Wardley 3 in 1 water conditioner - making crab streak?!

Questions about unexpected problems.
nielleshee
Zygote
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Joined: 25 Feb 2010, 12:23
Gender: Female
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Re: Wardley 3 in 1 water conditioner - making crab streak?!

Post by nielleshee »

I'm not sure what the temperature of the substrate is...what do I use to measure that?

I didn't bathe him when he got back from the pet store, I just rinsed some of the sand from his shell.

I have a feeling that maybe he is streaking because of a lack of salt, I was using the crab soaking salt stuff, but read a few days ago that the salinity doesn't even register, I ordered some Oceanic mix.

I really don't understand him!!!! He doesn't display any of the streaking behavior I read in the other posts, he's actually freakishly active. Even when he retreats into the cocohut I hear him scratching around. He refuses to get into a shell!

I suspected that he might be molting, but I see none of the "telltale" signs. His eyes are clear, I'm note sure if leg tips are lighter though, he doesn't hang around the water dish all the time, and he's streaking! Which most crabs do not do when about to molt, right?

I have some eco earth coming in the mail too, if I do half eco and half of the bad substrate I have now, will that tide him over if he is trying to molt? I honestly don't have the money right now to order sand online b/c of shipping and I need to wait until March 5th to go home and find a petstore/aquarium store.

Has anyone heard of a crab that streaks for over a day and is still really active? This seems so unusual O_o
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emmac350
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Re: Wardley 3 in 1 water conditioner - making crab streak?!

Post by emmac350 »

My Toodles streaked on and off for about a week. Some days she'd just have the very tip of her abdomen touching a shell (it was really swollen and she had a rather large molt sac that seemed to cause her problems), some days she'd really try to get into a shell with no luck. Eventually she managed to get into a shell and rested for a few days (I thought she'd surface molted, but there was no exo) and then started digging to molt.

Have you been able to get a look at his abdomen? If so, does it look curled up tightly or is it kind of a loose curve? If it's not really curled up tightly, he could be doing whatever Toodles was. Her abdomen, instead of being shaped like an @ was more like a ). Does that make sense?
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nielleshee
Zygote
Zygote
Posts: 11
Joined: 25 Feb 2010, 12:23
Gender: Female
Hermit crabs: 1
Total gallons: 5
Total tanks: 1

Re: Wardley 3 in 1 water conditioner - making crab streak?!

Post by nielleshee »

Just wanted to update: my crab died T_T

I'm a little depressed. However, thinking back, when I purchased him from Petsmart I remember the tank being pretty dry. The humidity gauge was around 50%.

Do you think he had irreversible gill damage? I honestly did try to provide him with his needs! I don't want to feel guilty. Wahhhhhh!!!!!! I'm going to miss him :(

Thank you everyone who responded to my SOS, your advice was so good and your support was wonderful :)
CrabbyJo
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Re: Wardley 3 in 1 water conditioner - making crab streak?!

Post by CrabbyJo »

nielleshee,
I'm so sorry to hear about your crab. :(

It could have very well been damage he incurred before you purchased him. Sadly they are usually very poorly treated before they make it to the pet stores, let alone the conditions in the pet stores themselves.

You did the best you could, and gave him a good home to cross over from. It's always hard to lose the first one.
6 hermit crabs - 3 PPs and 3 Equadorians
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