HCA: Hermit Crab Association

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Eco Earth 2 inches deep

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? Upper back of tank. Temp: 70~72F Humidity:71-73

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? A small heating pad

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 reverse osmosis water, and saltwater made from reverse osmosis water and 1 tsp calcium salt per cup of water

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? fresh fruit/veggies currently carrots. I give the food 1-2 days before replacing

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? purple pincher and had the crab for 1.5 years

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? Crab last molted in the fall (don't remember exactly when)

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? 5 gallon glass terrarium with metal lid and seran wrap with holes along the lid to keep humidity in

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? normally 2 crabs, but currently 1. one crab is the size of a silver dollar, other crab is golf ball sized

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? normally 5 extra shells are in tank

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? no

12. How often do you clean the tank and how? I clean the tank once every 4-6 months. I place crabs in a container and dump substrate out then clean with water and place new substrate in

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? no sponges

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.)? crab has recently been trying to isolate self and dig, but other crab has been bothering it (for about a week)

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. Friday late afternoon my hermit crab came out of his shell and has refused to get back into shell. I have cleaned the shells, placed them next to him, gave him til saturday morning while fenced in, still streaking. Took the other crab to a different tank and let the streaker loose until saturday afternoon, still streaking. Boiled the shells and cleaned them out with q-tips then left them with the crab in the tank until sunday morning, but he was still streaking. I then placed him in a bowl with his shell in a shallow amount of salt water to keep him from drying out or suffocating, it is almost afternoon and he is still out of his shell. I have been checking in at 1-5 hour intervals unless I am sleeping to give him some privacy and peace.

2 inches is not deep enough for the substrate. Sounds like he might be trying to molt but doesnt have enough substrate to dig down. When they molt other crabs can sometimes be attracted by the smell, hence you 2nd crab bothering him.

You need to raise the temp and humidity some (heat rises so it would be cooler at the sub level) ideal would be 80º and 80% humidity. You may want to upgrade to a 10 gallon tank to have enough room for proper sub depth. Minimum of 6 inches in depth.

Have you tried placing him in a a larger shell? There is also the cup method, ill see if I can find a link.

When they previously molted did they do it on the surface?

Hope you can get him back in a shell asap, as they tend not to make it long with out one.

Heres a quote from one of Calalilly's post:

" It's very important to get him back in a shell. You can place some extras near him to see if he'll try one on. If not, try the glass cup method. This is where you place a clean, appropriately sized shell in the bottom of a glass, gently rinse the crab in lukewarm dechlor freshwater, and place him in the glass on top of the shell. Hopefully that'll coax him into taking it. If he continues to refuse or is extremely weak, you'll need to help him into a shell. In that case, a slightly too large shell makes it a bit easier. Again you'll want to make sure crab and shell are clean. It also helps to leave a small amount of water in the shell.<br /><br />After getting the crab reshelled, ISO in proper conditions. Good luck!<br/>"

I have tried to help him into a shell that is a little too big and all he did was get out of the shell and try to use it as leverage to escape. I'm completely out of ideas and he's becoming more and more sluggish and has become completely unresponsive a few times.

stirstick wrote:2 inches is not deep enough for the substrate. Sounds like he might be trying to molt but doesnt have enough substrate to dig down. When they molt other crabs can sometimes be attracted by the smell, hence you 2nd crab bothering him.

You need to raise the temp and humidity some (heat rises so it would be cooler at the sub level) ideal would be 80º and 80% humidity. You may want to upgrade to a 10 gallon tank to have enough room for proper sub depth. Minimum of 6 inches in depth.

Have you tried placing him in a a larger shell? There is also the cup method, ill see if I can find a link.

When they previously molted did they do it on the surface?

Hope you can get him back in a shell asap, as they tend not to make it long with out one.

They have always gone completely under ground to molt and I have never had them molt above ground before. And the cup method lasted 4 hours before I gave up and I tried placing him in a shell but he just crawled out and refused to stay in.

Protein sources need to be provided, as well as crushed eggshells or cuttlebone to promote exoskeleton health. You need to get a water conditioner such as Seachem Prime, and marine grade salt like Instant Ocean. They need substrate at least 3X as deep as your largest crab or a minimum of 6", keeping in mind that they will grow. If the sub is too shallow that delicious molting smell will cause them to cannibalize each other. The same will happen if they have no protein source like krill, shrimp, unseasoned meat, crickets, mealworms, etc. Dumping the sub removes beneficial bacteria that they need to thrive. Surface cleans are fine unless you have a bacterial bloom or flood. Please repair your conditions ASAP and let us know how your streaker is doing! Best of luck! I know it seems overwhelming but once everything is set up they are quite simple to care for.

soilentgringa wrote:Protein sources need to be provided, as well as crushed eggshells or cuttlebone to promote exoskeleton health. You need to get a water conditioner such as Seachem Prime, and marine grade salt like Instant Ocean. They need substrate at least 3X as deep as your largest crab or a minimum of 6", keeping in mind that they will grow. If the sub is too shallow that delicious molting smell will cause them to cannibalize each other. The same will happen if they have no protein source like krill, shrimp, unseasoned meat, crickets, mealworms, etc. Dumping the sub removes beneficial bacteria that they need to thrive. Surface cleans are fine unless you have a bacterial bloom or flood. Please repair your conditions ASAP and let us know how your streaker is doing! Best of luck! I know it seems overwhelming but once everything is set up they are quite simple to care for.

I will use that information for my large crab, the little streaker passed 2 hours ago. He refused to stay in a shell and just convulsed a few times then stopped moving and responding. I gave him an hour to see if there was any movement or anything and called it. He's still in the tank just in case, but I'm sure he's gone. Thank you for your help though.