Large crab out of shell, camping in water dish.

[Lady Clutz]

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Coconut earth and washed play sand (the play sand is new by a month) 7-9in.
2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?
78 degrees and somewhere between 68 and 80%. Fall/winter here it's very hard to keep humidity
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? UTH on the side
4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)? fresh and salt. Dechlorinator is Tetra Fin and the salt is Instant Ocean, mixed to the box.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? Homemade mix of nuts, grains, fruits and thawed frozen veggies.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? Ecuadorian, 1.5 years
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? Three months.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? 29 gal glass tank, mesh lid.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 4 3 small ones, and the one I'm worried about is fist sized.
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? 2-3 for the biggie, 7-10 for the others.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? Not to my knowledge. Scrubbed it out with ACV 1 moth ago to get rid of fruit flies.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how? 4-5 months for a full clean, general maintenance 1-2 weeks. Hot water and ACV
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? no. I have reptile moss in the upper canopy.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? Play sand -vs aquarium - reptile moss, reptile plastic plants, glass peppers in the water dishes.
15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)? Not that I can think of.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
He came out of his shell two days ago, I left him be as I thought he might reshell, he went and camped out in the fresh water bowl, mostly submerged. I move him to an ISO tank with shallow fresh water new coconut dirt - no sand, and two freshly washed shells. I've cover it with a warm damp towel to try and bring the humidity up.

Thank you for any help!

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[kieagcarm]

What kind of sand do you use

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[Lady Clutz]

Normally I use aquarium sand, but I moved recently and had ri set the tank up in a hurry, wasn't able to get aquarium sand, and I'd read that well washed play sand would work, so I did that. I run about a 60-40, fibre/sand mix.

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[Rawrgeous]

I'm sorry it took so long for me to respond to this- I'm also very sorry to hear about your crab. I'm not sure if you are aware or not, but sitting in the water dishes usually indicates a crab is ill, and is close to death. You will have to re-shell the crab if he won't take one himself, as a crab won't live without it's shell very long. Find a shell that is slightly too large/ lighter weight and gently rinse the shell. Gently pick the crab up on the back of his head, right in front of his legs, and dip him gently in the fw dish, and if you have to, use your fingers to carefully uncurl his abdomen, then gently slide his body into the shell. With any luck, he will hold onto the shell. Keep him isoed from your other crabs. I would offer him some crushed eggshell and honey, and some sort of protein. Any unseasoned meat will do. I do see a few areas of concern with your emergency template, so I'll elaborate on your answers below.

1. E's are excessive diggers, and require at least 10 inches of substrate, as they are more likely to disturb molters.

2.Have you tried calibrating your hydrometer, as they are often inaccurate?
Link: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=92540
If so, have you tried bubbler pools? They are inexpensive and a great way to boost humidity significantly, as well as keep your water fresh longer. Ecuadorians have higher humidity and heat needs than Purple Pinchers and require a minimum of 80 percent humidity an 80 degrees. Is your uth insulatable? That could give you the extra few degrees boost you need.

5.I don't see anything wrong with the foods you had listed, but make sure the crabs get a source of animal protein every day, as well as calcium supplements such as cuttle bone, crushed oyster shell, egg shell, or chitin.

8. Is your lid covered with saran wrap or plastic? That could help boost humidity, and help keep the moisture inside if you haven't already done so. I will mention that the minimum tank size we recommend for E's is a 40 breeder, as they are so active, and require so much more molting space. With the tank you have I would focus on increasing sub depth to just prevent any aggression or issues. I would expect that in the next few years or so you will have to upgrade, especially if the large one makes it through this tough time.

10. Just make sure you have 3 appropriately sized shells of the preferred type for each crab. (oval shaped for E's)

12. I just want to clarify you shouldn't need to do a deep clean except for maybe once a year which is really just removing any gross food and a sub churn when you don't have molters up, and remove the nasty bits as needed. I use isopods to keep the tank a bit cleaner, but you want the "good bacteria" to stay in your sand.

[Lady Clutz]

Thank you! I will try re-shelling him as soon as I get home!.

Thank you for the rest of the info!
I'll start making the changes. I'd never thought of suran wrap!

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[Rawrgeous]

You're very welcome!

[Lady Clutz]

Well, I got him back in a shell, got the humidity up in the ISO tank and gave him a mix of eggshell, honey and cooked pork. It looks like he actually ate a bit, or at least camped in the food dish. Thanks again for the help!

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[Rawrgeous]

Keep us posted how he does over the couple days.

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[Lady Clutz]

Hello! So he's back in his shell quite nicely, last night when I put in there he fell out, so I'm hoping that's a plus. I made him a little blanket wrapped sauna, the humidity is back up to 80%. Yay!
I do have another question if you don't mind. I'm looking at the rest of my tank and realising I haven't seen the littles. I thought they just went down for a molt, but that's been like 3 months. I'm really wondering if this new sand didn't cause the problem -or part of it. In the interim, should I buy Dreadnought (sick) a companion crab? I didn't start having problems till I switched to the Home Depot sand . Or too many problems. Sorry for the dumb questions!

Thank you again for all of your help, I truly appreciate it!

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[kieagcarm]

Boy I hope the home depot sand is not the problem, I just bought some. Its quikrete premium play sand

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[Lady Clutz]

I don't remeber what sand it was, I think it was literally 'Home Depot' brand. And probably it was a combo of me having issues with humidity and heat.

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[PinchersAndShells]

Boy I hope the home depot sand is not the problem, I just bought some. Its quikrete premium play sand

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I've used Quikrete for about 7-9 months and have had zero problems with it. You should be fine.

[Rawrgeous]

I second, quikcrete is the brand currently in my tank. I'm glad the little one is still hanging in there, just keep his iso conditions good. It sounds like you are doing a good job, so kudos. Does he have sub he can burrow down into in the iso? I would try to get him through a molt, and then see about getting him some friends. Smaller crabs molt more frequenlty, also they could be coming out at night when you are sleeping, as they are nocturnal.

[Lady Clutz]

Will do for the iso. It's 78°/82%. Trying to get it up to 81°. He has about 5 inch of fibre, I have more to add of you think I should.
I looked at him last night and his large claw appears to be stuck together, would that be indictive of a molt? He's moving around a bit, but should I just cover him?

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[Rawrgeous]

As long as he can cover himself it is fine, the reason deep sub is required is to prevent other crabs from getting to them, since he is in iso I would let him be. He will probably need a molt before he is completely in the clear. Keep offering lots of protein and calcium as he will need it for his next molt. What brand is your UTH? If it's an ultratherm or flukers you can insulate the back to give a boost to your temp. You really want it at at least 80 for E's. I'm also going to link our E species guide as it is a great resource for the species. viewtopic.php?t=92454