i must be doing something wrong

[Jaci]

i feel horrible about this but i want an honest opinion. i have lost 3 crabs since this year started. so i must be doing something seriously wrong. they were in a plastic cage 15"x8"x6" with 1.5" of calci sand. They had a hermie hut that they loved, a large sponge, variations on food, a small tree, and sticks. Their temp was kept at 70, not sure what the humidity was because this was before i got the gauges. Tweek (shy)and Butters (climber) were my first, August 2005. Then I added Token (digger) and Chaos (who was returned for being too aggressive, replaced by Lemi (not afraid of anything). Everyone was fine, then Token stopped digging, got put in ISO and then passed away. About 4 weeks later I lost Butters who stopped moving in general. Recently, about 3 weeks ago, I lost Tweek who crawled out of his shell and passed away. I know that they only come out of their shell to molt or if they're stressed, in which case they die. now i have Lemi, Bebe, and Shelley. Lemi and Shelley are always under the sand despite the temp. Bebe is becoming slower in her movements and doesn't come out to greet you like she used to. i bought a 10 gal glass tank in which they have every shell, the tree, 3 inches of calci sand, 2 hermie huts, 2 sponges, a huge shell of food, lots of sticks that will now be taken out because of mold, and a coconut background that some hermies (not mine now) like to climb and when sprayed helps retain moisture, helping the humidity. what am i doing wrong? why have i lost so many crabs? i feel like i'm a failure at being a crab owner. i just don't understand why they keep dying. i'm scared to get more, because i can't go through another loss. please help me.

[krazykrablady]

that sucks so bad.. wish I knew more to give you some help, but I'm so new to crabbing as well.. I'm sure there's someone here who can help you out!

[Wai]

Calci Sand should never be used as a main substrate. Play sand is better. Also, what do you feed your hermit crabs? I think it might be the nutrition that you are having problems with.

[Jaci]

i feed them some hermit crab food that i got at petco. i alternate that with fruits, veggies, etc. they love their grapes and carrots. however, they did not go for the shrimp, shrimp tail, or chicken that i have tried. is that bad?

[Wai]

How do you prepare your meat? Do you give it to them raw or cooked? They might want some additional flavour. I'm not too familiar with nutrition, perhaps some of the other "mothers" would know . Keep trying the meats, and see if they eat it.

[Jaci]

both the shrimp and chicken were cooked. i know that they don't do spices and seasonings, so it was just plain. i hope nutrition is all that it is. i'll keep trying different foods on the list.

[iluvhermies]

a friend of mine sent me this web site has a very long list of foods they can eat and there is also a list of things they should not eat here is the site for the foods they can eat :

http://www.epicureanhermit.com/index.ph ... 4&Itemid=9

here is the list of things they shouldn't eat:

http://www.epicureanhermit.com/index.ph ... 2&Itemid=9

hope this helps

[Jaci]

yeah, that does help. i printed off the inedible list. i don't know if nutrition is the reason i've lost so many hermies, but maybe it's a start. now i have another question. i have 3 crabs, 2 of which are constantly under the sand. is bebe lonely, being the only crab on top? should i get a 4th crab to keep her company?

[Wai]

As long as you keep them interested, there's no need to get another hermie. Work on the nutrition first, because getting more hermies will give you more trouble.

[Jaci]

keeping bebe interested, is that taking her out and playing with her? change the scenery? i have added a pool of salt water, i don't know if she's been curious about it or not. do they need certain amounts of fruit, veggies, meat etc like we do? or does it matter? should i put more of something than other things? i have grapes in there now (1 grape cut into 8ths). bebe alone has eaten 1/8. so i know grapes are a hit. she seems to like bananas also.