Worried about Molting/Dying crabs

[POPPIT]

UPDATE!!! Good news! I looked in the tank yesterday and saw disturbances..build up of sand near the shells/Salt water pool and the humidity gadge was knocked over flat i also just saw tracks leading up between the food and salt water....i picked up the gadge to put it back upright and there was little Gynaveeve sitting there rubbing her legs together, she looked healthy and possibly a little more pale....I covered her back up with the gadge laying flat again and today when i looked she had reburied but has left a hole in the sand cant really see her and didnt want to shine a light in there and disturb her....But she is ok.....It took her 19 days to come up and im so happy i got to see her.....As for Rebel and Gnome still nothing....tomorrow i will have a quick peek at the bottom of the tank to see if they have moved at all....I might grab some aquarium salt tomorrow, not the cheapest but im sure it will last a long while...How much salt do i put in, i use a porcelin jewelry box lid for a salt water pool with shells in the bottom...its a round 6 1/2cm Wide by 6 1/2cm Long and almost 1 1/2cm Deep.....I have seen that Kritters Crumble on online Aussie pet stores but havent looked into that much i might do now though.....Thank you for your helpful advice

[emmac350]

Yay! I'm glad that you've seen at least one of your crabs! The pale colors will usually darken as the crab finishes hardening. If not, try feeding your crabs lots of colorful/dark foods - shrimp, krill, peppers, spinach, etc. will all help their coloring after their next molt.

[appps]

Yeah one bag of aquarium salt will last for ages. When I was using it I used to mix up a litre and just kept in the fridge till used up save mixing a tiny bit all the time. It warms back up pretty quick when in the water bowl on the bench.

Just follow the instructions for fish tanks on whichever brands packet you buy to mix up.

[POPPIT]

Just checked the tank and Gynaveeve has been messing up the sand again, i lifted the humidity gadge to find her sitting there so i picked her up to see if she was all good and she suddenly froze and her eyes where down between her legs, i lightly blew on her and she moved so i put her back where she was, she looks hardened if indeed she did molt....Im assuming she still needs time to recover....I checked the bottom of the tank and the other crabs have moved and i cant see them at all, although there is a tunnel that has collapsed a little bit leading underneath the salt water pool....I might be hopeful and set up the new tank with sand and the accessories with the hopes that all of my crabbies will be up and about soon....Making up a litre would probably be easier so i might do that....

[emmac350]

Newly molted crabs are pretty skittish when they're still hardening. It takes a while to finish hardening and during that time they're very vulnerable. Give her some privacy for a while and she'll be social again soon!

[POPPIT]

She is a bit of a shy crab and i havent had her for long before she buried herself....Hopefully i can get to know them all soon.

[POPPIT]

UPDATE.....Gynaveeve has been moved into the new glass tank and after a couple of days of lite exploring and digging inside the igloo she has decided to bury herself next to the igloo(hopefully just a distress bury and not another molt)....Gnome and Rebel are still underground in the other tank, its a little worrying considering that Gnome has now been buried for 33 days and he is the smallest of the three...Rebel has now been buried for 29 days and is the largest of the three(still aud 20 cent coin or smaller)....I am concerned for these two little ones especially since Gynaveeve came up after 19 days and the other two are nowhere to be seen.....I also am finding that the new glass tank is very hard to keep warm unlike the plastic tank....I have the hermit crab heat pad on the outside of one side of the tank, as i did with the plastic tank although the temp seems to struggle to get to 22 degrees C(last night i managed to get a max of 23-24 degrees C) even though i have a small blanket wrapped around the bottom, back and top of the tank and a tea towel over the top with the sides half covered too, i could get it as high as 27 degrees C with the plastic tank and mostly stable at 24-25 degrees C....The tank is slightly bigger then the plastic one, plastic being maybe 16 ltrs and the glass at 20 ltrs and the only other difference except for different dishes is that i am misting the tank with salt water instead of spring water(got myself some aquarium salt as recommended on here)....I thought glass was suppose to be better in terms of both warmth and humidity?

[Wai]

Glass and plastic aren't that insulating overall. For now, if you can't get an even bigger tank (the larger the tank, the more heating options you can use), cover the outside surfaces of the tank and lid with aluminium foil. That may help insulate the heat better than the blanket. Otherwise, you can try slipping in thin heat bulb through the air gap (if it's big enough) to help warm up the air a little.

[POPPIT]

Thank you i will add aluminium foil around the lid tomorrow....I have moved the tea towel to hang over the heat pad side of the tank and the temp is now at 23.....Hopefully the foil will add a couple of degrees too.....UPDATE!!! Gnome my smallest and only male crab has just come up from his first molt after a nail biting 38 days, I was so happy to see him...He was on top of the sand near the salt water pool cleaning his legs, I gently picked him up and saw that he has darkish green colouration on his claws(might be a bit of mold but im hoping its just a discolouration from molting)and looks a tad soft...I moved him into the glass tank with Gynaveeve(who has been buried for a few days)and i just looked to see that he is out and siting next to the salt water pool near to where i placed him.....I have 2 crabs through what seems like their first successful molts, one more to go....Awaiting Rebel's appearance.

[ladybug15057]

Green sounds like a bit of algae? If you need a bit more heat you can also wrap cardboard and put on the top of the tank to help hold the heat in. Can also use Styrofoam on a couple sides too, but make sure you still have a cooler side for the little ones too so they can regulate their body temp.