New crabs. Mites

[Babybytc88]

Absolutely will . They have seemed to settle down finally and most have found places in the tanks to scamper off and hide for today.


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[CrabbyLover77]

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WOW. That is one large crabby colony! I wonder what made the previous owner give them up. Maybe the mites outbreak?

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[Babybytc88]

WOW. That is one large crabby colony! I wonder what made the previous owner give them up. Maybe the mites outbreak?

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She said she started with 2 then rescued 50 from a boy that got them through a fair or something. Then they started dying and she discovered the mites on dead crabs. That’s when she decided she couldn’t care for them. I wasn’t sure about getting them to begin with honestly it’s a lot of them. Then I noticed nobody else was offering to take them all so I said f—- it and convinced my husband it was worth a 2 hr drive to save them.


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[Crabby7Crabber]

She said she started with 2 then rescued 50 from a boy that got them through a fair or something. Then they started dying and she discovered the mites on dead crabs. That’s when she decided she couldn’t care for them. I wasn’t sure about getting them to begin with honestly it’s a lot of them. Then I noticed nobody else was offering to take them all so I said f—- it and convinced my husband it was worth a 2 hr drive to save them.


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Aw! I love the crabbies! Definitely keep us posted!

[CrabbyLover77]

She said she started with 2 then rescued 50 from a boy that got them through a fair or something. Then they started dying and she discovered the mites on dead crabs. That’s when she decided she couldn’t care for them. I wasn’t sure about getting them to begin with honestly it’s a lot of them. Then I noticed nobody else was offering to take them all so I said f—- it and convinced my husband it was worth a 2 hr drive to save them.


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Aw you are the best! And I totally understand. Sometimes you gotta say heck with logic and do what your heart tells you to!

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[Crabby7Crabber]

Aw you are the best! And I totally understand. Sometimes you gotta say heck with logic and do what your heart tells you to!

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CrabbyLover77 is so wise! Haha!

[CrabbyLover77]

CrabbyLover77 is so wise! Haha!

Lol!

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[Motörcrab]

So I got 38 crabs yesterday. Seem to be all purple pinchers. I knew they were coming with mites. I’m trying to identify them and figure out my best option. They were all in a 20 g terrarium. I split them up between the 20g and 2 10g. Tanks will be temporary. Will be moving to larger tank. The crabs are small. The largest being estimated 1 in. The smallest about 1 cm opening. They were transported in a Tupperware with a small amount of substrate. No water and grapes for food. With a coconut hide. Everything that was in the tank prior was boiled or tossed. All the shells and foliage etc that was in the tank had white mites after being boiled in salt water. I have been studying the crabs and they appear to have white mites on some of them as well. They were given a quick saltwater bath as soon as I could. Tried to start as sterile as possible.


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OH WOW! I luckily never had to deal with crab mites. I know curlysister already posted the link to the Mites care guide but I'm going to post it again.
[viewtopic.php?f=124&t=92530][/url]

Based on the number you are dealing with it'ss really had to say what is being the most stressful to the crabs. Having the mites, being way overcrowded, or being moved to a new home. I totally understand why you don't want to stress them out even more then they already are by giving them baths. I would give them a few days to adjust to their new surroundings, allow them to eat drink and get them a little stronger then begin the bathing as specified in the care guide. Setting up your crabby hospitals like the care guide is important. Changing out and cleaning everything daily is critical to get rid of the mites. Be sure to keep plenty of hides in each tank so everyone can hide and feel safe! I would keep a close eye for dropped limbs. That is a sign of extreme stress. If you start seeing dropped limbs let us know and we can brainstorm and try to figure out another technique.

Keep us updated on how things are going! Good luck! I commend you for taking all these guys in to get them healthy again!

[Crabby7Crabber]

OH WOW! I luckily never had to deal with crab mites. I know curlysister already posted the link to the Mites care guide but I'm going to post it again.
[viewtopic.php?f=124&t=92530][/url]

Based on the number you are dealing with it'ss really had to say what is being the most stressful to the crabs. Having the mites, being way overcrowded, or being moved to a new home. I totally understand why you don't want to stress them out even more then they already are by giving them baths. I would give them a few days to adjust to their new surroundings, allow them to eat drink and get them a little stronger then begin the bathing as specified in the care guide. Setting up your crabby hospitals like the care guide is important. Changing out and cleaning everything daily is critical to get rid of the mites. Be sure to keep plenty of hides in each tank so everyone can hide and feel safe! I would keep a close eye for dropped limbs. That is a sign of extreme stress. If you start seeing dropped limbs let us know and we can brainstorm and try to figure out another technique.

Keep us updated on how things are going! Good luck! I commend you for taking all these guys in to get them healthy again!

Motorcrab's here to save the day!

[wodesorel]

Crab mites don't stay on dead crabs, they eat living lymph fluids. White mites on dead crabs would be regular harmless food mites, they enjoy decaying matter of all kinds and show up fast.

Same with any fast moving mites you may find on live crabs - they will either be food mites or predatory mites (to other mites). True hermit mites dig in and stay put, and even then if they are stuck anywhere other than a joint then they are very likely a harmless mite in its phoretic phase, just hitching a ride on a larger animal.

[Babybytc88]

I haven’t had any dead crabs as of yet. So I do not know if the mites appear after death like food mites would. The girl said she only noticed the mites on dead crabs though. What I know is the foliage and wood pieces and shells she had in the tank previously had white things floating on the water when I boiled it all. I have noticed some spots on some crabs not all but I have not actually seen anything moving at all on the crabs themselves. Or anywhere in the tanks. So I’m unsure still. The picture is the side of the pot after boiling everything


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[Babybytc88]

OH WOW! I luckily never had to deal with crab mites. I know curlysister already posted the link to the Mites care guide but I'm going to post it again.
[viewtopic.php?f=124&t=92530][/url]

Based on the number you are dealing with it'ss really had to say what is being the most stressful to the crabs. Having the mites, being way overcrowded, or being moved to a new home. I totally understand why you don't want to stress them out even more then they already are by giving them baths. I would give them a few days to adjust to their new surroundings, allow them to eat drink and get them a little stronger then begin the bathing as specified in the care guide. Setting up your crabby hospitals like the care guide is important. Changing out and cleaning everything daily is critical to get rid of the mites. Be sure to keep plenty of hides in each tank so everyone can hide and feel safe! I would keep a close eye for dropped limbs. That is a sign of extreme stress. If you start seeing dropped limbs let us know and we can brainstorm and try to figure out another technique.

Keep us updated on how things are going! Good luck! I commend you for taking all these guys in to get them healthy again!

I was going to leave them in a bare bones tank but I changed my mind after seeing their behavior. When first given correct salt water, fresh water and food with wet paper towels as sub and hides for them. It was like watching suicide runners. They went into the saltwater flipped onto their backs and became limp. It wasn’t just one crab it was over 10. This was while I was setting up the 2 10g and they were all in the 20g. They were making zero effort to get out and most of the crabs are small. I left them and observed but nobody was moving at all so I ended up removing them from the saltwater and they went and hid. A couple came out of their shells as well in the salt water but when placed in small containers with the shells they came out of they returned to their shells. The crabs were extremely stressed out I’m not sure how long she had them but I know a bunch had already died before I got them. I went ahead and gave them a 5:1 sub mix. Hideouts and pools and food. My thoughts on this was there is a high probability of losing some crabs anyways and I wanted to minimize the death rate if possible. So far nobody has gone down to molt. They have gone down to destress and come back up. They have been porking out on food and water. I have enough sand and ee that I could technically change the sub if I needed to. (As long as nobody was down) The girl said the mites were killing the crabs but in reality their living conditions and lack of proper food and water plus overcrowding is most likely the culprit.


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[Crabby7Crabber]

I was going to leave them in a bare bones tank but I changed my mind after seeing their behavior. When first given correct salt water, fresh water and food with wet paper towels as sub and hides for them. It was like watching suicide runners. They went into the saltwater flipped onto their backs and became limp. It wasn’t just one crab it was over 10. This was while I was setting up the 2 10g and they were all in the 20g. They were making zero effort to get out and most of the crabs are small. I left them and observed but nobody was moving at all so I ended up removing them from the saltwater and they went and hid. A couple came out of their shells as well in the salt water but when placed in small containers with the shells they came out of they returned to their shells. The crabs were extremely stressed out I’m not sure how long she had them but I know a bunch had already died before I got them. I went ahead and gave them a 5:1 sub mix. Hideouts and pools and food. My thoughts on this was there is a high probability of losing some crabs anyways and I wanted to minimize the death rate if possible. So far nobody has gone down to molt. They have gone down to destress and come back up. They have been porking out on food and water. I have enough sand and ee that I could technically change the sub if I needed to. (As long as nobody was down) The girl said the mites were killing the crabs but in reality their living conditions and lack of proper food and water plus overcrowding is most likely the culprit.


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It seems like you have it under control. I'm not an expert, no way, but it seems like when they went limp in the water they were either relieved they finally had the saltwater and they were getting it in their shells, or they maybe were trying to get the mites off them. I'm sure they're much happier now that they have someone who cares about them!

[Crabby7Crabber]

I was going to leave them in a bare bones tank but I changed my mind after seeing their behavior. When first given correct salt water, fresh water and food with wet paper towels as sub and hides for them. It was like watching suicide runners. They went into the saltwater flipped onto their backs and became limp. It wasn’t just one crab it was over 10. This was while I was setting up the 2 10g and they were all in the 20g. They were making zero effort to get out and most of the crabs are small. I left them and observed but nobody was moving at all so I ended up removing them from the saltwater and they went and hid. A couple came out of their shells as well in the salt water but when placed in small containers with the shells they came out of they returned to their shells. The crabs were extremely stressed out I’m not sure how long she had them but I know a bunch had already died before I got them. I went ahead and gave them a 5:1 sub mix. Hideouts and pools and food. My thoughts on this was there is a high probability of losing some crabs anyways and I wanted to minimize the death rate if possible. So far nobody has gone down to molt. They have gone down to destress and come back up. They have been porking out on food and water. I have enough sand and ee that I could technically change the sub if I needed to. (As long as nobody was down) The girl said the mites were killing the crabs but in reality their living conditions and lack of proper food and water plus overcrowding is most likely the culprit.


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It seems like you have it under control. I'm not an expert, no way, but it seems like when they went limp in the water they were either relieved they finally had the saltwater and they were getting it in their shells, or they maybe were trying to get the mites off them. I'm sure they're much happier now that they have someone who cares about them!

[Babybytc88]

Well I’m trying. . I’m going to keep winging it and observing. LOL


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