By Emily C on Saturday, November 1, 2014 at 4:58pm
Survey For Posting:
We often have people coming to us with emergencies. To better be able to help you or answer your questions, it would be very helpful if you could fill out this form in a new thread. This is best to do when you either have a sudden issue, a death you'd like explained, a naked crab, or just to go over conditions to rule out any problems. Posting a photo of your crabitat is also recommended in order for us to help you solve the mystery. Please do not think we are trying to hand out blame or waste your time. This survey is important, and this is the best way for us to help you.
1. What type of enclosure is your crabitat, and how large is it? Can you describe your lid?
2. What all does your substrate consist of, and how many inches tall is it? Is your substrate moist? If so, with what kind of water?
3. What type, if any, of hygrometer are you using to monitor your humidity and heat? What do you average? Where is it located in the tank?
4. Do you have any heat sources? If so, what kind?
5. Do you use moss? If so, what kind?
6. What type of waters do you have available, and are they treated with a water conditioner? What is your water source? Are your crabs able to fully submerge, shell and all? Please list all brands associated with your pools/water treatment.
7. How many crabs do you have, and what sizes are they?
8. If you do not have a photo of your crabitat, can you please explain what it looks like? Do you have hiding spots, climbing opportunities and other decor? What kind of decor?
9. What type of diet do you feed, and do you follow any safe or unsafe lists? Which sources are you using and where are you getting your foods?
10. What type of interaction do you do with your crabs? For example, do you ever take them out of their enclosure? If so, what for?
11. How new are your crabs and how did you obtain them? Have you ever lost any? If so, can you explain what the issue was, if known?
12. Do you have multiple extra shells available for your crabs to change into? If so, what types are they and are they the correct sizes?
13. Have there been any sort of fumes or chemicals near the crabs?
14. What does your tank maintenance include, and how often do you do it?
15. Is there any other information you feel would be helpful for us to know? Either way, please describe in clear detail what your issue(s) is.
Common Emergency Issues:
1) My crab is naked:
If your crab was the victim of a shell jacking, it should take a new one fairly quickly. If your crab dropped his shell on his own, he may need more assistance. A crab cannot survive without his shell and a healthy crab would never drop his shell for any reason other than if he got stuck, another crab tried/was successful in forcing him out, or something within his shell hurt him. Dropping shells on his own otherwise is usually a sign of severe stress, and possibly a crab with a "suicide mission" (for lack of better word, don't take this literally). Crabs also keep their shell on when they molt, so molting is not an excuse to drop his shell. If your crab is naked, please grab a mug, bowl, or tupperware (does not have to be large) and fill it with about a half an inch of dechlorinated fresh water. This is to keep his abdomen moist, as he could dry up. Place your naked crab into the mug with 2 or 3 of appropriately sized shells, including what he came out of, if possible. Then, place your mug in either your ISO tank or your main tank, and cover it with a cloth for darkness. Leave your crab alone for at least 45 minutes. When the time is up, check to see if your crab is in a shell. If he is, it is safe to take him out of the mug and keep him isolated, or place him back with the general population if you do not have an ISO tank (you can also rig up an isolation tank within your main tank, if your main tank is large enough - more on this below). If he drops his shell again, you will need to repeat the process. If he never went into a shell after 45 minutes, then you will have to manually re-shell him. A naked crab will more than likely not try to pinch you. Take your thumb and index finger, and hold him by his side where his soft abdomen meets his tougher exoskeleton. Place his tail inside of the shell (preferably a round opening/turbo shell) as deep as he will let you, without applying any rough force. He may or may not unravel his tail to assist you in this. After he is in his shell as well as you can manage, place him down onto the substrate (preferably isolated from any other crab) and leave him alone. You will have to check on him occasionally, but since what he went through is very stressful, it's important that he have privacy and darkness to calm down and de-stress.
2) My crab dropped a limb(s):
3) My tank is flooded:
4) My crabs are fighting:
To see why your crabs are fighting, please read the following to see which one sounds like your issue.
It may be shell envy.
It may be pecking order.
It may be a diet issue.
It may be stress.
*This question is under construction.
5) My crab isn't moving:
There are several reasons a crab may be immobile.
The very first reason is that they are new to the tank. While every crab is different, they are all more than likely super stressed out. Crabs go through A LOT to end up in their homes with us. A LOT. Some never get past the trauma and pass away from it (We call that PPS, or Post Purchase Syndrome/Post Purchase Stress), some just need time to destress, some have been putting off molts so they are lethargic, and some are just very shy. How people choose to handle new and/or sick/molt-ready crabs, depends on the person. Some people choose to ISO new crabs regardless of health, others like to introduce them directly into their new home upon arrival. Whatever you choose to do, it's extremely important that you stay hands off COMPLETELY for at least the first month. The only interaction they should really get out of you, is when you change food and water, or if they are active enough to socialize with you through the glass. Picking them up or poking at them will only stress them out further and can indirectly cause their death, even if you're just checking to see if they are dead.
Your crab might just be shy. This happens. What you see as cause to worry, he really may just be chilling. He may not move spots for months and you may not really see activity from him until a year or longer. Sorry! Crabs have individual personalities just like we do, and shy babies do happen. Part of having crabs is accepting who they are.
Your crabitat may not be up to par. If your substrate is wrong, your humidity is low, your heat is low, your enclosure is too small, you are overcrowded, you don't have enough shells, you aren't feeding the right foods, you don't have the correct pools, or you don't have enough for them to do.. Then they're unhappy and suffering and you need to take steps to remedy this as quickly as you can before you lose them. It may not be too late. Why you have the wrong setup could be because you won yours at a fair, you followed bad pet store advice, you're really short on time, or you're waiting on the funds to do it. None of these are your fault, and it's not too late to make it right. If the cost is what's holding you back, then focus on the most important things, such as humidity, heat and substrate. We have many files in the files section available to you, as well as photo galleries.
Your crab may be getting ready to molt. Some signs of a molt ready crab is lethargy, heavy eating, cloudy eyes, broken limbs, hanging out by their pools, changing shells repeatedly, digging, and general inactivity. If your crab needs to molt, he may be weak which explains his immobility, just give him time and provide what he needs as usual (food, water, heat, humidity), and wait for him to dig down and hope he doesn't try to molt on the surface.
Your crab might be dying. It's possible he's too far stressed. He'll either try to destress by being inactive or digging down, or he may just die. Dropping multiple limbs is a sign of severe stress and most don't survive it, especially if they are messed with, although there's always a chance. If your crab is hanging out of his shell, emits a really dead, rotten fish smell, starts to rot - your crab has passed away. I suggest leaving him alone as much as possible, even if you think he's dead, unless you smell it. Not all crabs have that death smell. Dying crabs don't have to be separated from other crabs. It is also important to note that crabs have a bad smell when they are surface molting, as well, so it's a good idea to err on the side of caution and still leave him be. The surface molt smell has more of medicinal odor to it. Either way, it's recommended to give them at least 72 hours before picking them up and confirming death.
You may need to ask yourself these additional questions:
6) My crab is surface molting:
Isolation
Isolation tanks can be very advantageous for crab care. You never know when you are going to have a tank emergency, a sick crab, a shell drop, a fight, a limb drop, or something else. Your isolation tanks can be set up very basic. All you need is a smaller sized aquarium (even a 10 gallon will suffice, or larger if you want it to be), that has a secure lid, a light source for his day and night cycle, a heat source such as a UTH or heat lamp, a freshwater and salt water pool deep enough for a crab to submerge in fully, a food dish, deep substrate of at least half the tank, a digital gauge and something to hide under and climb on. As you can see, it's set up almost exactly like your main tank, except on a smaller level and with less additional climbing. It can be very bare.
If you choose not to keep an isolation tank, then you will need to rig up another way. Some of these ways can include:
1) Using a Kritter Keeper filled with sand fairly high with a small dish for both pools (depending on what kind of emergency it is), and setting it inside your regular tank with the lid on.
2) Cutting a 2 liter bottle on the bottom and placing it around the crab and a few inches into the substrate, with the lid taken off.
3) Tupperware rigged up similarly to the bottle OR Kritter Keeper.
4) Placing soap caddies in the tank in a way that no other crab can get to it.
6) Are big crabs bullies?:
We get a lot of inquiries about size, so here are a few things to know.
A. Regardless of their intimidation factors, bigger crabs should not be classified as automatic bullies. Big crabs are simply small crabs that have had enough molts to become large. They do all the same things smaller crabs do, they just look more fierce doing them. Many experienced crab keepers will tell you that large crabs tend to be more docile and less shy, while small crabs are the feisty ones. Each personality is unique, however, so that plays a part. Do not be afraid to mix crabs of all different sizes together.
B. Shell envy is more likely to happen with two crabs of the same size, but they can happen with small crabs with big dreams, or big crabs craving a new tighter fit. They are curious and used to lining up for shells where they come from, and that changes a bit in captivity. The best ways to deal with shell envy is to buy shells of similar types that is being envied over, and boil the current shells you have and dip the shells into salt water right before offering them. If a shell fight is happening and you can supervise, separate the envious crab by moving him to the furthest corner away from the victim. You may have to do this multiple times. A common sign is stalking and shaking the shell, watch for open claws.
C. Bigger crabs need more space and deeper substrate than smaller crabs, so be mindful when you are adding new crabs to your crabitat. Small crabs can do well with 5 gallons per crab until they grow to medium/large and need 8 gallons per crab. As jumbos, they need 10-15 gallons per crab. If you don't know if you can upgrade in the future, it's better to act as if all of your crabs are jumbos so you know they will have space in the future. Crabs are a very long commitment.
D. Age does have something to do with size, but size is more about successful molts. The more a crab molts, the larger he will be. There is no other way to tell age besides knowing how long they have been in captivity.
Written by: Emily C, Susan S