New Crab molt or de-stress?

[devdev24]

So my boyfriend bought me a hermit crab(I'm pretty sure it's a purple pincher) from an Alvin's Islands about 3 weeks ago because it had a Philadelphia eagles shell and I enjoy spoiling my betta Gil so why not a hermit crab too. So when he showed up with Swoop the hermit crab I immediately did some research and purchased him a 10 gallon tank and a hermit crab starter kit. All was fine for the first two weeks, then Saturday when I went to purchase some things for Gil's tank I decided to pick up some things for Swoop.

I purchased more sand so that the tank was a little deeper as well as some of the coco fiber bedding to help with the tanks humidity. I also purchased the tank backdrop for climbing, a climbing branch, a new natural shell, and a coco hut. Some time Saturday night Swoop entered the coco hut and has yet to come. At first he was just sitting in the hut, but when I woke up Sunday the sand was piled up in front of the door and you could barely see in. Today, the sand is a little lower at the door and I can see in, he's moving occasionally but he seems ashy looking.

Now, I've done some research and I've learned crab's can hide out to de-stress in new environments which is totally fine, but I'm worried if he's molting and he didn't dig down into the sand and from what I read surface molt's can be dangerous for the crab. Is there anything I should be doing?

Swoop Day 1
Saturday after tank redo
He's was moving around in the coco hut Saturday night
Sunday morning
Today

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

[GotButterflies]

Hello! Welcome to the HCA!

I'm sorry that Swoop is having an issue. I am unable to really look at your pictures. I tried on the computer, and on my phone. Some of them are not coming up, and they are just really to tiny. You need to use tapatalk to upload pictures with good quality...so I'm kind of taking blind guesses here. Heat & Humidity need to be a minimum of 80. Hermit crabs have modified gills and need the humidity to breathe. Substrate needs to be a minimum of 6" or 3 times the size of your crab (whichever is deeper). It should be playsand and cocofiber 5:1 mixed with dechlorinated marine saltwater. DO NOT USE calcium sand. It looks like you may have that...I see something blue. Calcium sand can harden when wet, and form like cement. It is dangerous..please throw it out. Substrate should be sandcastle consisitency. You need a lid on your aquarium. They are escape artists. Glass lids are the best, but cannot be used with heat lights. Hermits need a daylight cycle of 12 hours day, 12 hours dark. Food should be organic if possible. They need marine salt water and fresh water. Both waters need to be dechlorinated so that chlorine and chloramine is removed. Most of us use prime as dechlorinator. Marine salt that is good is instant ocean. Mix 1/2 cup to 1 gallon. Surface molter - leave alone, do not handle. Keep warm and humid. May mist the air with dechlorinated fresh water. Leave him covered with the coco hut. Do not check on him - this will stress him out. I will edit this post with links to help you. Good luck!

[GotButterflies]

Molting: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 23&t=92527
Safe foods: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92557
Unsafe foods: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92556
Commercial foods: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92555
Nutrition pyramid: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92554
Shell guide: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 24&t=92552
Basic care sheet guide: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 51&t=92457

Few things: Water needs to be like pools - need to be deep enough to fully submerge - not important while molting - don't disturb the cage! Just get temp and humidity up. You need digital gauge. You can get a UTH (under tank heater) from http://www.reptilebasics.com or http://www.beanfarm.com us crabbers use them to heat the air, you place it on the back or the side of the tank. Shells, you need 3-5 natural shells. Painted shells are bad for them. The paint is toxic. Most things marketed for hermit crabs are unfortunately not good for them. :/ When your crabbie pulls through this, it really is best for them to have a species buddy. I know I have probably overloaded you with a ton of info, but I'm trying to give you some info before heading off to bed

[devdev24]

My substrate is a 5 pound bag of sand mixed with one of the cocofiber discs, with a little bit of calcium sand sprinkled on the top( as soon as he emerges from his coco hut I'll get that out of there) . Half the tank is sand which is about 3 1/2 inches deep, and half that's about 6 inches deep which is a jungle bedding thats a mix of coconut chips and coconut fiber with a bottom layer of sand:coco fiber.I have been feeding him the food he came with but after reading the label I see it has copper sulfate in it so I'll check out the list to see what options there are. I'm using a pre-mixed salt water for hermit crabs in a small corner repitle bowl that has a ramp.(He seemed to favor the salt water so I put that in the bigger of the two bowls) and I'm treating the fresh water with tetra bettasafe. The tank is staying steady between 77-80 degrees depending on time of day. I don't have a humidity gauge yet but I've been misting the tank in the morning before work and at night before bed. I'm working on adding more shells, I could only find one that was an appropriate size and natural at the local pet stores (they seem to favor small neon shells at the pet store) The shell he's currently in isn't painted thankfully but there's a plastic football helmet attached too it. I planned on getting him a tank mate this weekend when I drive down to Destin but then he started acting odd so I wanted to get some input because if he is molting I didn't wanna add anyone to the tank.

[GotButterflies]

The saltwater marketed for Hermit crabs is not marine salt water. It needs to be replaced. Marine saltwater has more trace elements and minerals that they need. Unfortunately 99% of the things marketed for hermit crabs is worthless. All a marketing ploy. Substrate needs to be the minimum depth all around. plastic shells/neon shells/helmets glued on are not good. They can eat it and pick at it. That stuff is toxic. Most of us look online for shells, or hit local beach shops if close good luck!


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[GotButterflies]

Minimum 80 is recommended- think of surviving verse thriving


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[devdev24]

The saltwater marketed for Hermit crabs is not marine salt water. It needs to be replaced. Marine saltwater has more trace elements and minerals that they need. Unfortunately 99% of the things marketed for hermit crabs is worthless. All a marketing ploy. Substrate needs to be the minimum depth all around. plastic shells/neon shells/helmets glued on are not good. They can eat it and pick at it. That stuff is toxic. Most of us look online for shells, or hit local beach shops if close good luck!


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I figured the glued helmet wasn't good for him I have some shells in there but he's yet to switch. Can I add aquarium salt to the treated fresh water or do I just purchase marine water?

- Also an update on Swoop He finally emerged from his hut Monday and so I put a little bit of treated fresh water in the carrier he came in and let him frolic in that while I changed the sand in his tank to play sand and coco fiber. After he explored the tank and starting climbing the back wall. Tuesday I picked up a temp/humidity gauge and a tank heater and two small tank mates so he's not lonely. Draco and Poe were both pretty active. Draco changed shells within hours of being introduced to the tank and by the next morning Poe took a dive under the sand with an extra shell where he's been since. Then last night swoop also went under. As for Draco he hides during the day and hangs out in the moss pit at night.


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[GotButterflies]

They are cute!

You would need to replace the water with dechlorinated marine salt water.

Edit: aquarium salt is not marine salt. Aquarium salt helps improve fish health. You need a product called instant ocean.


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