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Hi gang!
Stacy, thanks for pointing me here first off…
and now I have a TON of questions and need help 🙁
I’m in Central NJ – we got smacked with Hurricane Sandy this past week. The crabitat got a little chilly and the gang has disappeared. Power went on on Monday evening and came back Wednesday morning
We put those warming pads in the tank to at least give them some warmth (those ones you use for injuries and muscle strains??? They get warm and stay that way for about 8 hours at a shot) I haven’t seen hide nor pincher from anybody since Monday last week and I’m a bit worried – they didn’t even come up for table scraps and corn on the cob which usually brings them running.
How long should I wait till I panic and try to find them in the substraight???
Also – one of my bigger crabs was found laying on top of the substraight without his shell Monday before the power went out. I had to leave for work when I discovered him (he wasn’t moving or anything…just laying there all naked and sorry looking 🙁 ) When I was able to check the tank again Tuesday when I was home, he was gone – and I could see an itty bitty bit of foot sticking out from under the substraight in the corner. Do you think he buried himself or did someone else drag him down cause he was gone and they’re noshing on him now???
He’s one of the bigger crabs in the tank – I’ve had him for 5 years now and he’s about the size of a pool ball outside of his shell….Elmo my old man would be the only crab big enough to drag him anywhere I think.
These guys are all PPs. There are 4 of them in there – 2 jumbos and 2 mediums.
Any advice would be awesome. I’m afraid this last bit of trouble may have done my gang in and that would really upset me a lot – 3 of them are Petco refugees and the smallest is from one of my kid’s friends…poor thing was living in a tupperware bowl!
Thanks for listening!
Lauri
I’m so sorry you were in Sandy’s path. I hope your family & home made it through the storm without too much trouble. : (
As for your hermies, leave them buried!! They are doing what hermies naturally do to stay as comfortable & healthy when their normal, comfy conditions go awry. They bury to de-stress & stay as warm & moist as possible. To dig them up would only stress them out more. Don’t worry–they will come topside when they are ready.
I experienced this a year ago when I had to move my hermies from my workplace to my home (a change in office pet policies). My eccies emerged in about a week. The PPs, which are jumbos, stayed buried a little over a month. 3 of the 4 successfully recovered, but my dear guy Hot Dog unfortunately couldn’t recooperate. :’ (
I’d make sure the crabitat stays perfectly warm & humid, and that fresh food & water are available for them as soon as they decide to emerge.
As for the poor naked guy… it’s hard to say. I’m not sure he could safely bury himself without a shell, but that’s just a guess. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for him.
Take care,
Jeni
family is OK, house needs a new roof but all in all we’re OK here thank you!
Someone came up at some point cause the fish I put in last night is gone *I shared a bit of my tilapia…*
I think I just heard that tell-tale clunk of shell on glass though which makes me REALLY happy. I’m going to pick up an additional UTH tomorrow as it still seems to be a bit cool in there. I’m going back to the self warming pads for tonight though – those stay warm for 6-8 hours and I can change them out again in the mornign
thank you! They got some pork tonight…lil nibble of bone to chow on, one of their favorites usually…
time and patience…something I don’t have! LOL
Lauri
Time to build a crabloo, get industrial strength velcro or duct tape and some 1/2 inch styrofoam and cover three sides of the enclosure. If you dont have a light on top you can even lay a piece on top. I actually keep my crabloo on all year, it just reduces fluctuations in temperatures.
Interesting idea on the crabloo…
I shall snag Styrofoam from work this week. Wonder how fast the cats will have that ripped apart??
Still want to invest in another UTH though too
thanks for the idea
Got some advice too!! Since power is out , get cardboard, Saran wrap, etc . And cover up the tat with it. Also get anything like chemical activated heat pads and hand warmers and put it in places where it’s needed !
Glad the storm is gone and everything is back to normal.. But think of my advice for a future referenceWe did the warmer thing – I’m hoping it helps. We heard a bit of tank side clinking, tell tale “we’re moving around in here” sounds!
thank dog!
Somebody has been up and about – the food nibblings keep disappearing. I just wish I knew who!
The naked crab is still buried – and the tank isn’t gross smelling…so no clue about him yet. At that size I’d think he’d start smelling pretty quickly?
So we wait…and wait..and wait…
Update!
Elmo Crab has been spotted – he is above ground and wandering the tank! YAY!!! The naked crab hasn’t moved at all and there’s still a leg sticking out of the substraight, but the tank doesn’t smell so no clue on that one.
Little guys are still hidden.
I scored a good one on Sunday – went to Petsmart to get a heat lamp to help with the tank, figured maybe if we got it a bit warmer than normal in there the gang would appreciate it. (we keep it on the low side of normal cause the house is cool in the winter) I got a Zoo Med dome light for $11.17 cause whomever does the freight there put it in the wrong spot! It was normally $29.99 and the manager OK’d the price change after I showed her where it was and the associate confirmed that I had pointed out that they were more messed up before I got there than after! 🙂
So slowly but surely the shelled ones are returning to normal. This makes me VERY happy – I was really worried about Elmo especially
Lauri are the crabs okay! You seem to be really worried about the naked crab and my advice is (if he is still under)………………………………. Don’t worry! Quite a few times I got s00000000 worried, but every time, everything worked out okay. Fingers crossed for the crabs! 🙂
still no word from most of the gang =(
Only one of the crabs is up and active at this point so we’re kinda just keeping an eye on him
The naked crab is still down from what I can tell and he’s on the cold side of the tank which worries me more..
the tank doesn’t smell bad – I check daily! and there doesn’t seem to be anything funky going on in there so I’m still not sure what to do.
I’m getting close to needing to clean it again too which worries me even more!!!
Don’t worry, every thing will be okay. if you need to clean carefully take handfuls of sand and have an ISO ready. The first thing you should do is check on the naked one. Carefully pull the sand away and move him to ISO. I recommend only doing this if you absolutely NEED to. I am sure your crabs will be fine. keep calm. I am not an expert on hermit crabs but I know this……. your crabs will be okay as long as you try to keep calm. I hope this helps. Keep checking the tank for bad odors.
hiding! and making me crazy!!!
Like I said only 1 has come up from the substrate and I’m still waiting for the others to show their lil crabby faces =(
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