Repeat Streaker

ashdawn14 · Post by **ashdawn14** » Thu Apr 04, 2013 1:45 pm

1. I have been crabbing for almost 2 years. I got Althea about 7 months ago.2. 60g tank with glass lid3. I have 2 zoomed 24w heat mats that I use in the winter, mounted on back and size to make a V in one corner. They are currently on. I also have an Exo Terro 30W tropical UVA/UVB lamp that is on during the day year round, mounted on top of the tank.4. My sub is 70/30 EE/sand. It stays at "sandcastle" consistency beneath the surface and the very very top is usually just a little drier than sand castle.5. I use API dechlorinator and IO for salt water. 6. They eat a wide variety including Beechnut baby foods (veggies and fruits), shrimp, fish, nuts, chicken, fresh fruits and veggies, peanut butter, eggs, and foods from HCA. They also have moss, cholla, a calcium mix of cuttle bone egg shells and calci sand, and worm Castings available at all times in the tank.7. I only bathe new crabs prior to iso or when I have the occasional post molt bullying. I mist the tank a few times a week, but try to avoid directly misting the crabs, and only handle rarely and when necessary.8. Current temp/humidity is 80/83. Temp ranges from77 to 82 and humidity from 78 to 83. Althea was interrupted at the end of her last molt a few weeks ago. I isoed her and she immediately buried back down, but came up pale and shell less later that week. I gave her some more shell options and she immediately reshelled. Aside from that, she was acting totally normal, so after several days, I put her back in the main tank. She swapped shells a few more times then seemed to settle on one, which she has been in for about a week. Other than the shell swapping, she has been her normal self. She is an E, so she is out and about during the day a lot, but she has never interacted much with the other crabs or been quite as crazy as my other E is. Tonight, my husband found her streaking again. I was out of pocket at the time, so wonderful man that he is, he sat dutifully by the tank to keep watch and make sure none of the other crabs bothered her for a little over an hour until I got home. He said she was moving, though slowly, and she crawled in the fresh water dish for a couple of minutes, went over to eat, etc.When I got home, we washed out her old shell, as well as 7 others in her size range and soaked them in salt water, then isoed her in a smaller plastic bowl within the tank. We put some substrate in and all the shells, then carefully placed her inside by scooping up the sub under her with a plastic spoon.It has been nearly an hour and she's just sitting with no apparent interest in reselling. She seems very lethargic, but has no visible injuries.The tank is dark and quiet. She is safe from the other crabs, though they showed now interest her up to this point, and she has a variety of shells. Is there anything else I should be doing? Should I place some "power foods" and honey in with her or wait for her to reshell first? When I felt around the shell she was in, ther is a sort of rough patch inside it, so I thought that might be the problem. But she is showing no signs of even attempting to reshell.

Theodora · Post by **Theodora** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 8:04 am

That is weird.... do you think maybe it was stress or an attack? Is she still like this? maybe her molting cave collapsed. does she have something stuck in her shell?

miatiny · Post by **miatiny** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 12:05 pm

Has your E reshelled yet??? I hope it has and is doing better. If not other than giving it power food and honey as you said I do not see what else you can do which is always stressful

Crabby Wendy · Post by **Crabby Wendy** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 1:52 pm

I've only been keeping crabs for about three months. Right after I got them,I lost one crab -I assumed that he was sick as a result of poor conditions in the tank at the pet store. About two days ago,I found one of my sweeties running around without his shell! He tried on a couple of shells and stayed put in one overnight last night. Unfortunately, I came home today to find him harmless again. I got some new shells and put them in the tank thinking that perhaps he wasn't happy with the selection. While my other crabs were thrilled with the new shells and showed immediate interest, my naked Francis not. He is extremely lethargic, although he is drinking water. I am reluctant to take him out of the tank for fear of stressing him even more. I don't know what to do for him! I did just change the substrate for the third time since I set up the tank - they didn't seem to like the cypress substrate substrate I had put in the tank, so I changed back to the calcium sand. I'm wondering if I stressed him badly. Can anyone help please?

Geranium · Post by **Geranium** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:18 pm

First welcome to the forum. I'm sorry you're having this difficulty. Can you move everyone else to another tank? Right now your streaker is not protected by his shell and therefore quite vulnerable. As you read though the Zoea section of this site, you'll learn many things that will improve your conditions and improve your crabs chances of survival. Most of us started with poor conditions due to bad information in books, and most egregiously at the petstore. Cypress bedding is inappropriate substrate as is calcium sand. The best substrates are playsand and EcoEarth (coconut fiber). The calcium sand, which is sold for hermit crab use, there's even a hermit crab on the package, I used tons of it before I knew better, unfortunately it isn't safe for them. If you had some mixed with EE, it would probably be fine. So, here's my best advice on how to take care of Francis right now, take everyone else out and put them in a tank with either playsand or EE or a mixture of the two (my preference) that has been hydrated with salt water that is aquarium salt and water that has been declorinated, to sandcastle consistency so they can dig and make tunnels and molting pockets at a depth of twice the height of your largest crab or more. Give them places to climb and to hide, fresh declorinated water and salt water dishes, food dish (see the food lists at the top of the Zoea section), shells and keep the humidity and temperature in ideal ranges (both 75-85). Now, for Francis, alone in the current tank, insure the temperature and humidity are good, preferably on the higher side of good since he's without a shell. Give him some good foods, unprocessed peanutbutter, organic honey, mushed banana, some shrimp. All of these may help. Leave him access to waters and these foods, and leave him appropriately sized shells but don't try to put him in one. Cover the tank, at least the half he's in and let him rest and hope for the best. If after a couple days of this he improves, I would take out half of the calcisand leaving the half he is sitting on undisturbed and put in the mix of EE and play sand on the other half so if he can walk over he can burrow and destress and molt.You also may want to repost this as its own topic/question so it will get more people's attention.Good Luck,Peg

Crabby Wendy · Post by **Crabby Wendy** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:37 pm

Hi, Peg!Thank you so much for replying to my request for help; I appreciate all the time you took to give me such a thorough answer. It was wonderful information.At this point, Francis is still naked. To tell you the truth, he's acting fine right now, other than he is unclothed. He's eating, drinking, strolling around the tank, digging a little here and there - all normal except no shell. Today he tried on 2 or 3 shells, but didnt stay in them for longer than 20 mins before moving on.I'm at a loss as to what's going on. The other day, I was certain my little guy was on the verge of dying! Now he's seemingly all normal, but naked. Just don't know what to do here.

Crabby Wendy · Post by **Crabby Wendy** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 1:47 pm

Oh, and by the way, I took your advice about the substrate. I had a standard 20 gallon tank for my 7 crabs, but with the water dishes and food bowl and hiding huts and climbing features, it seemed very crowded. I got a 20 gallon long tank and now there's tons of room. I got the playsand you recommended - my sweeties all seem quite happy with it! I used the salt water in the playsand and mixed it up according to your suggestions. I actually think I could have made it a wee bit wetter. Thanks for the advice - maybe now I have a more appropriate environment for my guys.

Geranium · Post by **Geranium** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 2:11 pm

Wow, I'm at a loss too. Sounds like you've made great improvements! What kind of crab is he? Maybe keep trying different shells. Does he have any injury that you can see on his abdomen? We've all been new to this and benefitted from others advice and experience.Maybe answer this questionnaire http://landhermitcrabs.com/eve...565100 ... 6210125Peg

Crabby Wendy · Post by **Crabby Wendy** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 2:42 pm

Thank you, Peg - I'll check the questionnare out. Hey, since I have you here, I just posted a question about water - if u dont mind, I wonder if you can give me a quick answer to this question - I know this is not the right place for a question of this nature, and I did post it in the approriate spot, but I kinda need an answer fast:Ive been using distilled water in my tank for fresh water and also for my salt water mix. I assumed that this water was okay as I didn't think it had any chlorene or anything in it. However, I have not seen a single post that says anyone is using distilled water! Is it safe?? Should I be using something else? Do I need to use a water conditioner as well when using distilled water?

Geranium · Post by **Geranium** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 3:16 pm

As I understand it, distilled water is just water with all the heavy metals and impurities left behind in the pot after the steam is collected. There is some concern that it is missing some of the good components and would cause problems but I don't remember the specifics nor if it was just a concern rather than something to avoid using. If I remember correctly it is fine to use. Many people just use tap water and a good aquarium declorinator that does not have slime coat or aloe but does break the heavy metal bonds.Peg

dylan644 · Post by **dylan644** » Sun Jun 30, 2013 4:47 pm

Is he still acting normal? I have heard of a few rare cases similar to yours. The crabs stayed shelless for about a year before reshelling! And these incidents where with notorious little E's! What was the shell type that he was in previously? Have you offered shells similar to that?For your question about distilled water. Yes it is safe and okay to use. I personally rather use water from my tap because distilled water doesn't have minerals in it. Crabs, as people need zinc, copper, iron, etc. And with a good dechlorinator, it is so much cheaper to use tap in the long run.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:56 am

@Crabby Wendy, we need you to start your own thread so that we can finish helping ashdawn14 as this is her thread and having two different discussions going on makes it very hard to help all in need.As for your water question if you mean distilling by letting the water sit out for twenty four hours then No the water is still toxic as the chloramine and heavy metals get left behind in the water due to the fact that they don't off gas or evaporate.If your using distiled water from the market then yes that is safe to use as it has been filtered and cleansed before being bottled.Thanks the staff.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:03 am

@ashdawn, your crab seems to be exhibiting symptoms of being over heated as an overheated crab will dump their shell in an effort to cool down and ease their burden.E's are notorious for dumping their shell when resurfacing from a molt as they tend to be very weak and can't carry the shell back up with them not to mention the fact that the shell fills with sub as the crab tunnels it's way back up causing the shell to weigh even more.This is not typical behavior in the sense that most e's who dump their shell mid re-surface will quickly take on another shell after breaching the top layer of sub so for her not to have done so means she's still feeling week and needs to be iso'd to allow her to regain her strength.I highly recommend using some raw or organic honey in a bottle cap as this will quickly re-build her energy and strength.