We received 3 rescues yesterday!!!

[Motörcrab]

A co-worker of xenocrab had 3 crabs they bought a our local amusement park last summer. Naturally the kids lost interest and they went to another co-worker. Xenocrab started telling the new owner how much work these guys really are to maintain them properly then the gave these guys to us.

Attached are how we received the crabs, tank included, and what we managed to do to better their living conditions. I still do not think their tank is ideal just yet but it is a lot better now that it has a UTH, humidity, deep substrate (plan to mix with sand once the weather breaks here), fresh and salt water, and calcium pit. We will eventually add things for them to climb on too.

One that is in a painted shell burried almost instantly. The other two seem alright, checking out shells and crawling around. They all have at least one or two broken leg. I'm hoping they will repair after a moulted or two. I'm assuming none of them have moulted in a long time since they only had enough gravel to cover the bottom of the tank.

Does anyone have any advice for getting these guys more comfortable? As I was Typing this one of them changed shells!


This is the set up we received the crab in.


This is their current make shift housing for short term until we see how they handle the change.


Was in this shell


Changed to this shell!


Still thinking of a name for this guy.




This guy is currently hiding.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[Hermiesguardian]

A co-worker of xenocrab had 3 crabs they bought a our local amusement park last summer. Naturally the kids lost interest and they went to another co-worker. Xenocrab started telling the new owner how much work these guys really are to maintain them properly then the gave these guys to us.

Attached are how we received the crabs, tank included, and what we managed to do to better their living conditions. I still do not think their tank is ideal just yet but it is a lot better now that it has a UTH, humidity, deep substrate (plan to mix with sand once the weather breaks here), fresh and salt water, and calcium pit. We will eventually add things for them to climb on too.

One that is in a painted shell burried almost instantly. The other two seem alright, checking out shells and crawling around. They all have at least one or two broken leg. I'm hoping they will repair after a moulted or two. I'm assuming none of them have moulted in a long time since they only had enough gravel to cover the bottom of the tank.

Does anyone have any advice for getting these guys more comfortable? As I was Typing this one of them changed shells!


This is the set up we received the crab in.


This is their current make shift housing for short term until we see how they handle the change.


Was in this shell


Changed to this shell!


Still thinking of a name for this guy.




This guy is currently hiding.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

That's so great that you rescued these guys! Do you have gauges for the heat and humidity? In the last picture of the guy hiding, it looks like there is a puddle next to him. Is there?

[Motörcrab]

A co-worker of xenocrab had 3 crabs they bought a our local amusement park last summer. Naturally the kids lost interest and they went to another co-worker. Xenocrab started telling the new owner how much work these guys really are to maintain them properly then the gave these guys to us.

Attached are how we received the crabs, tank included, and what we managed to do to better their living conditions. I still do not think their tank is ideal just yet but it is a lot better now that it has a UTH, humidity, deep substrate (plan to mix with sand once the weather breaks here), fresh and salt water, and calcium pit. We will eventually add things for them to climb on too.

One that is in a painted shell burried almost instantly. The other two seem alright, checking out shells and crawling around. They all have at least one or two broken leg. I'm hoping they will repair after a moulted or two. I'm assuming none of them have moulted in a long time since they only had enough gravel to cover the bottom of the tank.

Does anyone have any advice for getting these guys more comfortable? As I was Typing this one of them changed shells!


This is the set up we received the crab in.


This is their current make shift housing for short term until we see how they handle the change.


Was in this shell


Changed to this shell!


Still thinking of a name for this guy.




This guy is currently hiding.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

That's so great that you rescued these guys! Do you have gauges for the heat and humidity? In the last picture of the guy hiding, it looks like there is a puddle next to him. Is there?

We do have a temperature and humidity gauge. Temperature is currently 83. Humidity is at about 93% and slowly dropping.

The substrate is moist but not water logged. There are no puddles of water, some sots are a more moist than others but not to where it will pool. We currently have about 5 or so inches of just coconut fiber bedding for them.

The same guy changed shells for a second time!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

[Hermiesguardian]

That's so great that you rescued these guys! Do you have gauges for the heat and humidity? In the last picture of the guy hiding, it looks like there is a puddle next to him. Is there?[/quote]We do have a temperature and humidity gauge. Temperature is currently 83. Humidity is at about 93% and slowly dropping.

The substrate is moist but not water logged. There are no puddles of water, some sots are a more moist than others but not to where it will pool. We currently have about 5 or so inches of just coconut fiber bedding for them.

The same guy changed shells for a second time!

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk[/quote]

That's probably the most exciting thing when they change shells.

[curlysister]

I wish I had taken a picture of the set-up I got my two crabs in. It was kinda like what you pictured, except there was just a skiff of sand, and their only food was a peach pit and some potato chips. I am still surprised they survived it!

[GotButterflies]

Great job!! The crabs are beautiful! I'm glad that they survived in those conditions!!

Edit: Sponges are not necessary - take them out of the pools and let them have the room in the pools

[Motörcrab]

Two of these guys went down so far. The painted shell has been down since Saturday afternoon, the guy that changed shells went down late Sunday after spending several hours in the water.

I'm a bit worried about the third guy. He is spending most of his time, that I have seen, in the coconut. He was out in the water dish yesterday. We have been placing bits of popcorn and dried crickets inside the hut. Food is disappearing and I do see poop so that's a good sign. I picked him up today to check him out and he had a lot of water in his shell. I never noticed that with any of our other crabs. I know they regulate fresh and salt water in their shell but never really saw how this guys was. I'm assuming he may have Gill damage from just having a sponge for 6+ months and whatever room humidity averages? If they have Gill damage is that something that will slowly repair itself over time like a broken leg? Or once the damage is done that's it?

I'm probably reading too much into him roght now considering he is still adjusting to the new habitat and still a bit confused changing homes twice in two weeks. I guess the best is to just let him just do his own thing with the occasional food inside the coconut.

[Hermias_mom]

Two of these guys went down so far. The painted shell has been down since Saturday afternoon, the guy that changed shells went down late Sunday after spending several hours in the water.

I'm a bit worried about the third guy. He is spending most of his time, that I have seen, in the coconut. He was out in the water dish yesterday. We have been placing bits of popcorn and dried crickets inside the hut. Food is disappearing and I do see poop so that's a good sign. I picked him up today to check him out and he had a lot of water in his shell. I never noticed that with any of our other crabs. I know they regulate fresh and salt water in their shell but never really saw how this guys was. I'm assuming he may have Gill damage from just having a sponge for 6+ months and whatever room humidity averages? If they have Gill damage is that something that will slowly repair itself over time like a broken leg? Or once the damage is done that's it?

I'm probably reading too much into him roght now considering he is still adjusting to the new habitat and still a bit confused changing homes twice in two weeks. I guess the best is to just let him just do his own thing with the occasional food inside the coconut.

That's awesome that you rescued these guys!!!

I think your instincts are correct, just leave him be for a while. If he were my crab, I'd provide lots of molting foods (honey, coconut/coconut oil, bee pollen, plenty of a variety of proteins and exoskeleton, etc., crickets are good, although anything on the safe food list has to be an improvement ) and then leave him alone. If he has water in his shell, that's a great thing, and he's eating, so that's great too. Best of luck for your new babies!!!

[Motörcrab]

The last guy went down at some point last night. Now all 3 are down. These 3 are a lot bigger than all our other crabs. I would consider these guys Large since the shells are a bit bigger than a golf ball. I know larger crabs generally take longer to molt than smaller crabs. Our others are usually down 1-2 weeks. Is there an approximate time frame to expect these guys to resurface? I'm guessing 2-4 weeks give or take.

We recently purchased two sample packages from Hermies Kitchen to give a better variety to all our crabs. The new guys haven't really been interested in food, mostly water then they went down. Our original P's have been going crazy over the new foods. They have also been loving the calcium pit with crushed egg shells, cuttlebone and a little bit of organic virgin olive oil in the mix.

[Hermias_mom]

The last guy went down at some point last night. Now all 3 are down. These 3 are a lot bigger than all our other crabs. I would consider these guys Large since the shells are a bit bigger than a golf ball. I know larger crabs generally take longer to molt than smaller crabs. Our others are usually down 1-2 weeks. Is there an approximate time frame to expect these guys to resurface? I'm guessing 2-4 weeks give or take.

We recently purchased two sample packages from Hermies Kitchen to give a better variety to all our crabs. The new guys haven't really been interested in food, mostly water then they went down. Our original P's have been going crazy over the new foods. They have also been loving the calcium pit with crushed egg shells, cuttlebone and a little bit of organic virgin olive oil in the mix.

Sounds like fun in your tank! I like the calcium pit idea.

Based solely on crab size, I'd say 1-2 months, though anything up to a year would not be outside the realm of possibility. You can't predict the length of a crab's molt, it varies per crab, and each molt can differ in length for the same crab. Based on what I've read, I get the impression that a lot of factors influence the length of a crab's molt, and some of them are known only to the crab itself.

[Motörcrab]

There isn't much to report on these guys. All 3 are still down with no movement. There are no funky smells coming from the tank which is a good sign. Temperature is holding in the low 80's and humidity is in the upper 80's. I figured I would give a quick update although it isn't much of one.

[piratetoothgir]

Good They most likely need to adjust more to their surroundings, which is why they are digging.
I would just wait for a while, eventually one or more of them will come back up.

[Motörcrab]

Still no activity and it has been right around a month. I still do not smell anything aside from the musty, damp basement smell. The surface has looked the same for weeks. In our other tanks the crabs a like bulldozers over night with new holes and craters everywhere. I haven't seen any, even slight changes in this tank. Temperature and humidity are still good 82/91%. I've been adding new food and water every 2-3 days but nothing has been touched either.

Could the straight coconut fiber have sealed in death smell? For 3 crabs to all be down for the same time period in making me anxious.

[wodesorel]

You're doing fine! Since they are rescues it is really normal for all to go down once they hit proper conditions. A month is nothing, I never expect to see rescues for at least 64 days - an odd number but one that keeps happening regardless of size. They can easily take longer!

And no, you won't smell them if something happens. It's an odd feeling, but you are doing the best thing possible by doing nothing! Messing with them can only make the situation worse for them.

[Motörcrab]

Thanks for the heads up wodesorel. We will continue with our hands off approach until they come around or winter rolls around.