1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Playsand/EE 9-12 inches, plus a moss level up higher.
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?
On each end
Hot side 85° 75-80% humidity
Cool side 75-80° 90% humidity
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Understand heaters on the sides above the substrate and one on the glass lid on the hot end.
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 - bottled spring water
Salt - bottled water with IO
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
Fresh meat, eggs, fruit and veggies
Dried shrimp, meal worms, crickets, seeds, nuts, fruits and veggies
HCP calcium and mineral supplements
Fresh food 1 day, dried food 2-3 days
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
6 or 7 years, PP
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Yes molted lots of times, for sure in early fall. Sometimes once a year, sometimes several. This is the crab that lost most of his limbs a year or two ago and I nurses him through a couple molts in my isolation tank and he grew back everything! He's the size of a baseball.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
40 breeder, glass & plastic lid with small vents.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
4 crabs, biggest is baseball sized, two are tennis ball sized, little guy is golf ball or a little bigger.
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
Dozens. Some on surface, some in moss out. Shell station gets buried regularly.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
I only pick up messes and wipe the glass. The tank seems self sustaining at this point. I emptied it over 2 years ago to move it (when stripes lost his legs
)13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
No
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
No
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.)?
No routine, I leave them alone and just keep the environment appropriate.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
After all that, not sure if this is an emergency! Stripes (crab who dropped all but 2 or 3 limbs and streaked repeatedly back in 2017) was buried under the water crock. Idk why, they love to hide and sometimes my under the water dish. Usually when I pick it up, I can see there is someone there. This time, even though he's the biggest, Stripes managed to burrow under and there was still a layer of sand hiding him when I cleaned the water today.
They've all been tunneling like crazy lately, so the tank is pretty torn up with high piles and empty pits.
When I put the crock back, I pushed and turned it a bit to get the sand more even around it. I heard a grinding sound an lo and behold, there's Stripes. Idk if he's molting, in or out of his shell, has an air cave, or anything.
I just moved the crock to another spot. I'm worried I might have injured Stripes or collapsed his necessary tunnel.
Should I do anything? Check on him?
99.9% sure I need to just leave him alone and hope for the best.
