Temp dropped, crab died?

[Crabsalicious]

So , I went home on lunch beak today to take the foil off from the zoomed uth. I noticed that the area where the crab in the picture (named "Rose") is is all dug up, and it appeared that she may have dug down into the substrate (and kicked up a pile of sub behind her in the process) because I did not see her on the surface. I didn't have time to really even go home today, so couldn't stay around and check it out more closely, but wondered if maybe it was a sign she was ok - or do they do that when they are dying? I have read about molting etc. I must concerned b/c she was laying the way you see in this pick for almost 2 days.

I did turn the temp up in my house this morning before I left, and had the tank wrapped in aluminum foil and blankets since the original posting on this thread.

The temp says its like 71 degrees now (I am waiting on the ultratherm heater to come in the mail). Do you all think they will be okay like that for another few days until the heater arrives?

Sounds like you had a crab (probably Rose) burrow in the substrate. This is a good thing. They like to burrow and dig. They often do it just for fun and to de-stress, not just in preparation for/while molting. Often they backfill their tunnels.

Whatever you do, if you can't see your crabs on the surface, please DO NOT go digging!!! Please. Your crabs will thank you not to do that. If by some chance, they are molting, you could collapse a molt cave, and they would suffocate. It sounds like there hasn't been time enough for molting to start, at least for Rose, but it's always better not to dig when the crabs are down, and not to do anything to disturb their tunnels while they're buried.

Other than that, I'd just keep them as warm as you can until the Ultratherm comes in, however you can manage to do that. I've tried hot water bottles, I know some folks have tried heating blankets or mats, or space heaters, or just warm towels. Whatever you pick, please be very aware of the risk of fire, and check the temperature of everything exposed to your heat source often to be sure nothing overheats. Especially don't leave things on that are not designed to run without supervision. The crabs went through some really awful conditions, probably including low temperatures and humidity, in order to get to us. A few more days at 71F will probably (in my opinion) be fine. If you're doing all you can to keep them warm, then you're doing the best you can. Best of luck!!!

EDIT: You mentioned putting aluminum foil and towels over your zoomed UTH. I don't think that's such a good idea. Zoomeds are not designed to be insulated, and you could be risking a fire. You can cover all the rest of the tank, just not the area over/on top of the zoomed UTH. It kind of needs it's own cut-out, if that makes sense?

Thank you for the reminder to not go digging!! I did a couple weeks ago when I was worried about what was going on and where they were (before I realized that is a no-no) and its so tempting to go poking around to see them. Does the same go if they are only half way dug under (but at least half of the shell is above the sub?)

Thank you for the advise. I put warm salt water in there yesterday. They all seemed to move around quite a bit last night, and there is a little dirt in the sw dish so i assume they were in it.

I went home today to remove the foil from the zoomed heater, after reading on here that it was a fire hazard. Thank you for putting it out there again though!

Also, does the ultratherm require that I myself put some sort of insulation around it? I think I read that it did. What is the best way to go about that?

[Crabsalicious]

Just for reassurance, I'll throw in that when I first inherited my crabs they were living in an unheated tank in a 65° house. Even after I added the same zoomed 8 watt heater you probably have, and also couldn't get temps up above 70° for weeks, the crabs were okay. I still have Harry & Luis (both ladies, named by a ten year old ) a year & some later. They've both molted a couple times. Crabs can be hardier than we think. You're getting what they need & doing well.

Thank you!! Much of what Im searching for is reassurance here too!! lol. So thankful for this site and everyone who has taken the time to post and answer questions that I am sure many many people have asked before

[LadyJinglyJones]

Also, does the ultratherm require that I myself put some sort of insulation around it? I think I read that it did. What is the best way to go about that?

Yup, if your house is cooler, you want to insulate.

I started with a sheet of cardboard cut to size to match the ultratherm, wrapped in tinfoil, tapped on with metal tape. To the tank.

When I found I still needed more heat I took a second piece of cardboard, glued styrofoam packing popcorn in rows along it with white nontoxic glue, let it dry well, and taped the first cardboard layer to the second with the Styrofoam sandwiched between, and tinfoiled over the whole thing again & attached it with tape again.
This did the trick.

A sheet of Styrofoam would work as well. There are many potential ways to do this - from multiple layers of just cardboard to Reflectix. My way was just what I had on hand in my house. (Yes, I inexplicably hoard packing popcorn. I was never able to justify it til I needed to insulate my uth.)

[Crabsalicious]

Also, does the ultratherm require that I myself put some sort of insulation around it? I think I read that it did. What is the best way to go about that?

Yup, if your house is cooler, you want to insulate.

I started with a sheet of cardboard cut to size to match the ultratherm, wrapped in tinfoil, tapped on with metal tape. To the tank.

When I found I still needed more heat I took a second piece of cardboard, glued styrofoam packing popcorn in rows along it with white nontoxic glue, let it dry well, and taped the first cardboard layer to the second with the Styrofoam sandwiched between, and tinfoiled over the whole thing again & attached it with tape again.
This did the trick.

A sheet of Styrofoam would work as well. There are many potential ways to do this - from multiple layers of just cardboard to Reflectix. My way was just what I had on hand in my house. (Yes, I inexplicably hoard packing popcorn. I was never able to justify it til I needed to insulate my uth.)

Very good to know! The glue holds up with the heat? I don't have packing foam balls lol or any styrofoam...or metal tape for that matter.

That's great you put your stash of foam thinggys to good use!

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[Hermias_mom]

Also, does the ultratherm require that I myself put some sort of insulation around it? I think I read that it did. What is the best way to go about that?

Yup, if your house is cooler, you want to insulate.

I started with a sheet of cardboard cut to size to match the ultratherm, wrapped in tinfoil, tapped on with metal tape. To the tank.

When I found I still needed more heat I took a second piece of cardboard, glued styrofoam packing popcorn in rows along it with white nontoxic glue, let it dry well, and taped the first cardboard layer to the second with the Styrofoam sandwiched between, and tinfoiled over the whole thing again & attached it with tape again.
This did the trick.

A sheet of Styrofoam would work as well. There are many potential ways to do this - from multiple layers of just cardboard to Reflectix. My way was just what I had on hand in my house. (Yes, I inexplicably hoard packing popcorn. I was never able to justify it til I needed to insulate my uth.)

Very good to know! The glue holds up with the heat? I don't have packing foam balls lol or any styrofoam...or metal tape for that matter.

That's great you put your stash of foam thinggys to good use!

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Regular tape works fine too. You can use cardboard alone if that's what you have. Think old styrofoam coolers, or stack cardboard 0.5-1" thick, tape it together and cover it in foil. Then put it over the UTH and up against the entire back of you tank. If you go to the hardware store, you can buy foam board or styrofoam sheets. The pink foam board is pretty inexpensive. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Project-Pane ... /203553730

or http://www.homedepot.com/p/Cellofoam-3- ... /205517302

for example.

[Crabsalicious]

Good to know!! I think I have some craft foam sheets like the pink one in that link. I didn't realize you could use that!!

[Crabsalicious]

So Rose is still in the same position in the tank, and there are now little flying bugs on her and around her. Does this mean she's dead? What should I do?

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[Hermias_mom]

So Rose is still in the same position in the tank, and there are now little flying bugs on her and around her. Does this mean she's dead? What should I do?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Oh dear. That doesn't sound good. The best way to tell if she's dead is to see if she smells strongly like dead fish. Or if you pick her up and she falls out of her shell, completely limp, and she's the wrong color. If you pick her up and she stays in her shell, most folks will say just leave her for a while until you're sure. What you don't want to do is think a crab is dead when it's really doing a surface molt. When molting, they basically don't move for a while. They have a molt smell, which is different than the dead fish smell.

Here's hoping she's fine after all... If she really is dead, you have my most sincere condolences. Just remember, they go through so much before they come to us, dying so soon after you get her indicates to me that it was nothing you did, but PPS (post-purchase syndrome) catching up to her. So very sad. Crossing fingers for you!

[Crabsalicious]

So Rose is still in the same position in the tank, and there are now little flying bugs on her and around her. Does this mean she's dead? What should I do?

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Oh dear. That doesn't sound good. The best way to tell if she's dead is to see if she smells strongly like dead fish. Or if you pick her up and she falls out of her shell, completely limp, and she's the wrong color. If you pick her up and she stays in her shell, most folks will say just leave her for a while until you're sure. What you don't want to do is think a crab is dead when it's really doing a surface molt. When molting, they basically don't move for a while. They have a molt smell, which is different than the dead fish smell.

Here's hoping she's fine after all... If she really is dead, you have my most sincere condolences. Just remember, they go through so much before they come to us, dying so soon after you get her indicates to me that it was nothing you did, but PPS (post-purchase syndrome) catching up to her. So very sad. Crossing fingers for you!

Thank you. I did pull her out, and she was dead. :crybaby: :crybaby:

Its so sad!! How awful for the poor thing!! I feel terrible. And now I am worried about the other two that are under the sub somewhere. They have not come up to eat, I am positive of it. Should I dig them up to check on them? Still waiting on the new heater in the mail, although the weather has warmed up quite a bit since the temp drop last week. Been keeping my heat set since last week as well. ugh!

[NLindsey921]

Do not dig them up. If they are molting, then digging them up could stress them out and kill them. You could also collapse their tunnels. Molting can take a long time and they don't come to the surface until they are completely done. Just wait and see.

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[Crabsalicious]

Do not dig them up. If they are molting, then digging them up could stress them out and kill them. You could also collapse their tunnels. Molting can take a long time and they don't come to the surface until they are completely done. Just wait and see.

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Ok. I think one of them came up to eat bc there was dirt tracked into the food dish. I'll wait. Thank you.

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[Hermias_mom]

Do not dig them up. If they are molting, then digging them up could stress them out and kill them. You could also collapse their tunnels. Molting can take a long time and they don't come to the surface until they are completely done. Just wait and see.

Sent from my SM-J700T1 using Tapatalk

Ok. I think one of them came up to eat bc there was dirt tracked into the food dish. I'll wait. Thank you.

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So very sorry to hear she really was dead.


Glad to hear the others are showing movement. Sometimes dirt in the water bowl and displaced food is the only sign I see for weeks. Unless I'm up at like midnight or 2 am and I happen to hear them scratching about. Once you get the heater and the temp is hotter in the tat, you may see them out and about more.

Do you have a calibrated temperature and humidity gage? Whatever you're using, I'd check and be sure it's accurate. Some brands/types are notoriously inaccurate, like 15-20% and/or 10-20F off. There's a calibration routine for humidity gages in the care sheets. For the temperature gage, you could use a meat thermometer or something in the kitchen you know is accurate, and compare the two readings.

Here's hoping you see your other two soon. Sounds like they're doing all right.

We still have the depression in the corner in the sand that my husband's crab made before she died of PPS. We haven't had the heart to smooth it out - we still miss her. It's been ~4 months. They can capture our hearts even when we only have them for a short time.

[Dukkie]

It is a good idea to use a de-chlorinater/water conditioner because of the possible metals/minerals that can be in well water and city water. I use SeaChem Prime for my hermies and my fish tank.

[Crabsalicious]

Do not dig them up. If they are molting, then digging them up could stress them out and kill them. You could also collapse their tunnels. Molting can take a long time and they don't come to the surface until they are completely done. Just wait and see.

Sent from my SM-J700T1 using Tapatalk

Ok. I think one of them came up to eat bc there was dirt tracked into the food dish. I'll wait. Thank you.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

So very sorry to hear she really was dead.


Glad to hear the others are showing movement. Sometimes dirt in the water bowl and displaced food is the only sign I see for weeks. Unless I'm up at like midnight or 2 am and I happen to hear them scratching about. Once you get the heater and the temp is hotter in the tat, you may see them out and about more.

Do you have a calibrated temperature and humidity gage? Whatever you're using, I'd check and be sure it's accurate. Some brands/types are notoriously inaccurate, like 15-20% and/or 10-20F off. There's a calibration routine for humidity gages in the care sheets. For the temperature gage, you could use a meat thermometer or something in the kitchen you know is accurate, and compare the two readings.

Here's hoping you see your other two soon. Sounds like they're doing all right.

We still have the depression in the corner in the sand that my husband's crab made before she died of PPS. We haven't had the heart to smooth it out - we still miss her. It's been ~4 months. They can capture our hearts even when we only have them for a short time.

Im sorry to hear about your hermie. Its odd how they capture our hearts so quickly. Its very saddening to me. I feel awful.

I was thinking about the humidity and temp gauge today. I am posting a pic of the one I currently have (not the exact one -- a pic of one i found online), which I am guessing may fall into the "notoriously-off" group. The temp is reading higher now with the new heater, but it still only says its 75 degrees, but it in the yellow. The humidity is reading around 85, or in the middle of the yellow on the hydrometer as well.

How do I post a picture on here form a desktop?

[Crabsalicious]

It is a good idea to use a de-chlorinater/water conditioner because of the possible metals/minerals that can be in well water and city water. I use SeaChem Prime for my hermies and my fish tank.

Thanks, I am thinking the same thing....that I need to get a conditioner. I don't think I would need a de-chlorinator for well water (it doesn't have chlorine)? IDK, my neighbor has had hermit crabs for a couple years and only uses plain well water (then again she only has like a half inch of sub in the 5 gallon tank too).