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New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 7:58 am
by Firefairy128
Hello all! I am new to the forums! We bought 3 crabbies (Blaze, Forrest, and Ducky) a year ago, on a semi prepared whim, while at the beach for our son. I googled stuff while at the shop and therefore knew a few basics about tank needs, foods, life span, etc. Fast forward a year and while the crabbies are still in his room, I am a crab mom. They are mine!! I love them so. Considering crabs are my biggest fear, this is saying a lot, or just extremely vexing to my husband. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure we lost Ducky to a molt gone bad even though I haven't found her yet. I know she and the others all went down around the same time and she never resurfaced 😭

I have learned soooooooo much from this forum - it's my go to place for all things crabbie - and thought it was finally time to join! Also, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone! Y'all have helped me so much in this past year and I continue to learn more.

Yesterday, I realized I had been negligent and Blaze had made a great escape. I forgot to put the weights back on the lid the night before. This was his third time escaping. He is our Houdini, and is the only one who has ever escaped. This time, however, I couldn't find him ANYWHERE! I tore the house apart floor by floor since the last time I found him he was at the bottom of the stairs to the main level, strutting around like he owned the place. As time went on I freaked out more and more because our house is extremely dry. Hygrometer reads between 17-24% in here. This time I followed the guide here on the forum and set up paper, food, water, and bowls with moist cloths that he could get into but not out of. Bed time came for the kids and I sat in the dark upstairs hallway listening for him. Low and behold 6 minutes after I started I hear a thump and he comes waltzing out of the younger sons' bedroom, from under the crib/day bed. He had clung to the underside of the crib. I had neglected to look up when inspecting under there for him. He is now quite ruffled at me for bringing him back. This experience has now made me question where the heck Forrest is hiding. I know he was in the tank the day before I left for 9 days vacation and had a friend coming to feed/water/care for them. She said she never saw 'the second one' (Forrest) and I haven't seen him either. I'm hoping molt, but the back of my mind is now wondering if he escaped while I was gone. Trying to stay optimistic!

Now for a question, I recently bought a bigger set up, a 30 gallon tank up from 10 gallon, I also adopted 2 micro/teeny crabs. Blaze and Forrest are small sized. I have had the two tiny ones destressing in the bigger tank. When it comes time, is there anything in particular that I can do to introduce the bigger ones into the smaller ones crabitat? I tried once and Blaze attacked one of the smaller ones. Not in a standing over showing dominance way, in a standing over him trying to get him out of his shell way. I have read loads about introducing smaller ones to bigger ones but not much on the other way around. Just wondering if I am doing something wrong or need to go about it a different way. Thanks!

Sorry the post was so long!! Thanks for reading!
-Telia

Re: New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:09 am
by Xenocrab
Have you dipped the new crabs in salt water before adding putting them all together? Our thoughts are if all crabs smell the same, maybe there won't be such aggression. We do a lot of adopting and rescuing of crabbies and we always dip them in salt water. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, I'm just saying this is what we do.
Also, what kind (species) of crabs do you have?
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Re: New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:37 am
by Firefairy128
They are all PPs. I did not dip them before trying to introduce. Should I dip all of them or just the older crab/newbie to the tank? Thanks!

Re: New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:38 am
by Xenocrab
I would personally dip them all, therefore every one smells the same.

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Re: New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 11:52 am
by GotButterflies
Hello, and welcome to the HCA! :)

I personally recommend dipping them in the freshwater of the tank, but to each's own :)

Re: New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 12:44 pm
by Xenocrab
Right, we all do something different. Nothing is 100% known. All we do is try our best to figure crabbies out! Everything is suggestions and our own experiences.

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Re: New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 6:44 pm
by Firefairy128
Thanks y'all!

Re: New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 7:00 pm
by aussieJJDude
I've also done a salt dip.... new crabs seem to enjoy it a lot more, since at the store they were deprived of salt and then to run straight back to it.

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Re: New to forums!!

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 8:57 pm
by Firefairy128
Y'all! It worked wonderfully! I dipped them in the salt water and they saw each other said hello for a minute and then the big one just walked over them and continued on his adventure to explore the new tank! I am so happy! Gonna keep an eye on them for a while though just to be sure! Thanks again!