Stressed?

[RachelStark27]

How long will a hermit crab stay buried if stressed? I brought 2 new PP hermit crabs home. One immediately buried, the other changed shells 3 times within 4 hours, then it buried. They have now been buried for 2 weeks. They came from horrific conditions. They were only 5 live ones left and about 10 to 15 dead ones, crab body parts everywhere. I really almost bought all of them, however I didnt have the room for them.

[JoeHermits]

For as long as it needs too. Keep in mind that hermit crabs coming from poor conditions may also molt as soon as they can, which means they can stay buried for months.


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[RachelStark27]

Ok thanks...I just worry if he got enough to eat before he molts. He definitely needed to molt, and was very lethargic. He did drink alot of salt water before he went down.

[Motörcrab]

Like Joe said it can be weeks or months depending on the crab. We have done potty purchases in the past from pet shops and amusement parks. A majority of them dug down and did not resurface.

There is some debate on techniques for introducing new crabs from poor conditions.
The first and what a majority of people do is to put the new crabs into your tank right away. This allows them to get into ideal conditions right away. Their first instinct will be to dig and molt. The downside is if they were not given a proper diet and water they will not have the strength to complete the process.

The other option is to set up an isolation tank with only a little substrate. Some people start with a low humidity and slowly bring it up to safe conditions. The shallow substrate will also discourage molting and allow the crabs to eat and drink to regain energy. After a month people will put the crabs into their regular crabitat.

[Overmountain1]

I personally have tried both ways; I will now use the second method Motorcrab mentioned for anyone I bring home. I like to keep them in iso for a couple weeks at the least to be sure they aren’t going to bring any mites or anything bad to the tank, and to give them some quiet downtime too! I have started them at whatever temp they cane from and bumped it up over the course of iso, fed them lots of good healing foods, and so far it has worked well for me, even with a large purchased crab. (My Barry)
I have also just stuck them in the tank, but to me that couple weeks gives you a chance to see if they’re just going to give up the ghost, in a way and place you will know about. If it’s going to happen it usually doesn’t take long, but that isn’t a rule either of course!
In the end, we do the best we can for these guys, and we are all still learning more every day. Best wishes to your little crabbies- I hope they pull thru for you!!


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[RachelStark27]

Thinks everyone. I am kinda new to the crabbing thing. My friends son won a large PP at the fair back in Sept and she was just gonna make him let it go outside....( we live in north ga) I was like NO it will die. So I brought him home and put him in an old fish aquarium that night and got up early the next morning and went to pet smart. I read any and everything I could on hermit crabs. I ended up spending a couple hundred dollars buying EVERYTHING it could possible need including a new friend for him. I also bought a new heater for the room the habitat is in and a humidifier for the room and one for the tank...lol....since that's how they breathe. I have actually became fond of these little guys. And I now have 6....the last 4 have been rescues, or purchased because of thier poor living conditions..I have one strawberry and one ecuadorian the other 4 are PP. My first three, 2 PP and the eccie have all molted and are actually growing and doing quite well. The last three came ,in bad shape the strawberry who is almost white, has ate alot and drank alot of salt water and went down the same time the two new ones did, all three in the same night. I never bother them just wait and see.....and hope for the best. Sorry for long post....but one thing I fear is am I using the right dechlorinator? I buy one off Amazon for hermit crabs called Hermit Safe by Jurassipet is that a good one? It's the only one I have ever used. I was boiling water for the first week until I read it may not take all the bad stuff out.

[Motörcrab]

It's amazing how much hermit crabs can grow on you, and how much money you need to spend for the initial correct items for their set up. The stores market them as an "easy to care for" cheap, beginners pet. A crab, cheap cage, rocks and sponge are all they need! Since they are geared toward kids a parent will had over $40 for an easy to care for pet instead of $150+ dollars for.

As for your ghostly strawberry. Did you read up on their care? They have some "special needs" compared to all other species. It sounds like your berry needs more foods high in beta carotene and astaxanthin. Foods high in both those will help it regain it's color. In general most fruits and veggies are high in those. I try to keep it simple, foods with bright colors are generally high in both or one or the other.

Here is the Strawberry care guide for more info to get you started with care.
viewtopic.php?f=120&t=92450

Here is one of the food guides as well.
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=92554

[RachelStark27]

I did read up on Strawberries.....my heat and humidity are both set higher for him/her. They get fresh fruit and veggies everyday, my husband and I both eat fresh veggies and fruit daily so not real hard to throw them some. Plus I have 3 food dishes in the crabitat. One for fresh fruits and veggies, one for thier shrimp and or meats and one for the nuts and wheat germ. I also have cuttle bone and we put a fresh egg shell in their every morning. My strawberry seems to be doing good. However, I have heard they will be fine one min and dead the next. So I do stay stressed about her. I was very reluctant to buy her but I figured she would have a fighting chance with me, she was doomed other wise. She trashes my tank every night though. But since my eccie has come up from his molt he does too. And he wont change shells. All my PP have changed but 1 and its molting right now too. I have read the ecuadorian crabs need thier on kind in there with them and I only have one right now And one strawberry. Should I have at least 2 of each kind? Just curious....I dont want to overcrowd ...I have 6 in a 40 gallon terrarium. It's pretty big, but is it big enough to hold 8 med sized crabs that seem to be growing pretty fast?

[Links]

I personally have tried both ways; I will now use the second method Motorcrab mentioned for anyone I bring home. I like to keep them in iso for a couple weeks at the least to be sure they aren’t going to bring any mites or anything bad to the tank, and to give them some quiet downtime too! I have started them at whatever temp they cane from and bumped it up over the course of iso, fed them lots of good healing foods, and so far it has worked well for me, even with a large purchased crab. (My Barry)
I have also just stuck them in the tank, but to me that couple weeks gives you a chance to see if they’re just going to give up the ghost, in a way and place you will know about. If it’s going to happen it usually doesn’t take long, but that isn’t a rule either of course!
In the end, we do the best we can for these guys, and we are all still learning more every day. Best wishes to your little crabbies- I hope they pull thru for you!!


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My local pet smart has decent conditions. They have several tanks with different animals (one is hermit crabs) and their analog gauges all read the same 82°F 80% humidity. The sub is shallow but moist and food/water dishes are shallow as well. How would you iso them if at all before adding to main?

[Motörcrab]

I did read up on Strawberries.....my heat and humidity are both set higher for him/her. They get fresh fruit and veggies everyday, my husband and I both eat fresh veggies and fruit daily so not real hard to throw them some. Plus I have 3 food dishes in the crabitat. One for fresh fruits and veggies, one for thier shrimp and or meats and one for the nuts and wheat germ. I also have cuttle bone and we put a fresh egg shell in their every morning. My strawberry seems to be doing good. However, I have heard they will be fine one min and dead the next. So I do stay stressed about her. I was very reluctant to buy her but I figured she would have a fighting chance with me, she was doomed other wise. She trashes my tank every night though. But since my eccie has come up from his molt he does too. And he wont change shells. All my PP have changed but 1 and its molting right now too. I have read the ecuadorian crabs need thier on kind in there with them and I only have one right now And one strawberry. Should I have at least 2 of each kind? Just curious....I dont want to overcrowd ...I have 6 in a 40 gallon terrarium. It's pretty big, but is it big enough to hold 8 med sized crabs that seem to be growing pretty fast?

I still stress about my strawberries and I have had them for about a year and a half. They tend to have more issues with molting compared to other species. Talking with several people that got rescue berries lost them during their first molts. Possibly from poor diet before receiving them. Mine have been driving me crazy for the last month or so. They all decided to molt around the same time starting in mid December. Three have came up within the last few weeks. Two are still MIA that I'm aware of. Yea, they do tend to redecorate the tank overnight! When mine aren't molting they are usually active day and night. After this last molts they only come out at night. My tank has been at 81% and around 84 degrees. I'm not exactly sure what's up with them. Just being little crabs I suppose.

It is hard to actually say if they technically need a species buddy. I'm not sure If I would add anymore crabs with having a 40 gallon. With exotics like straws and E's it it recommend to give them 10 gallons of space per crab. E's can be little cannibals and go after molter's if they aren't buried deep enough. 8-10 inches of substrate is usually recommend for exotics.
In my 75 I have 5 large strawberries and two large purple pinchers. They have approximately 8-9" of substrate and my pools are above ground to give them as much molting space as possible.

Purples seem to do better than other species with less space. 5 gallons per crab is what the HCA recommends for them. Trying not to confuse you even more. Size of the crabs changes the CPG (crabs per gallon) too.

This guide should help you determine how many crabs you can safely keep in your 40.
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=92541

[RachelStark27]

Well now all my crabs are up except one.....and this is his second time molting with me. He is also my smallest. Strawberry came up so I was relieved and then the one I bought and he buried that night. He has molted though, his hairy legs and tips are very sharp gives it away. I was concerned since he was in such poor shape when he went down.

[Crabby7Crabber]

Well now all my crabs are up except one.....and this is his second time molting with me. He is also my smallest. Strawberry came up so I was relieved and then the one I bought and he buried that night. He has molted though, his hairy legs and tips are very sharp gives it away. I was concerned since he was in such poor shape when he went down.

It is awesome that you were able to rescue them and now they are in good care. I bet they're really happy now. Awesome job