New to crabbing - but they aren't my crabs!

[LadyJinglyJones]

So my partner's 9 y.o. sister recently won two (I think PP ??) crabbies at a fair.

The Mom dutifully went off to store & bought an All Living Things hampster-er-hermit cage, replete with the inappropriate crab stuff the dumb-*** pet store kid sold her, & approx. 2cm of fine dusty sand, then happily trotted home to unknowingly kill some crabs. :roll:

Fast forward: I fell instantly in love with these little weirdos. I found this site. I bought a 10 gallon tank; I made it a lid; I bought crabbie groceries; branches, cork, appropriately sized swimming holes, a moss-pit shower caddie; I hauled a billion pounds of sand home (I live downtown, so I don't drive, I walk... and it was TRES heavy!); I got the hygrometer/thermometer: then... the problem!

I discovered the family keeps their house at 65 degrees. Humidity was okay, but temp was baaad. Now I've got them a UTH, but I'm worried that they've been so cold for three weeks. Is there anything else I can/should do for them? More protein maybe? I've only just moved them to new tank today.

They still aren't moving much. I am worried. I watched the tank late into the night, but they barely moved. I put shrimp and coconut and fruit and grains in: nothing doing. I resisted all urges to poke them. Have I missed something? they aren't burrowing. Will they recover from the cold soon?

[KDK241]

Congrats on the new additions and it was sweet of you to take them in. I had to lol at your post though...

I am not sure about them being so cold for so long but new crabs will bury, hide or just sit for days or even weeks to destress after coming home. The best thing to do is to just leave them alone, as hard as it is.

[aussieJJDude]

Could you place a desk lamp over the top and look into handwarmers? if possible, the best thing to do is insulate the live out of the tank with blankets, tin foil and whatnot.

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 30&t=81726 <<< maybe this can help?

[LadyJinglyJones]

Okay, insulation. So warmer is better.

I will let them be otherwise.

Thanks both of you, yo!

-LJJ

[KayedeeLove<3]

Mid 80's is best though 80 is fine

Sent from my LGMS330 using Tapatalk

[LadyJinglyJones]

THAY ARE CLIMBING EVERYWHERE!

Seriously, they are master mountaineers. I had to augment the lid to make it less escape-able after I found one somehow on the outside corner of the tank. Very sneaky crab.

Thanks fer tha suggestions, peeps!

LJJ

[KDK241]

That's great to hear!