kismewil new owner problems

Questions about unexpected problems.
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kismewil
Zygote
Zygote
Posts: 13
Joined: 30 Jan 2009, 07:27
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 4
Total gallons: 15
Total tanks: 1
Location: Washington State

kismewil new owner problems

Post by kismewil »

My daughter and I are new Crab owners. We got them for her Birthday 2 weeks ago. (3 of them in a 10 gallon tank)
I thought I did enough research and decided on using the Coco fiber. We set up our tank and made sure the humidity and temp were going to work...then 2 days later we bought the crabs from Petco. Things seem to be going well, 2 were in natural shells and 1 in a painted shell. The guy in the painted shell was the one with a big personality, while the other 2 dug down and hid. BUT the 2 in the natural shell BOTH have changed shells. Now the painted shell with personality has dug down.

The temp has gone down to 68, with the heater taped to the bottom of the tank. The humidity is at 93 with moisture dripping down the sides of the tank. Things seem to be molding FAST. I've taken everything out of the tank but the 2 water dishes (fresh and salt) and food. Boiling and baking the grapevine, coco-hut and drift wood pieces.

I am pretty sure that the smell of the tank (subtrate??) is not only mold. (not a strong smell of mold, but I can smell it) I'm not sure if it's also the smell of "death" or a moulting crab. It's not a strong smell, but it's a smell.

I am planing on buying sand tomorrow and changing the whole tank. I'd rather spray salt water on sand 3 times a day than have too much humidity and mold. Is this a better way to go?

Also, I will have to dig up the crabs (and give them a salt bath???) Will this be OK to do? Or should I scoop them up and try to keep them in thier coco fiber while I make the changes? I'm worried about thier health. I'm also worried if somebody is moulting. But most of all I want to change the coco fiber out of there because I think its causing mold.

After all the research I did, I expected them to dig down for a while when we first got them, but they seemed happy and came out every night. Now they don't come out and no food or water is dirty. I'm concerned about the mold issue.

If anyone can help us I would love it. I have wonderfull pictures of 2 of these little guys that I want to share. But first of all I want them to live.

~kisha
kismewil
Zygote
Zygote
Posts: 13
Joined: 30 Jan 2009, 07:27
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 4
Total gallons: 15
Total tanks: 1
Location: Washington State

Re: kismewil new owner problems

Post by kismewil »

Maybe I jumped to conclusions.....after I took everything out and mixed the substrate around (without bothering the crabs) it doesnt smell like mold anymore. Maybe I made it it wet to begin with, but the heater is drying it out. However, the wood, coco hut and grapevine needed to be boiled and baked.
From all of your pictures of your "crabitat's" I've never seen the walls WET like mine are. I wipe them off 5 times a day, but they ALWAYS steam back up and you cant see inside.

I hope Im not offending anyone by the way I have done things. I'm new and still learning. This is a great hobby that I would love to continue until I'm an old lady :o)
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Chermo
Megalopa
Megalopa
Posts: 720
Joined: 16 Jul 2008, 13:51
Hermit crabs: 6
Total gallons: 20
Total tanks: 1
Location: Johnsburg, IL

Re: kismewil new owner problems

Post by Chermo »

Well first of all your humidity is too high, you need to let some air in so open the lid a bit till it goes down. Wait before I get to that did you calibrate your hygrometer? That is a must. What kind of lid do you have? Second off the water on the sides of the tank is condensation which just means that your air in your house is colder than the air in your tank so seeing condensation is not a bad thing. Mine does that sometimes and I just wipe it off or open the lid a bit and it goes away. A lot of natural items in the tank like wood and stuff will mold that is because the moisture in the tank and with it sitting on the sand and up against the walls. I have opted to not use any natural items in my tank becasue of this. I do buy stuff that looks like sticks but is plastic for fish tanks. I would recommend getting over head heating as those UTH's don't seem to raise air temp very good maybe like 1 degree or something like that. They do heat the substrate which is good but you need to make sure that your crabs don't dig down to them and lay on them as they could burn a crab. It is recommended to go to your local dollar store and get a small basket with holes that will cover your heater and put it upside down and put the substrate over it so that way it will generate heat to heat up the substrate a little bit but not burn a crab if they dig down on top of it. It sound like you really did your research before getting your crabs unlike most of us before we got our crabs. I have read a lot about crabbers bringing them home in critter keepers (me included) with gravel and no heat or humidity and only fresh declorinated water and store bought food. You will get the hang of it, it takes time to even get everything the way you want it.
Proud mommy of 2 beautiful daughters Kytana and Danica, 1 cat Princess and 1 dog Liebschen

Due to family issues my crabs have been adopted out to wizkidsmom (Cheryl), I know she will care for them like I did. Thanks Cheryl

RIP Orangy June 2009
CrabbyJo
Coenobita
Coenobita
Posts: 1849
Joined: 21 Jan 2009, 13:31
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 7
Total gallons: 85
Total tanks: 4
Location: Alaska

Re: kismewil new owner problems

Post by CrabbyJo »

Hi Kismewil,
I agree with Chermo, for that humidity issue you need to prop open the lid and let some air in.
There is an easy way to calibrate your hygrometer, and I highly recommend you do so.
Just put a couple tablespoons of salt into a small dish (shot glass works, or very small bowl) and wet it with a teaspoon of water, just enough to wet it, you don't want it runny or dissolving. Then put the hygrometer and the bowl of salt into an airtight container together and leave it for 6 hours. After 6 hrs it should read 75%. If not, some hygrometers are adjustable (if it is a dial, there may be a little screw thing on the back to adjust it) some are not, like my digital. I discovered mine was 13% low so I have to mentally add 13% when I check my humidity, as there's no way to adjust mine. No biggie, it's just really nice to know that I can accurately monitor my humidity.

You do sound like you're doing great with trying to figure out what to do for your little guys, welcome to your new crab obsession. :P
Don't worry about offending anyone, we are all learning as we go, like Chermo said, you are already doing it right! I was lucky that my daughter went to a pet store that insisted she get all the things the crabs need instead of the crappy setup most send home. She gave us the crab and tank and all for Christmas. I've been feverishly trying to do the best I can for my crabs, but I too keep finding out I've made mistakes, and I'm constantly learning. It's exciting, fun, and educational! hehe.

Please feel free to keep asking questions, there are many here who are very knowledgeable and willing to help. I'm very grateful to them myself.
6 hermit crabs - 3 PPs and 3 Equadorians
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please feel free to share information from this website, but please be sure to give credit and a link back to the information. Failure to give credit is plagiarism. Don't take credit for someone else's information.
kismewil
Zygote
Zygote
Posts: 13
Joined: 30 Jan 2009, 07:27
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 4
Total gallons: 15
Total tanks: 1
Location: Washington State

Re: kismewil new owner problems

Post by kismewil »

Thanks you guys who responded to me. (busy weekend, first time my daughter had a sleep over for her birthday...she's 8. First time for me with girls, my son is 14. We had 6 girls and only 5 of them had melt downs) hahaha

So I decided to take most of the substrate out and bake it, so I could add the moisture as needed. I DID try to calibrate and found that it was 3 degrees too low. So that means if I add 3, the humidity would be about 91%.

I have moved a lamp (the flexable kind) to the crabitat. It seems to help with raising the heat and I can keep the lid open to let out some of the moisture.

The question that I really want answered is what is easier or better.....coco fiber or sand? It seems (from research) that most sand is bad. I live in Washington State in a very sandy area and close to the canal. The soil that I grow my veggie and flower garden in is mostly sand, so I have to add lots of compost (cow, chicken menuer "spell check") and everything else to get things to grow. But on the other hand, at the beach (salt water) I have access to "rough" sand. Or I can go to a lake and get "fine" sand. As long as I bake these sands can I use them?

We got 2 new crabs on Thursday and these guys seem to be so much bigger than the others. Not only that, one of them pinched the lady at the pet store and held on for a long time!!! I still decided to go with him because it showed me that he was active. Both of them have been out and about even with 6 girls looking in the tank. I'm afraid to hold these guys :o) But they seem happy. The other 3 have always been dug under and hardly ever come out. They ALL do change shells often and I finally got to see it for myself!!! My daughter and I "thought" it might happen, but she had to go to the bathroom and asked me to yell for her.....it only took 1/2 a second, I yelled for her, she came running with her pants around her ankles, but missed the whole thing. I was sad for her. But it was interesting for me. I was suprised at how fast it happens. It's hard to tell "who is who" anymore. The one painted shell guy that we call "pinky" is in a shell that they made look like an elephant. They glued a long nose and big ears on him and he is the only guy that has NOT changed his shell. I think think this guy is named "shy" ......but he almost looks like a mouse in this picture. Very cute.
IMG_5706-2.JPG
I love this picture and am trying to see if I posted it the right way.
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