Possible Post-Molt Problem, I Need Some Guidance

[parker_roo]

Wait, I just looked up some pictures. Does the color still remain on the exoskeleton once shed? I'm reinspecting those pieces I found.

[BrisHermies]

No, that's what I thought at first too, but uneaten exo looks just like a dead crab! Color and all! I'm sure that there's hope. I found pieces and freaked out the first time too.

[CallaLily]

Check if they're hollow or not. Exo will still have color.

[parker_roo]

Okay, they seem hollow. That's a good sign! Here is my next theory, that could have very well been the exoskeleton of Ollie. That may be why she is so pale, because she didn't get to eat the rest of her exo. Hope is coming back to me! I really want this to turn out well!

[parker_roo]

Our hermit crabs make us do nothing but worry! I will keep you guys updated, and see if Marcel does come up. Thank you all for helping me out so far! I really appreciate it! And even if it does turn out bad, you guys helped me to not give up!

[BrisHermies]

Not gonna lie, that makes me so happy! That is a really good thing! Definitely offer it to your pale one, it's probably hers anyway. Your other one is probably still molting. Isolating Ollie might be a good idea anyway if she didn't eat her exo.

[parker_roo]

I isolated Ollie in a separate tank. I put her in a moss pit and placed the pieces exo (hopefully her exo) that I found right next to her. When I checked on her this morning it didn't look like she ate any of the exo. She was curled up against the back of the tank where the UTH is placed. She was actually doing the same thing in my main tank. I know my main tank is almost perfect temperature. It is normally around 80°, the lows go to around 78°, and the high around 83°. I am a little worried that the iso tank isn't warm enough. It's a 5 gallon with two cheap UTHs on the back. But when I get home today, I am going to try to add more heat. Anyway, I have plenty of calcium rich foods offered to her, and I will check on her today after school. I think she is doing alright, but I'll judge that by observing her for the next few days. And I'll let you guys know how everyone is doing!

[parker_roo]

Oh, and I put Hendel back in the main tank. I basically switched Ollie and Hendel from the iso tank. Hopefully he isn't a cannibal, and Marcel will come back up to the surface soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! And again, thank you for everyone's support! I love the HCA, and how great everyone is on here!

[landlubber]

Sounds like everything will be okay. Fingers crossed!

[mlakers]

I'm having very similar issues with my crabs at the moment. Molters disturbed, a suspected cannibal, fears for the ones still down if the cannibal goes digging. My cannibal is actually named Hannibal and I have him in ISO now. He dug down and disturbed two molters (that I know of!) rushing them to the surface. I just can't trust him and thinking back, I had "experienced" older crabs who would dig down for a few days, giving all the signs of an impending molt, and then come back up when Hannibal went digging. So I removed him from the community tank and now 7 of 9 crabs are down and staying down. I don't plan to return Hannibal until the majority of them are up. I'm convinced he goes "foraging" underground and steals exo (at best) or cannibalizes (at worst). And he was a crab given to me by someone else, too. Passing off a vicious crab, I now think. Anyway, he's happy enough in ISO (he was a solitary crab when given to me--having eaten his only tank mate). I give him LOTS of protein and toys and keep him interested. His newest happy toy is a gerbil wheel that he walks MILES on every night. Hopefully it will chill him the heck out.

[BrisHermies]

I really don't think Hendel is a cannibal... Kinda sounds like he was framed (for lack of a better word). He didn't even attack Ollie when she came up early, and she would have been an easy target. I'm not an expert by any means, but it seems like a true "cannibal crab" is fairly rare. This guy sounds like he isn't attacking his tank mates, just eating an abandoned exo...

[Crabinski]

His newest happy toy is a gerbil wheel that he walks MILES on every night. Hopefully it will chill him the heck out.

That sounds marvelous! See if you can get a picture of him on that gerbil wheel...I'm sure we'd all love to see it as everyone is always up for new ideas to amuse our crabs .

[parker_roo]

Alright, so Ollie isn't doing too well. She is in iso, but she has gotten much paler and weaker! I checked on her today and it seems like she hasn't moved in a day or two. I took her out of the tank to take a closer look at her. When she finally came out of her shell, she was almost white. Plus she couldn't even support her shell, she was so weak. I hand fed her some honey calcium supplement, and I tired to bring her close to the water dish for her to drink, but she wouldn't go far enough to drink the water. I'm really worried about her. But luckily after I hand fed her, I have seen her walking around the tank. So that is a good sign! I'm going to continue to hand feed her every day until she becomes strong enough and healthy. Does any one have any suggestions on anything else I can do to help her regain her strength? Oh, and also, she didn't eat much of the pieces of exo I put next to her. She might have eaten a little bit, but not much. Any suggestions will help!

[me n my hermikids]

You can "hand water" her too, if she will let you. Put a nice big droplett of water on your hand next to her little pincher. She might drink it up.

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[IBlab crab]

I have one crab I can not trust.He has one other tank mate and when that tank mate goes down to molt I wait for a few weeks until I think he is ready to pull the molt and I see the other crab digging near him then I put him in a tote for a few weeks until the molter is up.