Fussy new crabber

[ladybug15057]

As CrabbyJo mentioned they do/will eat their substrate if they are hungry. Why it is very important to make sure there is a hermie safe substrate in the tank.

[Ayume]

Thanks! I did run out and buy some Instant Ocean, and I'd say that they love it but I have no idea. My little friends are all still burried completely. I kindof miss my crabs. How much longer will it be? =(
I'm about 90% certain that Kyuubi is molting, he's been under for a very long time, and I would section him off but Ocarina i buried right by him, and I'm not sure where. I accidenally saw Ocarina twice now, once when I took out the food dish a little bit of sand under it caved in and she was there, and again when I moved the water dish she was there, about three inches from where she was under the food. With this tunneling she's doing I don't know where she is exactly. Kyuubi I can only assume is in the same place he was when he first burried, about 10 or more days ago.
Conch buried himself yesterday at the other end of the tank after sitting in a hole he made for about as long as Kyuubi has been under.
I can only guess when they'll come up again.
Ocarina can't bother Kyuubi can she? If she tunnels to close?

[ladybug15057]

Some crabbers have had good success by just letting the hermies burrow and molt and have had no problems. There have been a couple though that have had another hermie burrow up to another molter and So it is hard to say if she will or will not bother the other.

[Ayume]

So they've all be under for a while now no signs of activity at all. I miss them, and I'm really worried. When will they come up, and how can I tell if they're molting or destressing?
I think I'm just over worried. Also does anyone have an inexxpensive tip to keep humidity? I'm spraying 4 times a day, TONS of water and it just bounces back to about 50. Its gotten to the point where I have a near constant eye on it, but it just wont stay at 75.

[CrabbyJo]

Ayume, I highly recommend you read the humidity section. There are a lot of good posts/threads in there with lots of ideas. If you do not have a cover of some kind on your tank, you really need to get one. All hermit crab tanks need a lid to help hold in humidity. Not to mention the fact that hermit crabs CAN climb the glue in the corner of the tanks (it has happened, even to me!) and escape.

Misting is only every a quick fix for humidity until another method can get the humidity up to acceptable levels. Moss, moist substrate, water dishes over the UTH, there are many ideas. Do read the Humidity section here on the website!

Also, you have had these crabs for barely a couple of weeks? Just accept the fact that they are destressing and you may not see them for quite a while. It was at least a full month before I began to see any of my crabs out and about (was getting pretty discouraged that all I was seeing was an empty tank!).
Don't worry about them, the digging is normal, as is the hiding. They need several weeks to destress, and yes, may remain buried for most of that time, coming up when you are not around so you never know they were there.

Just accept that this is a hands off time, for at least another week or two, keep feeding them fresh foods and talking to them soothingly when you are at their cage so they grow used to the vibration of your voice (no ears, they feel vibrations).

Eventually they may come to associate the "sound" of your voice with feeding time, which is pretty neat. Helps if you feed them at the same time every day.

[Ayume]

I do have a cover for the tank, covering about 3/4 of it to leave room for the red light that hangs. I decided to take more plastic wrap than I normally do and cover half the tank, then put the lid over top of that, and when spraying to wet the underside of the plastic wrap and dampen the soil. Also I brought in some living plants to the same room as the crabs, but not next to the tank. The soil from the plants seems to bring a bit more humidity into the room itself, and I'm hoping this will contribute to the humidity of the tank aswell. It's been like this for about 3 days and the humidity in the tank has been kept at a reasonable 80.
I'm keeping fresh fruits and occasional bits of fresh meat in the food dish, still no activity that I can see.

[Ayume]

I should have named him Frodo

Exactly one month later, after seeing Kyuubi (or rather not seeing him) bury by the waterdish on the right side of the tank, I notice a certain gold kitty statue is lopsided. Kitty is on the left side of the tank, tipped into her face with a sly looking, slightly bigger and much furrier little Kyuubi beaming behind her.
I don't think he molted, but gosh, that blonde fur all over him sure does contrast with his dark purple colouring. I'm pretty certian he's a PP, but are crabs suppose to be so hairy? It's long!
Anyway, it's 2am, about 30 minutes after I stumbled in on him messing around. Geeze, I stay up one night playing Portal and once I decide it's time for sleep BLAMO, a little crab crawlin from the dirt.
I'm really happy, to be honest I was getting jelous of my brothers lizards. One crab down, two to go. hopefully their as punctual as Kyuubi! =D
Goodnight everyone, a very happy Ayume signing off.

[Ayume]

Make sure you read the post just above this, or it wont make any sense! =D
So I woke up today, after a very restless sleep. I got up two or three or seven times to make sure Everything was okay for mr. happy gills (Kyuubi). When I finally decided sleep was no longer an option (eh... 7am) I turned the lights on and decided, after all, action kyuubi needed a quick dip. After being very calculating with the temperature I submerged him for a second and placed him in the palm of my hand. The first thing I thought was that maybe I had been without them so long I didn't notice before how spiny their legs were, like pinchy when they're walking! I watched him for a moment and it struck me. I put him back and looked at the Crab care section. Colour slightly more deep purple, a slight bit bigger and black spikes at the tips of his legs. Kyuubi... Moulted?! WOW
I couldn't belive it, but then again he DID change shells the first night in my tank, after this nothing will suprise me when it comes to Kyuubi.
This was my first moult. No sign of the other little crabbies yet, but I'm glad I get atleast one for now.

[CrabbyJo]

Congratulations on your first molt!
Can you take a picture of him? I would love to see this golden hair you're seeing! I've seen my crabs looking pretty hairy, too. It's amazing, isn't it?

It sounds like you might want to start a journal for yourself, and if you make it public, everyone else can read about your crab's adventures. Mine got huge fast because it seemed every time I posted something, others had wonderful advice and experience to share with me, and suddenly I had dozens of pages in my journal lol.

Just go to the main menu and scroll down, you'll find journals near the bottom.
It's fun to have a place to report everything about them that gets us excited!

[Ayume]

I thought, because this website is about learning and teaching, that I would share my experience with a substrate I've been using that wasn't on the list of advised ones.
I used ExoTerra Riverbed sand for my crabs, I've got about....4 inches or more in my tank right now and I had two successful moults and a shell change. Besides the surface getting dry (solved by regular misting) the sand stays the perfect moistness to make a rather deep cave without any sign of collapsing, I didn't even have to add that much water to it in the begining. When it dries its sandy, staying in clumps until you brush it with your finger gently.
I haven't used any other type of substrate before, but this works very well. They love to dig in it and it's a natural sand colour, a light tan. I'll post some pictures. I just thought you might like to know what I've found out about it as there was a little uncertainty when I bought it. Oh! And it's great to hold a little moss pit too, which I recently added right against the glass so I could see how moist it was staying. It retains heat reasonably well, but not so that the hermies cook. The only drawback is that it gets EVERYWHERE, but if you've got a vaccuum it's not so bad.
Anyway, I'm not an expert, but it worked for me under a smaller budget and a 10 gal tank,
OH! and it takes about 3 bags to fill 4-5 inches of a 10 gal tank.
=D