he's got a warm end to move to). Being cold blooded, crabs have to regulate their body temp by moving to different temperature zones.

I would also not try to put him in any more shells. It may be stressing him unduly, and he will choose a shell for himself if he's feeling up to it.

If his abdomen is uncomfortable, it won't make any difference how many shells he's put into. You can also try to find some slightly larger shells, in case he just needs some extra room for a bit.

If he's swollen due to pre-molt, as in the picture of Emma's crab in the topic she linked to you, then you just have to let him do what he's going to do.
Sometimes the little guys swell up so much they are uncomfortable in their own skin, so to speak lol. The swelling causes the old exo to separate from the new, making molting an easier process.

I think Emma's crab molted a week or two after her swelling subsided, wasn't it Emma?

Your substrate isn't great but it's not going to be an irritant like cedar or cypress would be. Glad to hear you are getting some new stuff.

After this is over and he's back to normal, you should consider getting him a friend or two. Hermit crabs do live in colonies, and do get lonely.

[ladybug15057]

http://www.amazon.com/Wardley-Water-Con ... B0006JM0OY

Product Description
Product Description
The first product of its kind, Wardley's Three in One Water Conditioner takes the place of three regular water additives With just one bottle of Three in One, you can remove chlorinechloramines, neutralize toxic ammonia, and buffer your pH to the proper level for your specific fish Only Three in One does all that Starting up a tank has never been easier, and water changes are a cinch- rest assured your water will be in prime condition for your fish with Three in One Available in pH levels of 6.5, 7.0, and 7.5. Includes handy measuring cup. 8 oz. treats up to 472 gallons.Size:8 oz.

First, regardless of the dechlorinator one buys there is not one on the market that can remove or neutralize fluoride. Fluoride is known to cause defects and mutations in zoea, but no research has been done on adult hermies.
Second I agree with Emma, too much is not good. There will be nothing for the dechlorinator to bond to. As CrabbyJo also mentioned ammonia is not a problem with hermies as it is with fish who usually have the same water for a month or longer in their tank.
Also, I do not see where this dechlorinator mentions anything about neutralizing heavy metals in tap water?
I also see where you have been crabbing since Jan 30. Did you adjust the hermie to captive living when you brought him home? Did he have a come home bath?
Humidity pretty good, did you calibrate/test the gauge and where is it located? What is the actual substrate temp?