not active?

[lovepink42]

i guess my major concern would be that the second crab we have appeared to have killed my first crab (not entirely positive but it looked that way). Im kind of afraid of any risk that could be involved for my crab, is it possible that could happen again? im afraid to put multiple crabs in the same cage now

[wodesorel]

It takes a lot of force for a crab to kill another crab, and it almost always happens during a molt because they're much more vulnerable during that time. Most crabs that die from PPS illnesses will drop all their legs and/or fall right out of their shell. This can look like an attack, but it's not.

If it was an attack, then it was most likely either over the shell the crab was wearing, or due to a lack of good food while at the store. The crabs don't realize for a few weeks that they're in a safe environment and that food will be always provided. (Okay, so maybe they don't realize this. Maybe it's just once they get a full stomach they stop caring so much about the others in the tank. ) So it could be that when you brought the crab home he saw a great opportunity to get a good meal of crab in.

Usually keeping them isolated for a few days until they change shells and eat themselves senseless will completely prevent attacks. Personally, the most I've ever had to do was physically move new crabs to the shell shop when they hated their store shell so much that the first they did upon being placed into my tank was to start trying to rip the shells off the other crabs backs. :roll: It was then an insti-change into the first shell they touched, and then straight to the food/water to gourge themselves.

Of course, if this crabs hasn't molted with you yet and you've had it for two months, I would immediately think that it has to molt by the way it's acting. How is the substrate for it? At least twice as deep as it is tall (deeper than that is better), and moist enough for it to hold a tunnel? Sometimes when the substrate conditions aren't right they'll stay on the surface and hold out on molting, even when they really need to.

[lovepink42]

the pps illness sounds alot like what happened but im not sure. we originally bought the first two in north carolina on vacation we had them for about two weeks on vacation when we brought them home. we had them for about two weeks at our home in their "travel cage" while locating another cage when i found my crab dead in the cage with limbs strewn around the cage and my crab looked like he had been pulled out of his shell......

a couple weeks later i got a new crab which i have kept in a separate tank from the other crab....the first thing i noticed was the the new crab isn't nearly as active as my previous crab and it is hard to get him to come out of his shell...we;ve had him about two months

i know i definitely need better substrate because we've had a hard time finding stores that sell hermit crab supplies so we don't nearly have as much as we need and we've been partially using fish pebbles (they are big enough not to get caught in his shell, and we will be replacing this weekend)

[tigermoon89]

You can use play sand from walmart or home depot. Wet it so that it is at sand castle consistency. This will aid in holding molting tunnels.

The fish tank gravel substrate prevents hermit crabs from digging down to molt, this will cause additional stress for your hermit crab. He may be pulling a surface molt. Does he appear to have an ashy coloring? Cloudy eyes? I will post an additional link with molting info for you.

You can order a ton of supplies from amazon.com.
Oddly enought, Meijer sells hermit crab supplies so you may find some if you have a Meijer near you.

If you have any craft stores (including craft section at walmart) you can find bags of shells for $3-10 (10 if larger shells).
You can also find fake plants for hideaways and climbing at the above stores.

You can also use tupperware to make the dechlorinated fresh and sea salt marine grade pools. (the sea salt water helps during the molting process).

You can also form hideaways from plastic bowls or cups.

For additional tips check here:
viewtopic.php?t=77536

There is a link to kilamonjaro's food guide that details the foods that are most beneficial during the molting cycle.
For now, I would place a hidey over him just in case he is going to pull a surface molt on you. Be sure to provide high protein foods and high calcium foods along with the daily fruits and veggies.

Here's the molting link:
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... highlight=

[wodesorel]

I've been using Quickrete playsand from the beginning and I've had 100+ successful molts. As long as the bags are stored indoors at the store and they don't have any chemical or moldy smell to them they are safe to use. Plus, it's 50 pounds for about $3 - can't beat those prices! Any brand of cleaned, screened playsand will work - Quickrete is just what is common around here.

I really really think he's acting off because he needs to molt and doesn't feel comfortable enough to do it on the surface. I think if you try the sand (or EE if you can find it in a petstore) you'll find him molting ASAP.

As for the crab attack - it could be either an attack or natural. Personally, I would try it again when your current crab is feeling better. If you're really worried about it, then when both have molted and are back to moving around normally, try them together for a few hours at a time when you can watch them until you're sure they'll get along. It really takes the stress out of the whole situation.

[lovepink42]

ok, ive been checking around to see what stores around me seem to have supplies, unfortunately we don't have a meijer near here so that won't work. but i will definately have everything fixed by this weekend and hopefully that will help

[wickedannabella]

I'm throwing some Netting in with your shells so they have something to climb on...get some hook suction cups at your local hardware store or even pharmacy and hang the net! They LOVE to climb on it!

[lovepink42]

oooo!!! thank you so much!! ive been looking for netting but havent been able to find anything suitable.

does anyone know if petco is good for hermit crab supplies? it says online they stock various products...