My situation: We have gone to Florida every May for five years now. Every year I have threatened to bring home a hermit crab, because I found them fascinating. I did at least have the sense to know that I needed to do some research and get ready, rather than buying first and asking questions later. So this year when my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said this was the year for crabs, since with only one dog now, I don't have to worry about any more dog fights. So I spent a couple of hours reading things online, and figured I had a clue. I already had a ten gallon tank, and a screen top. I bought the Zoomed thermometer/hygrometer and went to Florida. At the beach I collected six gallon bags of sand from an out-of-the-way spot near our beach house.
Because I already knew the plastic carrier could only be temporary for transport, we waited until we were leaving Florida to pick them out. We got them last Saturday evening at an Alvin's Island in Panama City Beach. One at a time I picked out an active one and put it in the largest carrier they had. If it ventured out of its shell in a minute or two, I kept it, if not I traded for another one until I had three (all in natural shells, not painted, which gave me a smaller selection). Currently they are named One, Two, and Three, for the order in which I picked them. I used their spritz bottle to thoroughly dampen the sponge included in the kit. I bought some extra shells, a coconut shell hut, and a handful of sponges, since they charged four dollars less EACH than PetSmart for those. I put a little bit of the "food" that was included in a cavity in the carrier, and off we went. Since during our trip the AC on my Jeep had given up the ghost, we opted to drive through the night while it was cooler, rather than staying over someplace like we usually do. Along the way we got some distilled water to keep the sponge damp. We arrived home (near Plano, Texas) midmorning on Sunday, unloaded the bare minimum, parked the crabs in the spare room with a plastic bag draped over the top, and collapsed. I figured the little guys would be okay, both temp and humidity seemed to be staying in the 72-75 range.
Later on I went out and bought the All Living Things Crab Starter Kit, a small under tank heater, and a disk of compressed coconut soil from PetSmart, and a bottle of Freshwater Glub, a bottle of Seawater Glub, and a lav rock from Petco. I looked at their hermits (I had not seen any at PetSmart), almost all in painted shells, with about an inch and a half of substrate, and humidty of not quite 50%, and shook my head. I don't know much, but I know that's not right. I also got some dried cranberries from the organic food store. I went home and started by putting my sand in the oven, I knew I didn't have a lot of time, we had to unpack and repack for a business trip (for my husband) on Tuesday.
I started with the cypress bedding that came in the kit, and a bowl of freshwater and some "food pellets", also from the kit, and all of the shells. I put in the hermie hut and added a couple more sponges. The bowl meant for saltwater needed much deeper substrate than the cypress stuff provided, so that didn't go in right away. My sand was still warm by the time I was out of energy for the day, the numbers were both still near 75, and they all seemed to be moving around okay. I kept about three quarters of the top covered with a plastic bag.
In the morning I started mixing the sand with the cypress bedding, and mixing in Saltwater Glub. Naturally one bottle of that was not enough, I used the saltwater conditioner from the kit in the distilled water to make more. At about noon, I was told we were not leaving Tuesday, we were leaving Monday at three. So I just hoped four inches of sand would be enough, as I hadn't even messed with the coconut stuff yet, and Two started digging in immediately. We left the AC set at 74, and the vent in that room is closed, so it's usually warmer in there. I left the pet sitter a list of things to watch, and some critical dos and don'ts.
The business trip went well, and was a blast and a half for me; we spent two days aboard the E/V Nautilus in Galveston. If only I had studied to become an oceanographer...
On our way home on Thursday, the sitter sent a message saying she was concerned bout the crabbies, they seemed a bit cold and hadn't eaten much of anything. I said I had a heat pad, I'd get them toasty. I hadn't put it on already because I was concerned about sticking it on when no one was going to be in the house at all for t least six hours. I just hadn't counted on a cold front. The note she left on the kitchen table said that she'd turned the thermostat to 76, but she wasn't sure that would help with the cold front (it didn't), the little one had buried himself in the left corner and the other two were in the hut. What I found was One in the hut, the other two nowhere to be seen, the temperature just under 70 and the humidity closer to 60%. I slapped that UTH on there, dribbled more water on the sand, and covered the top almost entirely. There was a little bit of a funny smell, but not anything near what I would call fishy. That has since gone away, now all I can smell is wet sand.
Yesterday I still did not see Two or Three, however, someone did at least investigate the food, I had given them a couple cranberries and some boiled egg. One had not seemed to move, so I lifted up the hut and then him, he was kind of hanging out of his shell, clearly limp, and did not react at all. I put him back down and put the hut back with the door facing the wall of the tank. Now, ever since we got back I have pretty much been online reading everything I can find, and know I have done some things wrong, and am now trying to right them without stressing them out even more. Mostly, aiming for 80 degrees and 80% humidity. I went yesterday and got a red bulb and a clamp lamp which I have clamped to a floor lamp so I can move it around near the tank until I can find the right spot for it. The UTH simply was not bringing the temp up, it stayed about 72. I also got a glass top, and Instant Ocean for making all future saltwater. My husband ordered a temperature controller to help keep the temp up going forward. I had been sponge dampening and spritzing like crazy, and watching the humidity gauge go nowhere. Then we put a camera on them, so I could try to see what might be going on at night. I had to keep wiping the glass so the picture wasn't fuzzy (should have been a clue). Thanks to CrabVision, I learned that Three had been buried in the left corner.
This morning the humidity still hadn't moved. The temp was finally right around 80. I've been reading threads in the Emergency category all day, so I think the right thing to do is drop a pop bottle over One, hut and all if it fits. What scares me is that I don't know where Two is. CrabVison showed me Three has been hanging out in the corner where I last saw Two, under a large shell, and Two had not been coming out.
It did finally occur to me that something had to be wrong with the hygrometer, because the tank walls were dripping. There's no way 72% was right. Not wanting to take the time to test it the way I read on here somewhere, I went and bought a digital All Living Things one. While there, I felt really bad for the crab being given by a teacher to the little girl who was in PetSmart with her parents to buy stuff for it. Neither parent, especially the dad, expects the crab to live long. I HAD to butt in when the store employee told the mom that regular water was okay. I ended up handing her a bottle of Seachem Prime. I tried to tell her about needing saltwater too, but then she started not wanting to hear me, so I urged her to find this forum. And left the store despite the pouring rain, before I slapped somebody.
Turned out I was dead on about the first hygrometer not working; the new one said 99%. I propped the glass top just a little, to let the humidity drop, hopefully not too quickly. It's been about three hours, and now it says 90%.
Three is currently in the opposite corner from where he's been burying himself, sort of rolled back on his shell, if that makes sense. He didn't eat last night, and hasn't yet tonight, but last night he wandered and hung out for about five hours before digging in again. Tonight he wandered some, and climbed to the top of a cypress sliver I stood up in the sand the other day on a whim.
We don't drink much pop, and when we do it's from cans, so I didn't have any two liter bottles on hand. I got a couple today, and we've emptied one, and it has now been washed. What I am worried about is where Two might be. What if he's buried under the hut somewhere and I squash him with the bottle when I cover One up? Just don't know what to do there. The other thing I am really wondering about is the funny smell from the other day that went away; how long does the death smell last? Did One die long enough ago for it to go away? I am hoping he's surface molting, which I know not all survive either, but that's better than the alternative.
Much of this info is in my novel, but maybe y'all can see something else here I can work on.
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Beach sand, baked for at least an hour at 350, mixed with cypress bedding and wetted with saltwater. About four inches deep. Plan to add coconut fiber, and more sand if necessary to bring up to six inches. Not sure if I need to try to remove the cypress, or if I can add over the top of buried crabs.
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?
Digital thermometer and hygrometer, with probes currently dangling about two inches above the substrate, at the same end of the tank the red bulb in #3 shines on. Right now it's 82 degrees, 90% humidity.
3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Red reptile bulb in a clamp lamp, mounted where it can be moved closer or farther as needed.
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)?
Current saltwater is made from distilled water and All Living Things Saltwater conditioner, 10ml in a 16 ounce bottle. Have Instant Ocean, will switch to that as soon as I figure how to mix small amounts. Freshwater is tap water treated with Seachem Prime, 0.1ml per gallon. This is the same thing I use in my freshwater aquarium.
5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
All Living Things Food Pellets, Crab Food from Florida Marine Research, both of which I plan to phase out. Sun dried baby shrimp from Tetra, Fluker's Freeze Dried Mealworms. Broccoli, boiled egg, egg shell, dried cranberries, cilantro. Some combination of two or three of each of these, never the same two days in a row. I have, but have not yet offered, carrots and cucumbers. Putting it in at night, taking it out in the morning, but planning to add some food bowls so some things can stay. I get hungry in the middle of my night, what's to say they couldn't get hungry in the middle of their night.
6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
One week, I believe all three are purple pinchers.
7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
No.
8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
Ten gallon aquarium, which started with a screen lid, but now has a glass top.
9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
Three. Not sure how to describe how large they are; the one I can see right now is in a shell about an inch long, of the other two, one is a little bit larger, and the other is smaller.
10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
Right now there are seven extra. Getting more is high on my to-do list.
11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No.
12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
So far all I have done is wipe the glass and remove all uneaten food.
13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
There were until I found that the humidity is too high. I took them out, rinsed them in very hot tap water, then rinsed them four or five times in dechlorinated water. When they are dry I will nuke them.
14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
Everything.
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.)?
I have messed with them as little as possible, only what's been necessary to get the crabitat set up and them into it.
16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
See above.
Thank you for taking the time to read all this. I know I'm likely in for a lot of "wait and see what happens", but if there is anything that can help, I'd sure like to know what it is.
(Unless there's something else out there that's similar that I don't know about...)
Now what do I do with him?