Nar's Hermit Crab and Fiddler Crab Journal

New Fiddler Tank!

2006-05-23T09:03:00.000-07:00

The hermies who were destressing and molting, in my 10 gallon, FINALLY sufaced two weeks ago...so I changed the 10 gallon from and ISO tank to a fiddler crab tank!

Here is the tank:

I used a crushed coral substrate suggested for use in salt water aquariums for the base substrate in the water and for the bottom layer of substrate for the land portion.
Then I connected a 90 degree PVC pipe and a T joint PVC pipe and put this in the middle of the tank, to serve as a tunnel system. I didnt use silicon to seal the pipes because they were a tight fit.
Then I used small river rocks and pebbles to fill in around the PVC, to brace it so it doesnt get pushed out into the water area of the tank over time.
Next I used the sand from their 5 gallon (which has been lived in for almost a year..so its full of their beneficial bacteria) and made the beach and put a layer on top the coral in the water area. They need to have the sand so they can filter out the algae and bacteria as food.
I then draped plastic plants over the PVC and stuck the ends into the sand and rocks. There is also a piece of drift wood that serves as a bridge from the water to the beach.

I also used their favorite rock, which also has lots of algae, and their filter. I didnt clean the filter because it also have lots of important bacteria. Because their new tank water was new, it needed to have lots of things in it to introduce the tank bacteria; to cycle their tank.

They have the same heat lamp as before as well as their cocohut and fresh water dish.

A few molts, some new Es, my baby pp from Brazil, and a new game plan

2006-05-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months, its gotten really busy! I started/finished my 2 x-ray tech pre-reqs for this fall so I had a busy Spring Semester, but passed with flying colors. Now I have to organize the troops "stuff" so that this fall, when I really have no time, I can still take adequate care of my little gals.

So I will be making lots of kibbles out of whats in their cupboard to make it easier to decide what to feed them. Ill post my kibbles in my Wild Crab Food journal when I have them done =)

Ive had a few successful molts, no bad or terminal ones tho--thankfully! My E Snickers, who is blind, suface molted under some plants and had help from her girlfriends with eating exo. I dont think she got any, I found her in the cocohammocks above where she molted. I ISOed her for a couple days to get her back up and going...apparently she thought I was nuts b/c she had many attempts at escaping the ISO. Now shes back in the main tank and doing well. I will have to work on feeding more colorful foods as she lost quite a bit of coloration.

Ive had one of my baby straws, Mojito, molt and one of my ruggies, Skippy, molt. He also surface molted but I found him before he had completely shed his exo and put him in ISO. Hes also back in the main tank and doing great! Ive also had one of my biggest pps molt, her 3 molt with me! Sylvestra is about the size of the bottom of a soda can and it took her 2 1/2 months to molt. I have my other big guy, the same size as Sylvestra, down molting currently. This will also be his 3rd molt with me. =)

I was contacted a couple months ago about a little crabbie who was found in this gals bag of shells she had picked up off a beach in Brazil. So of course, I had to adopt him. He is about the size of a pea and is a purple pincer. I introduced him to the main tank (29gallon) two weeks ago, and has been doing great! I believe he has dug under for a molt.

...and I got 5 new Es! *yeay* Because all of Snickers companions have died, I needed to find her some buddies. I finally found some at PetPalace. Two are medium size, three are small. So far they are doing great, two of the small ones have already molted and the other small one has changed into a cancellaria shell. Hopefully they will continue to do good.

The fiddlers are doing great. They have both molted since I posted last. They are now pretty wild, I think they know its spring lol!

Method for ridding of mites:

2006-02-06T10:53:00.000-08:00

The crabbins of the 29 gallon tank are doing great. I think they have finally recovered from the mite incident last year in August. They are no longer dying one a week. There are some that have died, but for different reasons, as they were purchased after the mite incident. They also have began molting again. During the mite problem they were so stressed that for the first time in 3 years I had noone under the sand...noone was molting, and they were not active, rather they hid all the time. Now they seem to be going about their business once again!

During that mite problem I followed the outline proceedure as to how to get rid of mites in the tank and on the crabs..this entails deep cleaning the tank, washing and boiling everything, throwing out what cant be sterilized, and also bathing the crabs every couple days to rid them of mites. Sadly, after that experience I lost half of my crabs. I fully believe the stress of moving them and bathing them is what killed them. They arent not handled nor bathed at all, rathey they live an unbothered life in their tank. The stress from me handling them and making them takes bathes was definitely a cause of stress and thus a cause of death. I will never again treat mites the standard way.

There are two ways that Ihave successfully rid my tanks of mites. The first is to move all the crabs to a clean tank with all of their sterilized toys and hideys with new sand--if the crabs have mites on them use paper towels as a substrate--easy to clean once a day. Then you take the infected tank outside, spray it with a garden hose to wash out under the rim, where the mites breed and live. Then let the tank stand, empty, outside for at least 2 months. The mite life cycle lasts roughly a month, leaving the tank outside where there are better sources of nurtient and places to breed draws themout of the tank. The tank also has an opportunity to dry out. Mites are drawn to humid areas, with your tank outside, it is no longer as humid as theyd like it to be and will move to another area, off the tank. After the two-three months, you will need to again wash the tank. Let it dry and move it inside. Let it sit here for another couple weeks to make sure there are no remaining bugs in the tank. If there are no bugs in the tank, it is ready to be assembled and become the crabitat once again.

The second way is less stressful on both you and the crabs and seems to work well! I have bought Hypoaspis miles from http://www.shopgreenmethods.com to rid my tanks of white mites. Hypos are predatory mites and will completely rid the tank the tank of white mites in about 6 weeks. This is definitely the way to go if you can spare $60..you get 25,000 predatory mites that will keep your tank clean of mites for as long as the white mites remain in the tank!

However if there are lots of mites on the crab(s) bathing in a regular solution of sea salt water is probably your best option to initially rid them of as many mites as possible. After the bath, they should not be disturbed or bathed for at least another 4 days. This downtime will help them destress, as mites and bathing as well as moving them to a new "home" are very stressful on the crabs.

DECEMBER Hermit Crab Shopping List

2005-12-27T11:20:00.000-08:00

Might as well do Dec. while Im here lol! Idont think I will be shopping for anything else in the next couple days, and I still cant drive...so no go for me.

This month my 26 gallon tank at my parents house acquired some mites, nothing bad just some running around. Naturally I freaked out and ordered some "predatory mites" and as of Dec 25th I saw one bad mite running around and gave the last dose of carrier to the tank. So here in a few weeks the tank should be bad mite free!

ShopGreenMethods.com:
12,500 Hypoaspis milies (predatory mites)--$60.00 (but well worth it!!!)

PetCo:
Brick of forest bedding--$4.99
Bag of reptile moss--$6.99
29 gallon tank lid--$19.99

PetSmart:
2 tiny pps--$9.71
PetGrass--$4.99

Safeway:
3 gallons of water--$2.07

TOTAL=$108.74

NOVEMBER Hermit Crab Shopping List

2005-12-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

Since clearly forgot to post November back at the end of November here is the list...nothing too impressive. I really didnt get to do much shopping for them b/c I ended up having knee surgery halfway thru Nov. and have been unable to drive...so they have gotten lots of leftovers from Thanksgiving.

PetCo:
Silversides--$4.99
60 watt Day-Glo--$8.49
25 watt Night-Glo--$6.99
6 ceramic dishes ($1.99 ea)--$11.49
4pk cuttlebone--$4.49

Safeway:
Pomegranate--$1.50
1 gallon water--$.39

Target:
1 gallon water--$.99

TOTAL=$39.33

OCTOBER Hermit Crab Shopping List

2005-11-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

Well not too much spoiling of the crabbies this month...Ive been pretty busy with my costume and my upcoming knee surgery to think about shopping. Pretty sad. I did get some more crabbies tho! lol! ...November shouldnt cost to much either...the crabbies mooch thanksgiving dinner! mmMM Turkey, Sweet Potato, Yams! Its definitely their fav. time of year....especially with the turkey!

Safeway:
3 small pumpkins $1.80
Bag of gourds $6.50 (Im going to try and get one open and see if the crabbies like it)
4 gallons of water $1.60

PetSmart:
3 pp crabs $9.71
2 tubes of Aquarium Silicon $11.40

PetCo:
2 small strawberry crabs $6.98

OakLeaves from fellow crabber (Free)

Total:$37.99

Fiddler Crab Care Tips (Uca sp.)

2005-10-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a Fiddler Crab Care tip post for the Uca sp. since I know a lot of people who are getting them and are having troubles finding a lot of helpful information. So this is in no way a complete or official care sheet for the fiddler crabs, just what I have learned either on the internet or thru trial and error with my little guys. I hope this provides a bit of help!

Crabitat/Habitat: No smaller than a 2 gallon tank if housing 1 fiddler crab. No smaller than a 5 gallon tank if housing 2 fiddler crabs. The more crabs you have the larger amount of space you will need. I plan on having my two fiddlers in a 20 gallon tank, this will give me room to add 2 more if I wish. The tank needs to be 1/2 water and 1/2 land (sloped out of the water)--there needs to be a pool and a shore, they need to be able to get out of the water. If you do not want to create a shore, you can also place several rocks that comeout of the water for areas they can sit.

Substrate: You can use playsand or aquarium rock, although sand is a favorite as they sift thru it to find small particles to eat. Some also like to dig and sand provides a good substrate to do this in. I use a turkey baster once a week to clean the poop off the substrate, as well as pick up any uneaten food they many have dragged into the water.

Temp/Humidity: My fiddlers like temps that range from 78-82 degrees on a regular basis, they also like to bask under a heat lamp (75 watt DayGlo and a 75 watt NightGlo) where the temperatures rise to around 95 degrees. I try and maintain a tank humidity of at least 70% (relative) because they are from shore/beach they need a humid environment.

Water: Needs to be salt water, between brakish and the recommended mixing insturctions onthe salt container. I use Oceanic Sea Salt with the mixing instructions on the bag. The water also needs to be dechlorinated (use a dechlorinator without a slime coat). The water also needs to be filtered and cycled like a fish tank. I use the small worlds filters on my 5 gallon tank, and will be moving to a DUETTO 50 when I move them to a larger tank. Cycling of the tank will take at least 2 weeks I have found. I keep an ammonia monitor strip in my tank during this time. When the strip reads normal after the ammonia peak, Iknow the water is now cycled and has the appropriate amount of good bacterias to keep the water healthy and clean (on top of the filtration).

Diet: They need a dish of fresh dechlorinated water on land, this is so they can regulate their body salt content. Fiddler crabs are mostly vegetarian but will eat rotting meats, fruits, flowers, and vegetables. I keep algae wafers in their tank because they mostly eat algae and sea veggies. I usually feed one wafer broken into 6 or 7 bits about twice a week, or less depending on what else I offer them to eat. Mine also like the blister packs of frozen fish foods, black banana, grapes, rose petals, dried krill and brine shrimp, and scrambled eggs (no milk, scrambled in either extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil). They are very clean eaters, in that if you offer them a rock they will pick it clean of any algae growth.

Molting: They molt about once every two months. They do so underwater. They usually arent interested in their exo, but I leave it in for them to munch on. They seem to like to molt in protected areas of the tank, such as under leaves from their silk and plastic plants. If your fiddler is missing legs or claws they will be regrown at this time.

Male vs Female: The males will have one large claw and one small/feeder claw. The females claws will both be small and relatively the same size.

If I have left out anything out please feel free to leave a comment and I will try and add to this to answer your question. I have other posts in my blog with photos of my tank as well as my fiddler crabs, feel free to take a look!

New Crabbies!

2005-10-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Its been almost a month since I updated the ol blog with crabbie news....

I have gotten some new crabbies, some have quite the story behind them, and others were just too cute to not take home with me.

Heres Jasmine (a pp) who had a very badly cracked shell when I got her. When she would tuck and hide her eyes would stick out the top of the shell. Nows shes in a beautiful pearled striped green turbo.

Heres Chaos (a pp) who pinched a kid at the petstore, b/c the kid was picking on him--blowing and poking at Chaos. I think Chaos held onto the kids palm for at least 20 minutes, and during this time one of the petstore employees threatened to kill the crab to get it off the kids hand. So after Chaos was pulled from the kids hand by the store manager, he was tossed back in the tank...I couldbe bear to leave him there for fear that they would do something to him, so I brought him home. Heres Chaos...quite the active, happy crabbie. I have held him a couple time and he has shown no interest in pinching me. :)

I also got two micros that night that I got Chaos..no pics yet. Their names are Hercules and Zeus. A couple weekends ago I also got two new strawberry crabs that are a bit bigger than a quarter...which is small for a strawberry that is found in a petstore...all of my other strawberries are at least tennisball/baseball size. The two straws dont have names yet...they are currently down molting (I hope).

SEPTEMBER Hermit Crab Shopping List

2005-10-02T10:05:00.000-07:00

This month was a special month for both me and my crabbies...My first crabbie Sprint turned 3 years old on the 21st and so did my crabbing career! So in honor of Sprint and my straw Skeith who turned 1 on Sept 2nd (RIP-he died about a week ago) I went and got some yummies at Wild Oats, shells, and some herbs that i cant seem to find and get laughed at when I do try and find them. I also had to get some lighting b/c its that time of year again whereI need to figure out the lighting and humidity issues. Here we go!

Safeway:
3 gallons water $1.20

PetCo:
2 pks Fish Steak Cat Treats (that my cat refuses to eat so they're food for the crabs) $3.98
3 Strawberry crabs $29.87

Scales 'n Tails:
15w DayGlo ExoTerra $5.99
25w Night Glo ExoTerra $5.99
75w Night Glo ExoTerra $8.99

Wild Oats:
Coconut Oil $7.59
1 Raw shrimp $0.48
Whole wheat flour $2.59
Yam $0.83
Walnuts $1.87
Honeynut Granola $1.32
Red Raspberries $2.99
Wild Blend rice $0.96
Green Bell Pepper $0.27
Red Potato $0.48
Delicata Squash $0.54
Sea Salt $2.69

PetSmart:
8oz bag moss Flukers $7.29
Purple Pincer hc (Jasmine) $4.49
Bed-a-beast $4.99
Flukers humidity gage $8.99
Flukers temp gage $4.99
Digital Thermometer $7.99
15w Day Glo $5.99
5 shells for Jasmine $9.95

MountainRoseHerbs.com:
4oz Dandelion root $3.75
4oz Dulse Flakes $4.25
4oz Bee Pollon $3.00
4oz Chlorella powder $8.00
4oz Irish Moss powder $3.25
4oz Jasmine Flowers $3.25

Naples Sea Shell Company:
Natica Lineata 5/8" (1)
Whales eye 1" (3)
Polished Gold Mouth Turbo 7/8" (1)
Pearl banded Tap. Turbo 3/4" (2)
Rockshell 3/4"(1)
Rockshell 7/8"(3)
Spotted Tap. Turbo 1 1/8" (4)
African Turbo 3/4" (1)
Tiger Moon Snail 1/2" (1) $36.55

TOTAL: $194.86

..safe to say after I bought all this new food I wont have to buy more for a while LOL!

News with the troops!

2005-09-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

So far this month there is sad news and happy news...not too much sad tho, thank the hermie gods! Ill do the sad first, this way the happy will over-ride it.

In the last two weeks Ive had two crabbies die, one straw "Apple Jacks" who streaked and got back in his shell. He died 3 days after he streaked. The other crabbie was a little adoptee, "Ribbon", who was out and about on Sunday with all the other little hermies. This morning I changed the food and noticed she wasnt moving. I picked her up and her BP fell off, sure enough she was dead. :(

Now the happy news!
The new ruggies seem to be doing well, two are down and the one missing 2 legs is now in the 20 gallon tank with my last 6 adoptees who are doing great. I have changed their names...they are no longer Stacy and Clinton...it just wasnt working. LOL!

My straw Skeith turned 1 on Sept 2nd!!! Hes been thru 2 molts successfully and still going strong and causing chaos. Ill have to take a picture of him this weekend.

Sprint, my first hermie, will soon be turning 3 yrs old (sept 21st)....of course shes having a party! But Ive learned never to count the chicks before they hatch, who knows what can happen in a matter of 8 days in the hermie world.

Bob and Spook now have their own day and night lights. For the day I am using ReptiTherm 50 watt mirrored UVA bulb. For the night I am using the ExoTerra Moon-Glo 75 watt. The wattage is extremely high and I would never use this wattage with my 29 or 26 gallon tank for the hermit crabs. I have found that the fiddler crabs love to be really warm, but also have the freedom to move where its cool. They love to bask directly under the day and night-bulb, infact they spend a great deal of time underneath the day and night bulb, where temperatures reach 90 degrees during the day and 85 at night. As soon as it is shut off and the tank cools down they both become lethargic and less active. So now they have lamps running 24/7 to keep them hot, hot, hot!!

I have started keeping track of the weather and the moon phases, perhaps later when I have enough data I can somehow link the moon, molting, and weather together...or at least find a pattern with molting and the moon phasing. I have also started keeping track of what I feed them, this way I will "remember" when a new food is introduced...and if I have problems down the line I can look back and see what I have added or changed, not only with food but with their tanks as well. I cant decide if I should post the monthly food calendar or not LOL!

New Ruggies! and hermie pen pal

2005-09-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

I was bad and instead of getting just one ruggie for Bundy (hermie pen pals..will explain here in a sec) I got one for him and two for me LOL! So bad. But im proud of myself, its been a while since I have purchased a hermie, 4 months I think...it truely is a hard addiction to break.

I have named the two new ones Stacy and Clinton. hehe! They are quite a pair and are very fashionable.

So here we have Stacy, she is missing two walking legs but is doing great. Shes quite the sweet little ruggie.

Heres Clinton eating an Organic version of a Cheerio.

Here he is going back to the food dish for more.

The ruggie that Bundy chose is a lovely shade of blue and is in a pica/magpie shell. S/he is currently under destressing.

Hermie Pen Pals! Bundy brought up the idea of having pen pals, where he would take care of a Crazy Crab for me and I would take care of a ruggie for him...its the closest we can come to actually having one. So I chose a wee little Crazy Crab from his new group and called him "Squishy".
Heres Squishy on his first day home:

Here he is after umpteen shell changes from that cone to a green turbo and finally to a tapestry turbo

Now hes in a baylonia shell LOL!! I had no idea that CCs would change shells like that...I figured their temperment to closely resemble the Es, who rarely change shells.

AUGUST Hermit Crab Shopping List

2005-09-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

This month we had mites again, but the good 'ol paycheck has left the kids in two different ISO tanks with 3 inches of sand, a hidey and food/water dishes. Couldnt afford to buy the Hypoaspis miles (predatory mites) nor all the other supplies I need to re-do the 29 gallon tank. But they are doing well, and I figure its time they had a home for at least a month without having to go thru the stress of being uprooted again. So they are going to stay ISOed for at least another month and will gradually be introduced to a new/clean 29 gallon tank, hopefully for the last time.

What I did buy, sure wasnt a lot, is part of the re-build on the 29 gallon tank (which will have everything stripped away, including UTHs). Doesnt seem like much but sure cost a lot!

Here we go!

Wild Oats:
Tofu $1.99
Arame $5.99
Mixed Flower Pack $3.99
Strawberries $3.49

PetDiscounters.com:
Medium Exo-Terra UTH $28.99
Exo-Terra Rheostat $17.99
Crushed Oystershell $0.79

PetSmart:
TetraFauna ReptoCal $4.99 * 2 = $9.98

Bottled Water $0.40 * 5 = $2.00

Total = $75.21

August Update (aka: mites, deaths, and dirt)

2005-08-25T16:35:00.000-07:00

Since its been a long month and its only a little over half way thru, I need to up date whats been happening....since its been crabbie drama here in the House of Crab.

Well to start the fun off! My 29 gallon tanks has mites AGAIN...but I caught them before they went bonkers *thanks the hermie gods for the message in a dream*<--Ill tell the story later. So for the third time in 2 months I have had to do a full evacuation of the troops in the 29 gallon tank. As a result of this mite madness, being disturbed, bathed, disturbed, bathed, and disturbed for the third time....many have died, and I have a feeling this group isnt going to be the end of it.

RIP:
Shrimpy (pp) 1/23/2003-8/7/2005
Skittle (pp) 11/19/2003-7/31/2005
Sugar Plum (E) 12/21/2003-8/19/2005
Dr. Zoidberg (pp) 2/18/2005-8/13/2005
Nemo (pp) 5/13/2005-8/13/2005
Pinchy (pp) 5/13/2005-8/13/2005
Greeny (pp) 5/13/2005-8/18/2005
Beany (pp)5/13/2005-8/22/2005
Spazzy Jr. (mud fiddler) 7/9/2005-8/14/2005
Sir Pinch-a-Lot (pp) 1/13/2004-8/10/2005

As for the rest of the troops, they are split into two tanks: little guys in a 10 gallon, big guys in a 20 gallon. So far they are holding up, but I can tell they are extremely stressed and are in need of some decorations and more sand. The tanks havent been decorated more than a couple hideys and food and water dishes and 1 inch of sand, making it easy to keep a close watch for mites and make for an easy clean-up if they shall appear. *knock on wood*

I will be cleaning the 29 gallon tank again, hosing it down this time so I can get the outside clean. I will also be purchasing predatory mites (Hypoaspis miles) in effort to rid the entire tank of the pesky mites. So thats the story on the mite and death front.

Yesterday the hermie's Fairy Crabmother (my mom) and I planted the dead crabs. It was a mass burrial in the new flower garden. Not only did we plant to affore mentioned hermies, but also a bunch more (a total, including those above, of 39) and my moms betta "Phil":

RIP:
Phil (betta)
Sage (E) 12/22/2003-4/9/2005
S'mores (E) 1/2/2004-5/21/2005
Sapphire (E) 1/2/2005-4/9/2005
Shake 'n Bake (rug) 3/24/2004-6/29/2005
Teenie (pp) 5/12/2004-7/6/2005
Sour (E) 7/13/2004-5/30/2005
Hermes (pp) 2/18/2005-6/29/2005
Sonic (E) 2/18/2005-5/15/2005
PalmTree (E) 2/18/2005-5/15/2005
Marigold (E) 2/18/2005-3/24/2005
Dante (E) 2/18/2005-5/15/2005
Skoot (pp) 3/25/2005-7/15/2005
Spike (cavipe) 3/30/2005-6/15/2005
Cav #2 (cavipe) 3/30/2005-4/21/2005
'Nilla Spice (rug) 3/30/2005-4/21/2005
Peachy (rug) 3/30/2005-4/21/2005
White rug (rug) 3/30/2005-4/21/2005
Koi (rug) 3/30/2005-4/3/2005
Sinabun (pp) 5/13/2005-7/7/2005
Brown Spiral (pp) 5/13/2005-7/23/2005
Bablyon (pp) 5/13/2005-5/27/2005
King (pp) 5/13/2005-8/13/2005
Straw #4 (straw) 5/17/2005-6/7/2005
Straw #1 (straw) 5/18/2005-5/19/2005
Straw #2 (straw) 5/18/2005-5/20/2005
Rhubarb (straw) 5/20/2005-6/27/2005
Fiddler #1 (mud fiddler) 7/9/2005-7/9/2005
Spazzy (mud fiddler) 5/15/2005-7/3/2005
Leg-o-less (mud fiddler) 5/15/2005-6/5/2005

(those are all that have died since about April 2005)

Many of those that died were either adopted crabs that were not taken care of in their previous homes or crabs suffering from extreme pet store stress. Only a handful were hermit crabs that I have had for more than a year or so.

I have made a list for those I consider "at risk" which consists of crabs that I got with others that have died. There are currently 11 at risk crabs. Many are the sole survivors of their group I got them with, who have either had molting problems which lead to death, have died upside down, or have all died at once/in a close frame of time.

I have also noticed many of the crabs that have died have weighed less that those that are alive and active. I believe that those who died, must have been sick for at least three days--giving time for their shell water to evaporate. Because they were not feeling well, they were not strong enough to make it to the pools, therefore they not only died of their ailment but also from dehydration.

No shell water=light weight crab/dehydration=dead in a matter of days

Things are starting to look happy tho. The crabs arent turning up dead as fast and many of them are destressing in the ISOs and are becoming a little more active, at least the little guys are anyways. Ill take them out for a tank cleaning this weekend and lift their spirits a bit with some new shells and yummy treats.

I did have a surface molt tho, poor Pompeii had help eating her exo while I was at work today...not sure how many legs she has left, but she has her BP and is still alive and angry. She is currently in ISO with her exo. It didnt look like she had a fabulous molt as it was.

Eatin' Good in the Crabbiehood

2005-08-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here are two fabulous examples of hermies that eat well!

First we have Spill (C. clypeatus) who is pictured here with the shell I got her in. The shell she is in here, is a bit too small for her. About 3 days after I took this picture she changed into a Tapestry Turbo with an opening of about 3/4 inch. She is currently down for molt #7. I have had her for almost 2 years...2 years on Halloween '05.

Her first shell:

Second, we have Skippy (C. rugosus) when I first got her about a year and a half go.

After her first molt she lost half of one eye and a small portion of the other eye, but still had vision.

Here she is again after a total of 4 molts. During molt 2 both eyes became small, molt three nothing changed. So after molt 4 one eye has started to re-grow. She still has vision in both eyes, Im not sure how good of vision it is, but she can spot me coming in the room. She has also become a darker color since I started feeding all the hermies human grade organic foods and no commercial crab foods.

New Adoptees!

2005-08-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I adopted 7 small pps from a gal that I had met in PetCo back in January. I, of course, was spewing hermit crab information and she was listening as we both looked at the hermies and picked some to take home. We exchanged numbers so that if she, or I needed hermie help we would have someone to call.

The Monday before I got a call on my cell from a number that didnt register, so I was a little wary of answering. But, I did, and it was her and she wanted to know if I could adopt her hermies and their belongings. I was a little hesitant, since I have had this on-going mite issue from an adopted set of hermies and their things. But after thinking if over I decided to go ahead and adopt them, since she had taken such great care of them and still has her original hermies.

I dont know if they have names but it didnt sound like it, so bf thinks I should name them after the 7 Dwarfs (Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful, Doc, Grumpy, and Happy). One of them is currently finishing his exo under the waterdish and I have only seen 5 others...so who knows where #6 is...perhaps hell be Bashful LOL!!!

Their first night home I made some Cod, corn on the cob, served with mushy banana and pear-apple baby food. The littlest came running as soon as I stuck the food in the tank. I hadnt even set it down before he was trying to get in the dish to eat corn. Four others sat around the other shell that had banana and babyfood for a long while. By Monday the baby food was completely gone. Three of them had also changed shells into natural shells by Sunday night.

"MMMM CORN!"

One by one they come out to eat:

Here are the 5 that were out and about Saturday night:

JULY Hermit Crab Shopping List

2005-08-01T14:03:00.000-07:00

This month I had the pleasure of having mites for the second time within a time frame of a month and a half. *ugh. So I had to get new everything, once again. So this month far exceeds last months list.

SAFEWAY
bottled spring water (7) $0.65
1 cod fillet $1.00
1 salmon fillet $1.00
1 talipia fillet $1.00
1 bosc pear $0.50
2 plums $0.75

PETSMART
2 bags white Calcisand $15.96
1 bag turquise Reptile sand $4.99
Large silk plant $7.99
2 Digital thermometer/humidity gages $33.98
Small reptile hammock $7.99

PETCO
1 brick EcoEarth $5.43

LOWES
1 bag 100lbs medium grain sand $6.00

4 mud fiddler crabs $16.35
Flower vine (Hobby Lobby) $2.99
7 Adopted hermies, 20 gallon tanks and accessories $50.00

TOTAL = $161.78

New Fiddler Crabs!!

2005-07-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

About a three weeks ago, Spazzy the Fiddler Crab died while I was cleaning tanks to get rid of the mites. This leaving Spook alone, and he soon became depressed. He would sit in one spot all day long and stare, only moving to eat. He no longer waved his pincer or danced. He was a sad little Spook.

So I began calling pet stores looking for Mud Fiddler Crabs and didnt find a single store that carried fiddlers. As a last resort I looked on Ebay and found a place in Florida that sold fiddlers. So I bought two and they were nice enough to send me four. Sadly one died during the trip, another died that night. Now I am left with two happy fiddlers and a happy Spook! All three get along great, they wave their claws and dance. THey are always active. I also modified the tank a bit--new decorations and a different kind of sand!

Here is Spazzy Jr. who danced all the way home during the car ride. Hes the smallest of the clan. He loves to eat grapes sprinkled with spirulina powder.

Here is Bob who has a big pincer that is almost 1 1/4 inches across, which is almost bigger than his body.

Here is Spook, staking his territory. He danced all day when the new guys were introduced into the tank.

And the new tank..well new borrowed palm trees and some medium grain sand and a new temp/humidity gage. The lamp on the tank has been on all summer long since the A/C is on in the apt. THey seem to be more active when the temps are between 78-80 degrees F.

Dead Adoptions--PPS?

2005-07-15T16:27:00.000-07:00

Back in February I adopted 4 pps and their 20 gallon tank. Again in May I adopted 10 more pps with their 75 gallon tank/accessories. This month I am starting to lose them to unknown reasons, I have lost one of the 4 pps from Feb and three of the 10 pps from May.

Hermes:
Molted within the first month that I had him. He was in a Tapestry turbo with a 1 1/2 inch opening when he died, he changed to the turbo from a red/white/blue painted whales eye shell after he molted. His 20 gallon tank (previous to when I got him & the other 3) had forestbedding substrate, screen lid, low humidity and 60-70 *F temperature provided by a heat lamp and UTH, the only food provided was T-Rex Fruit & Flower. The 20 gallon tank is the tank that caused the first mite outbreak. I found him June 29th in the corner of the main tank (29 gallon) in his shell, dead. The only thing I can think that might have caused his death was his previous care. Perhaps this was a form of "pre-purchase" stress, only the stress was caused by his previous home.

Babylon:
He died within two weeks of me adopting him. He was looking lethargic in the main tank (29 gallon) so I moved him to an ISO tank that he would share with three other molters. I hope that he too was going to molt, so I covered the tank and left him there only checking once every couple days. After two weeks of no movement, and he should have been done molting and eating exo by then, I picked him up to find that he dropped all of his legs and was dead. His previous home was the 75 gallon tank, which had a plexiglass lid, food and water dishes. However there were no temp/humidity gages and the sand was completely dry. I believe he is another case of PPS due to his previous home environment.

Sinnabun:
He was adopted with Babylon. I found him July 7th upside down hanging twisted out of his shell. It appeared as tho he tipped over and was not strong enough to flip back over. I have had 5 previous deaths of my non-adopted crabs back in Nov/Dec/Jan where this appeared. The two hypotheses to this death is changing of seasons and chemicals in commercial foods. The changing of seasons caused their equilibrium to become unstable and they become confused and can no longer stay upright, they become weak and die upside down. I personally believe that some of the chemicals in commercial foods have this same effect on crabs in that they inhibit the nervous system, not allowing the crabs to remain upright because they have lost their sense of balance. With my rash of deaths in Nov/Dec/Jan I changed all commercial foods to human grade organic foods and havent had this problem since. We shall see what happens when summer changes to fall and to winter if this "crickett syndrome" becomes apparent in the tanks again.

Spiral:
Also adopted with Babylon. I found him this afternoon, dead in the water dish. It seems as though he wasnt strong enough to get back out of the water dish, which has a plastic grid for grip to get out of the dish. Im not sure what happened with him, the only other crab I have had that drown was a straw that was bubbling and weak and drown while I was at work in the salt pool, which also has grips up a ramp so they can get out easily. At one point Spiral was in the ISO tank for 2 weeks, shortly after I brought him home. I gradually increased the ISO humidty from his previous humidity (which I assumed was rather low ~50%). He became active after two weeks in a humidty close to that of the main tank, so I added him to the group. He has been doing well ever since, until today. Again this could be PPS due to his previous environment, but otherwise Im not sure what happened to Spiral.

----All of my other hermies are doing fine, eating, playing, climbing. I havent lost one of them for almost 3 months, when S'mores died from his bad molt. So I am assuming that the current adoptions that have I have found dead are not due to current conditions.

*ugh MITES!

2005-07-05T11:20:00.000-07:00

I had what I believe are mites (white tiny bugs) crawling all over the corners of my 29 gallon tank, which decided to share them with the 5 gallon Fiddler tank. So another deep clean was the schedule (between hockey games) for the weekend. Heres my "regimen" of what I did, Ill update in a month as to whether it worked or not.

Ive had them once before, approximately one month ago...we used "Flukers" cleaner for the tank, that disinfects and kills mold, mildew, virus, bacteria, ect, but evidently that didnt work. THe fact that we missed a mesh lid during the last mite cleaning didnt help either...and I used that the weekend before last to cool/de-humidify the tank for my strawberry who was bubbling.

Last time I had mites, they came from a tank I adopted with four hermit crabs. Apperently they mite eggs had been living in the coconut forest bedding that was being used, once the temperatures in the apartment reached 85 for more than one day, the eggs hatched and there was an infestation on that 20 gallon tank. The mites then spread to the 29 gallon and the 10 gallon ISO tank.

Friday
*outside*
1. Clean out kritter keeper ISO tank, throw away sand & tie bag shut (wash hands afterwards)
2. Clean/wash out shell bin and make sure there are no mites in food supply
3. Put food supply in refrigerator
4. Take toys/dishes/hideys in 29 gallon and 5 gallon and put them in a garbage bag and tie shut, place outside.
5. Bathe each crab and inspect for mites, place in dry/clean shell bin with water & food
6. Take all sand out of tank and place in bags, throw away.
7. Throw away temp & humidity gages
8. Place ALL dishes, toys, and hideys in dishwasher, run plain water-NO soap and heat dry cycle.
9. Fill each tank with water and 2 cups bleach for the 29 gallon and 1/4 cup bleach for the 5 gallon
-place the second level and all the lids in the 29 gallon tank.
10. Wait until tomorrow to take bleach/water out of tanks

Saturday
1. Take water out of tanks and dispose of (let the tanks sit outside int he sun for 24 hours to evaporate chlorines from the bleach)

Sunday
1. Wash each item in the bleach/water thouroughly with dechlorinated water and scrub under the rim of the tanks
2. Dry completely
3. Bake new sand 350 degrees F for 30 minutes (I used find grade sand that had already been washed)
4. Let sand cool and put in tank, mix in dechlorinated water until sand is slightly moist.
5. Place lids on tank and let sand cool and the temps/humidity become stable
6. Once tanks have stabilized put toys and hideys back in
7. Bathe each crab before putting them in the tank, check each for mites.
Fiddler Tank--
8. Put sand in tank, and mix with salt water.
9. Once sand is saturated, slope sand and fill the "ocean" with more salt water. Add hidleys and fresh water dish.
10. Place filter and ammonia monitor in tank and let settle
11. Once the sand is settled put the fiddlers back in the tank.

JUNE Hermit Crab Shopping List!

2005-06-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

I thought this would be a fun little experiment, to see just how much I spend on my crabs each month. Keep in mind I have 70 land hermit crabs and 2 fiddlers, who eat the same diet when it comes to meats and algaes. So here we go!!

PETCO:
Hikari Algae Wafers $4.49
Kay-Tee Mixed Nuts $1.79
Kay-Tee Carrots & Greens $1.79
Kay-Tee Mixed Fruit (2) $3.58
Hikari Frozen Mysis Shrimp $4.29
Fish GumDrops-Beef Heart $3.99
SanFran. Bay Brine Shrimp w/ Spirulina $4.99

VITAMIN COTTAGE (organic food store):
Alfalfa Leaf $1.92
Coconut Shreds $1.82
Apple Blueberry baby food $0.69
Sweet Potato & Chicken baby food $0.69
Pear & Raspberry baby food $0.69
WASA Crispbread-"Multigrain" $2.09
Red Clover $1.92
Red Rosebuds $0.99
Chamomile Flowers (dried) $1.65
Rooibus $1.72
Red Raspberry Leaves $1.40

SAFEWAY:
10 Key Limes $1.00
Avocado $1.99
DOLE Pineapple Chunks $1.99
Small Tomato $0.50
(I made "hermit crab salsa" with these Safeway foods--just finely chop/"kibble" everything and mix together..freeze the leftovers!)

WILD OATS (organic food store):
Dried Pineapple Rings (.22lbs) $2.31
Raisins (0.34lbs) $1.15
Pearled Barley (0.35lbs) $0.35
Red Quinoa $2.29
Brown Sesame Seeds (0.18lbs) $0.39
Calendula Flowers (dried) (0.03lbs) $0.63
Dandelion Leaf (0.06lbs) $1.14
Spirulina Powder (0.08lbs) $5.20
Rose Hips (0.011lbs) $1.65

WATER: ~6 gallons Glacier Spring water * $0.40= $2.40

TOTAL = $64

(I rounded the total up)

Up from a molt!

2005-06-20T09:26:00.000-07:00

Skeith, before his second molt:

Skeith came up from his second molt last night, he doesnt look much different than he did before he molted, which is good. He hasnt lost any color, but he hasnt gained any either...I suppose that means what hes been eating has been good enough and high enough in coloration to at least maintain his orange/red/white tye-dyed color. Now that Im feeding them ALL a better diet, his coloration should improve. I have noticed that my pps coloration has improved in the last couple that have molted, they arent as tan as they were before, now some of them are purple and maroon, while others have become purple and orange.

But Skeith surfacing is a big deal in the 'tat. Usually straws, that I have had over the last 2 years, have had major problems with/during their second molts...dropping legs, and what looks like dehydration even tho they are molting in a very moist substrate. What Ive noticed is that the straws who can adapt to bathing in a pool, like they use to in the ocean, seem to do better than those that dont regularly bathe. I think this is the reason many have become dehydrated during molting, perhaps it has something to do with their inability to molt properly as well.

Skeith is going to be introduced to the herd of straws in the 29 gallon tonight, it'll be interesting to see how he and the others react. Skeith hasnt had a straw buddy for almost 9 months...so hes a little depressed and lonely..it'll do him some good to run with the pack!

Food Mixes

2005-06-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I went on a crabbie food shopping spree and got a bunch of things at the pet store and at places like Whole Foods, Vitamin Cottage, and Wild Oats (organic food stores). I have been saving peanut butter containers (which I seem to have a lot of...I LOVE peanut butter) and that is what each mix is stored in..that way it lessens the chance of it going bad faster than the troops can consume it.

Here are some of the ones that I created, some are better balanced in way of diet than others are, and some are purely treats.

Dry Mix #1
1 bag Kay-Tee Carrots and Greens (dried carrots, parsley and alfalfa)
1 bag Kay-Tee Apple Chunks (dried apple)
1 bag Kay-Tee Coconut and Raspberry (dried coconut shreds and dried raspberry chunks)
1 bag Kay-Tee Pumpkin seeds and Almond slices
3 tbsp oats (not the instant oats/oatmeal)

Dry Mix #2
1 bag Kay-Tee Rose Hips (I broke open the pods in my mortar and pestle to get the seeds out)
1 bag Kay-Tee Coconut and Raspberry (dried coconut shreds and dried raspberry chunks)
1 bag Kay-Tee Banana Chunks (dried banana)
1 bag Kay-Tee mixed nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds)
3 tbsp wheat germ

Dry Mix #3
1 bag Kay-Tee Mixed Fruit (Raisins, Apple, Blueberry, Cranberry)
1 bag Kay-Tee mixed nuts (peanuts, walnuts, almonds)
2 tbsp sunflower seeds
3 tbsp dried shredded coconut
1 small bottle Tetra Baby Shrimp-Sun Dried Treat
3 tbsp amaranth
3 tbsp oats (not instant oats/oatmeal)
hanful of "organic o's" (organic Cheerio-like cereal)
3 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tbsp kelp powder

Cranberry honey treats w/ coconut, almonds and pecans:
dried organic cranberries
local organic honey
1 tsp dried shredded coconut
1/2 tsp finely chopped almonds
1/2 tsp finely chopped pecans
1 tsp algae/spirulina/kelp powder

-Preheat oven to 250*F
-Mix dry ingredients (except cranberries) in small dish
-lightly coat a cranberry with honey, roll in dish of coconut, nuts, and algae powder
-place on cookie sheet; continue with coating the cranberries until the mix is gone
-bake for 5-8 minutes
-let cool and serve; store in a zip lock baggie or tuperware.

Blue Cranberry honey treats with algae, amaranth:
dried organic cranberries
local organic honey
1 tsp red or green Julian Sprungs Sea Veggies
1 tsp amaranth
1 tsp blue cornmeal

-Preheat oven to 250*F
-Mix dry ingredients (except cranberries) in small dish
-lightly coat a cranberry with honey, roll in dish of sea veggies, amaranth, and blue cornmeal.
-place on cookie sheet; continue with coating the cranberries until the mix is gone
-bake for 5-8 minutes
-let cool and serve; store in a zip lock baggie or tuperware.

The crabbies (hermies and fiddlers) also got some frozen yummies---Brine shrimp with spirulina, Beef Heart, and Mysis Shrimp. They just LOVED all of it! The fiddlers are very dainty when they eat, they shove the shrimps in their mouth and clean up and shove in what didnt make it the first time...they look like they are eating with chopsticks. (Spook molted for the first time last weekend! Spazzy should be molting here soon too, as he is missing 2 legs.)

I also got a nice root system with vines of a honeysuckle plant out of my moms garden :) and some pink wild roses from the bush at work.

Some of the other things I got for them, to mix and make foods with, are alfalfa leaves, coconut shreds, apple-blueberry baby food, sweet potato & chicken baby food, pear-raspberry baby food, WASA crisp bread-multigrain, red clover, red rosebuds, chamomile flowers, rooibus, and red raspberry leaves. So far the hermies have tried the WASA crackers and they were a hit!

Ive been keeping a list of the things I buy every month, for the crabbies...Ill post it here are the end of the month!!

Mud Fiddler Crabs (Uca pugnax)

2005-05-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

I recently adopted these little guys with 10 adopted pp hermies. They are Mud Fiddlers and live on the shores of the ocean and sea, meaning that they require salt water to live in captivity. These three are male, since one claw/pincer is much larger than the other. Females will have claws/pincers of the same size.

Sadly one, Leg-o-Less, who came to me missing both pincers and three legs has passed on, over the rainbow bridge. He did molt before he died, which gave me quite the scare finding a hollowed out exo floating in the plants. I think between not having salt water for who knows how long and the stress of molting, it was all too much for him and his body.
Leg-o-Less after he molted (his new legs and pincers are pink/tank):

Leg-o-Less' exo:

Spazzy (my alpha male)

Spook (my shy other male who is becoming braver by the day)

Their new happy, 5 gallon tank (substrate wet playsand, Saltwater pond, filtered, moss hidey and plastic cholla hidey, temp 75-85 degrees F, humidity 80-90%)

Effects of Ethoxyquin and other HC food preservatives?

2005-05-31T10:49:00.000-07:00

I think this is an important point to post pictures and thoughts about, even if its just to keep track of whats happening with my troops.

Back in November-December-January I was having crabs die at the rate of two a weekend. They would die upside down (which could be related to weather/season changes), naked, or because of a bad molt. Many things were changed in the crabitat--they now have Day and Night-Glo bulbs rather than UTHs, they drink store bought drinking water rather than tap with dechlor added, and they receive no commercial hermit crab foods containing Ethoxyquin as a preservative. I threw out all FMR, T-Rex, Hermit Crab Cookies, HC Crunchies, and Zoo-Med (which Im not sure about so I threw it out as a precaution). Now they eat human grade food bought at the Organic grocery (Whole Foods and Wild Oats).

This April I had a bad feeling about the molting crabs in my 29 gallon tank, only b/c Stumpy had been down digging all over the place. So I dug up the three Es that were under...all three had molts where they could not get completely out of their exo.
Sapphire: all of her limbs are still stuck in her exo. After talking with fellow experienced crabbers I decided to try and help her out of her exo. I worked on her for 20 minutes that night and put her back in ISO for the night. The next day she was dead.

Sage, who I dont have a picture of, lost three legs and had rings around her pincers and remaining leg where her exo was stuck, but she managed to free herself. I put her in ISO, a few hours later she crawled out of her shell, began foaming, and died that night.

S'mores: she was the last of the trio to survive. She lost her little pincer and two legs. Her big pincer was not able to function properly so I hand fed her for almost a month, while she grew gel limbs and prepared to molt. Sadly, in her efforts to molt, became stuck in her exo once again, only shedding her head area successfully. She died soon after.
S'mores the day I found her:

S'mores about one week before her molt, with large gel limbs:

What happens is that presevatives such as EQ prevent the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals required to make molting fluid. With the absence of these nutrients hermit crabs have problems shedding thier exo properly, as seen in the pictures above.

Im currently making a list of what I need to make my own dry hermit crab food....until they they will be eating more "human" food from the organic food store..which they seem to be liking better than the commercial food anyways!

Salt & Fresh Water Pool directions/ 2nd level directions

2005-05-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

Salt & Fresh water pool & Second Level:

Materials:
For the Pools---
1/4 inch plexi glass ($10-$15)--make sure the blue film in still on one side of it.
plexiglass cutter ($2)
aquarium silicon ($5)
rubbing alcohol
cotton balls
sand paper on sanding brick (you might need this)
ruler/tape measure
sharpie marker
aquarium gravel or shells

For the Second Level---
1/4 inch plexiglass ($10-$15) --this is a different piece than what the pools came from)
plexiglass cutter ($2)--you can use this again
aquarium silicon
rubbing alcohol
cotton balls
sharpie marker
ruler/tape measure
1/2 inch opening PVC pipes and 4-6 plugs

Procedure:

THE RAMP!
1. Meaure the width of the inside of your tank, this will be the width of the RAMP. Remember to make it just a tiny bit smaller so that it fits.

2. decide how long and what angle you want the ramp to be at. To do this I stuck a ruler in the tank at the angle I wanted the ramp and then decided how long I want the ramp to be from the markings on the ruler.

3. Measure out the ramp on the side of the plexiglass that has the blue film (you can mark on the film and it wont be on the glass...just peel it off when you are done!). Cut the ramp out with the plexi-cutter. Sand down any rough edges.

4. Clean the ramp with rubbing alcohol and cotton balls, wait for alcohol to evaporate.

5. Place the ramp in the position you would like and silicon both the front and back of the ramp to the tanks glass. Make sure you get a lot on there or youll have leaks or the silicon wont hold up to the pressure of the ramp and the water.
---what I did to create a flat pool bottom as to move the ramp back 3 inches from the side of the tank that is going to be used for the back of the pool.

6. You can either hold or prop up the ramp until the silicon is set...it took mine about 30 minutes to set enough that it was fairly stable, but I left it proped in place all night to make sure.

THE DIVIDER!
1. Take you plexiglass and hold it up to the outside of the long side of the tank and trace the outline of the pool onto the blue film. This way you dont have to measure, just trace and cut.

2. Cut along the tracings. Sand down rough edges.

3. Clean the divider with rubbing alcohol and cotton balls, wait for alcohol to evaporate.

4. Place in tank so that it meets up with the ramp and the rest of the tank. If it doesnt fit, sand down the areas where its "off". When it fits (it doenst have to fit absolutely perfect..just as close as you can get it) silicon it to the tank, both the front and back. With this you can easily prop it up, on both sides, so you dont have to hold it. :)

5. When the ramp and the divider are firm, you can add the aquarium gravel or shells to the ramp. (about 1 hour after it has all been installed). Apply a good amount of silicon to a small place on the ramp (work in small sections or the silicon will dry too fast and wont hold rocks/shells) and smear it around a bit. Lightly press the gravel/shells into the silicon. Continue working in small sections.

6. The wait begins! You must wait two day before adding water to the pools inorder to let the silicon set. After two days, fill one pool and wait 6 hours to see it it leaks (empty that pool and fill the other...we are making sure the pools dont leak into eachother). If they leak, empty the pools and apply silicon to the ares where the leaks are, and wait another 2 days to do a water test.

SECOND LEVEL!!!
---There are two ways it can be done!---
(you will need 90 degree clamps for this)
1. Meauser out how long you want to level to be, mine is abotu half the length of my tank. Next measure the width of your tank and take off about 2 cm. Mark onthe blue film, this will be the floor of the second level. Cut out with plexi-cutter.

2. Decide how tall you want the sides of thelevel to be and mark them out on the blue film. Cut out...remember you will need 4 sides to create a "dish" like level..and remember to measuer the floor edges and then mark out the sides.

3. Clean all the pieces with rubbing alcohol, wait until the alcohol evaporates.

4. Silicon one edge to the floor and clamp. THis will need to be clamped for two days inorder for the silicon to set right. Do this with the other 3 edges. When all the sides are dry, apply silicon to the corners and wait for it to dry. Or you can do this (Gently!) while they are clamped.

Number Two:
(you will need a heat gun and some oven mitts for this)
1. Measure the width of your tank and add 1 1/4 inches to each side of the floor, the 1 1/4 inches will serve as the sides of the floor. Mark and cut out. REMEMBER that there needs to be a square cut out at each corner (1 1/4 in x 1 1/4 in) so you can bend up the sides!!!

2. Using the heat gun and the oven mitts (OPEN A WINDOW! THIS STUFF STINKS WHEN HOT!!) ben up the sides. It will take a bit for the plexi to get hot enought to bend, but it works!

3. Whenall the sides are bent up, allow it to cool. Clean the corners with rubbing alcohol. Apply silicon to the corners and wait 2 days for it to set.

PVC PIPE SUPPORTS!
1. Cut each PVC to the height you need (you can do this at the store)

2. Put in plugs at one end of each pipe.

3. Clean with rubbing alcohol, wait for the alcohol to evaporate.

4. Silicon one PVC in each of the corners you want the level above. Then silicon two more where the end of the level is. I added two in the middle for more supports. Make sure to silicon the base of the PVC to the bottom of the tank.

5. Prop up the pipes (I taped them in place with scotch tape) and allow to dry.

AND...YOU'RE DONE!!!

6.

First post...First crabbie introduction

2005-05-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

Hey all! WOOTWOOT ive started a blog! LOL! Hopefully it will help me keep track of my thoughts and happenings with the troops (the hermies and fiddlers)

I thought I would start with a picture of my very FIRST crab, who is still ornery as can be...Sprint. She is a pp and will be 3 years old this September, in take home time that is. I bought her and her buddy Sylvius (RIP) in a Coach House Gifts store that soon closed their "kiosk" because too many hermies were dying. In fact two months later, after Sylvius died, bf went back to get me another and there were no hermies to be found. Its a good thing! :)

Here she is on her birthday last year...pretty excited as you can see...her present was a new hidey/climber that she gets to share with everybody.

Here she is after her third molt, back in June of '04. What a CUTIE!