Shadow's Hermit Crabs Blog

I feel totally sick...

2006-04-16T02:45:00.000-07:00

I'm almost positive that one of my E's in the 20 gallon tanks has passed away.

I was just doing the last minute checkups on my crabitats before I go to bed... I look in the 20 gallon to find two (shells of) hermies buried in the freshwater dish, covered in sand. Apparantly the water had dessicated out (from the sand), but oddly I had two hermies dug in, my smallest E, and Hershey.

I took them out of the now dry water dish, and immediatly noticed that the leg tip of Hershey's inner left leg was bent at a strange angle... They both seemed not well or scared, and slowly peeked out of their shells before running for cover.

Then I picked up my second largest E in the large Nerite shell... I noted that he seemed asleep, eyes tucked in, legs curled up. But then I noticed his antennae were stuck out, in a surreal unnattural way, with no movement whatsoever...

I'd seen this last with my deceased Io when I discovered him under the moss...

I checked for a smell. Nothing. Nothing seemed amiss about him, except for the fact that he wasn't moving, not even his antennae. And then as I was moving him back to where I found him, he began to seemingly slide out of his shell... Then I knew.
I am partially too afraid to go back and check on him, or to bother him. There is the possibility of a surface molt, but I don't think this is such a case... But I'll leave him alone for atleast another day or two for that faint hope.

Now if he has passed, I beleive it is entierly my fault. In my rush to intoduce my 2 new seemingly anxoius and rambunctious new E's from Wonder Aquarium, I'd carelessly removed him from his tunnel (He was half buried inside the plastic cave, but only partially. I could still see most of his shell) to bathe him and the other residents with the newcomers.

He seemed to be fine afterwards, went to seemingly destress below the second level for a while (where I noticed some seemingly agressive behaviour from one of the new comers, he would back the other up under the second level, in the corner. However there was no chirping, or any clawing, so I assumed it was just the usual posturing, and pecking order), and moved to a spot in a corner of the tank. I'd noticed that he hadn't moved in about a day, but thought nothing of it, and was instead distracted by the antics of the two new crazy E's exploring the tank.

I am starting to think there is something wrong with the current 20 gallon. My only deaths have occoured in this tank, and it's occupants are all rather inactive and lethargic for E's. The first 5 E's were always inactive compared to my other E's. The new PP's that have moved in are showing signs of slowing down too, which worries me.

Tomorrow I will post on the Addiction. Perhaps I am missing something with the setup of my 20 gallon tank. I'll also probably know if my poor E has made it or not.....

Pet store visit, "Wonder Aqautics"...

2006-04-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

Yet another appalling pet store... NO substrate at all, NO food, NO water (only a tiny puddle lining the tank), NO hideys, NO shells, NO gauges, NO Lid, the only thing they had right was a heat lamp (which was obivously too high a wattage, and too hot), and the ONLY thing in the tank other then the crabs were some soaked peices of PACKAGING STYROFOAM.

The worker (manager??? ) there had stated that they'd just received the crabs (which was painfully obvious from their frantic scurrying, trying to get AWAY from the light, and away from eachother) Perhaps fortunatly only for me, this atleast meant they were healthy, and less likely to be affected by PPS.

But unfortunatly, I was there with my aunt, and only had about 6 bucks on me. So I bought the two largest E's (only species) in the tank, feeling sorry for them being so cramped up in basically a glass prison with nothing in it, hoping that atleast the smaller ones would atleast adjust easier to the situation, and had to leave without so much as a word.

This store is located not even a block and a half from my school, I realized. So tomorrow, I'm paying a visit back to the place, armed with caresheets and checklists, as well as the e-mails of important people in the crabbing community after school.

I am going to talk to whomever is in charge, and try to convince them that it would be far better for the crabs, and their buisiness, to improve the conditions of their hermit crab tank. The store is only walking distance from where I go every day (my high school), and if they won't change, then they're gonna have to deal with me each day.

I'm not going to let this store operate keeping hermit crabs like this, like I did with the Pet Centre. I know I can change this store. The worker I talked to seemed like a fairly reasonable and knowledgable guy...

Well these two E's are quite the characters. They are larger than any of my E's, perhaps only slightly smaller than Mungo, my PP, making them nearly Mediums. They are incredibly fast! Not very shy, as far as E's go anyway. During the trip in the plastic baggie I was given to transport them in (couldn't it be atleast a cup? sheesh. I wasn't planning on buying hermies so I didn't have my Iso with me), they continously kept on trying to climb up the plastic to escape, and failing every time.

I have a feeling that they'll add some life to my 20 gallon tank residents, the E's anyway, who all seem to be shy, and a bit lethargic, comparing to my main tank E's. (Impending mass molt? 1 has already)

Updates, new tank looking great!

2006-04-04T21:10:00.000-07:00

I finished the deep clean last week, and have posted over on the Addiction about it. The tank looks absolutely great!

After buying some new fake plants from Wal-Mart, as well as a new digital gauge, I set up the new tank.

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Re-added moss pit (large terra-cotta), new plastic shell bin, foliage all over.

Another view. Sloped sand layout.

New Coconut fiber (Bed-A-Beast) section, a filled top half of the Hermit Crab Cove.

Oberon exploring the new tank.

Callisto up on the turtle dock second level.

Large saltwater dish.

Green foliage everywhere!

Finally, a sort of "group picture" of my main tank residents. (Sorry for poor quality! Had to take photo while trying not to frighten over a dozen already panicking crabs!) Took the photo right after taking out the last hidey from the tank.

Visable (well mostly lol) from left to right: Peaches, Purple ruggie, Pepper, Hermippe, Proteus, an E, Apricot, Mungo, Carmine, Sycorax, Azura, Keisuke, Callisto, Asuka, and Goten (indo). Not all of them.

Other photos taken during the day:

Apricot, up from his second molt with me already, saying "Hello!" his name more fitting than ever.

Black ruggie, also a recent molter.

My purple ruggie, successfully finished his molt the day before the deep clean. Still as purple as ever, and even more hair. Just look at those eyes!

Keisuke out and about (sheesh he's a pincher! OW! Didn't let go for a whole 5 minutes) Molted early Feb.

Opal, yet another of the molting frenzy. Still too small for his shell lol.

One of my original three, Proteus, after his second molt. Lost his outer left armored leg somehow, apparantly during the molt...

Callisto, the rambuctious (hairy) monster is back! His second molt completed, and already he's scheming his way across the tank, trying to find the escape route.

Peaches, nearly two months after his molt, still as ... well peachy as ever... I wonder if this was some sort of molt deformity? He's gained a small amount of color, but still not much...

Mungo's finished her first molt with me, and has darkened nicely.

Deep Clean, end of day 3...

2006-03-28T00:43:00.000-08:00

Well I've got the freshly cleaned tank nearly set up, new fresh (some old though sifted) playsand, TONS of new decorations, a large (nearly 1/8th of the tank) section of Bed-A-Beast in the Hermit Crab Cove, and a new shell bin from the stand of the Cove all set up. However I have yet to move over a couple decorations, the moss pit, the water, and most importantly the actual crabs. I'll have to finish up tomorrow as it's currently 12:46 AM...

I went out to Wal-Mart earlier today, and finally got some fake ivy plant, aswell as a larger silk plant for the 'tat (and a second digital gauge). Just these two simple additions have REALLY spruced up the tank. Add that to the fact that I've added a new moss pit, using a REAL second level with the turtle dock, and the B-a-B pit, and the tank looks totally different, and much better.

Unfortunatly it's going to mean (and I already know this is going to happen LOL) that I'll have less then 3 of my 23 main tank residents up and visable at any given time, because they will either be A) Buried in the CF, B) Buried in the Moss, C) Buried in the sand, D) Hiding amongst the leaves, or D) Hiding in the various terra-cotta pots. Oh well, atleast this'll make life more comfortable for them, hopefully. Atleast more comfortable, once they leave that cramped rubber bin they are currently temporarily in!

Complete resident's list.

2006-03-27T02:45:00.000-08:00

Continuing this list from earlier...

My Hermit Crabs

In order of purchase/adoption.

Callisto

Size and Species: Medium-Small C. Compressus
Gender: Male
Current shell: Tiger Moon. (11 changes)
Date purchased: June 15th, 2005, Pet Center - Julliard Dr.
Molts: 2 successful - late August; early February

(12/05)
Proteus

Size and Species: Small-Medium C. Compressus
Gender: Male
Current shell: Tan Rock shell. (1 change)
Date purchased: June 19th, 2005, Pet Center - Julliard Dr.
Molts: 2 successful - early September; 2/20/06 -1 dropped limb molt (outer left leg)

(10/05)
Azura

Size and Species: Small C. Compressus
Gender: Female
Current shell: Tiger Moon. (4 changes)
Date purchased: June 19th, 2005, Pet Center - Julliard Dr.
Molts: 2 (mostly) successful - early October, again early April. Regenerated BP fully.

(10/05)
Crimson

Size and Species: Small-Med C. Clypeatus
Gender: Male
Current shell: Goldmouth Green turbo. (1 change) Only painted shell crab.
Date purchased: August 28th, 2005, PetCo - Arden Way
Molts: 1 successful - Up from molt 1/31/06.

(10/05)
Mungo

Size and Species: Medium C. Clypeatus
Gender: Female
Current shell: Pearl banded tapestry turbo (5 changes)
Date purchased: August 28th, 2005, PetCo - Arden Way
Molts: 1 successful - Up from molt 1/22/06

( 11/05)
Pepper

Size and Species: Small C. Clypeatus
Gender: Female (?)
Current shell: Silvermouth Green Turbo (1 change)
Date purchased: September 17th, 2005, PetCo - Bruceville Rd. (Elk Grove)
Molts: None known.

(10/05)
Io *Deceased* 2/5/06.

Size and Species: Medium C. Clypeatus
Gender: Male
Current shell: Pearl banded tapestry turbo (2 changes)
Date purchased: September 17th, 2005, PetCo - Bruceville Rd. (Elk Grove)
Molts: 1 unsucessful. Up from molt 1/15/06.
Cause of death: Unknown stress, limb loss, post molt.

(1/06)
Pico

Size and Species: Micro C. Clypeatus
Gender: Male (?)
Current shell: Pica. (0 changes)
Date purchased: October 15th, 2005, PetCo - Arden Way
Molts: 2 (?) successful - Late December, 3/25/06 - appears to have molted, did not come out, so still uncertain.

(01/06)
Oberon

Size and Species: Large C. Clypeatus
Gender: Male (?)
Current shell: Tapestry Turbo. (2 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: None known. (recent molt)

(01/06)
Sycorax

Size and Species: Large C. Clypeatus
Gender: Male
Current shell: Unknown turbo? (0 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 successful molt. Up from molt 3/18/06

(01/06)
Carmine

Size and Species: Medium-Lrg C. Clypeatus
Gender: Female
Current shell: Unknown turbo? (0 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 sucessful molt. Up from molt 3/26/05

(01/06)
Peaches

Size and Species: Medium C. Clypeatus
Gender: Unknown
Current shell: Green Turbo (4 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 successful molt. (naked then into small shell and finally proper fitting pica) Up from molt 1/15/06

(01/06)
Unnammed PP

Size and Species: Small C. Clypeatus
Gender: Male
Current shell: Tapestry turbo (1 change)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 successful. 2/25/06

(01/06)
Hermippe

Size and Species: Small C. Clypeatus
Gender: Female (?)
Current shell: Gold turbo (0 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: None known. (recent molter)

(01/06)
Apricot

Size and Species: Medium-Small C. Compressus
Gender: Male (?)
Current shell: Rock shell (thais hemastoma?) (2 change)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 2 successful. Up from molt 1/07/06; Second, 3/25/06

(01/06)
Asuka

Size and Species: Medium-small C. Compressus
Gender: Female
Current shell: Tiger moon shell. (1 change)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 successful. Came up from molt 2/24/06.

(01/06)
Unnamed E

Size and Species: Small C. Compressus
Gender: Female
Current shell: Brown rock shell. (2 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 molt. Lost outer left and right leg... early February.

(01/06)
Ayanami

Size and Species: Teeny C. Compressus
Gender: Female
Current shell: Brown rock shell. (1 change)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: No known molts.

(01/06)
Unnamed E

Size and Species: Small C. Compressus
Gender: Unknown
Current shell: Black Rock shell. (2 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 successful molt. Early February.

Unnamed E

Size and Species: Small-teeny C. Compressus

Gender: Unknown
Current shell: Black rock shell. (1 change)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 molt. Lost outer left and right legs... Early February.

(03/06)
Goten

Size and Species: Medium-Large C. Brevimanus
Gender: Male?
Current shell: Green (?) Turbo. (0 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: None known. (Still slow moving, burying long periods, drinking ALOT)

(01/06)
Keisuke

Size and Species: Small-Teeny C. Rugosus
Gender: Male
Current shell: Green Turbo. (2 changes)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 successful molt, early February.

(02/06)
Unnamed Ruggie *Deceased* 4/20/06

Size and Species: Small-Med. C. Rugosus
Gender: Male?
Current shell: Green Turbo. (1 change)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 successful molt, early March.
Cause of death: Sudden lethargy, unreactiveness. Beleived to be exposure to pesticide/toxin from Bed-a-Beast.

(02/06)
Unnamed Ruggie

Size and Species: Small C. Rugosus
Gender: Male?
Current shell: Rock shell. (1 change)
Date adopted: December 4th, 2005, Adopted from Riven Leither.
Molts: 1 successful molt, up 3/24/06.

(01/06)
Unnamed E *Deceased* 4/22/05

Size and Species: Teeny-Micro C. Compressus
Gender: Unknown
Current shell: Tiger Moon. (2 changes)
Date adopted: December 21th, 2005, Free from Pet Center.
Molts: 1 successful molt, early March.

(01/06)
Unnamed E *Deceased* 4/20/05

Size and Species: Teeny C. Compressus
Gender: Female
Current shell: Rock shell (thais hemastoma?) (0 changes)
Date adopted: December 21th, 2005, Free from Pet Center.
Molts: 1 successful molt, early March.

(01/06)
Unnamed E *Deceased* 4/17/05

Size and Species: Medium C. Compressus
Gender: Male?
Current shell: Nerite. (0 changes)
Date adopted: December 21th, 2005, Free from Pet Center.
Molts: No known molts.
Cause of death: Sudden lethargy, unreactiveness. Beleived to be exposure to pesticide/toxin from Bed-a-Beast.

(01/06)
Unnamed E *Deceased* 4/23/05

Size and Species: Medium C. Compressus
Gender: Unknown
Current shell: Nerite. (1 change)
Date adopted: December 21th, 2005, Free from Pet Center.
Molts: No known molts.

(01/06)
Unnamed E *Deceased* 4/25/05

Size and Species: Small-Medium C. Compressus
Gender: Male?
Current shell: Babylonia (2 changes)
Date adopted: December 21th, 2005, Free from Pet Center.
Molts: No known molts.

(01/06)
Unnamed PP *Deceased* 4/25/05

Size and Species: Small-Teeny C. Clypeatus
Gender: Female?
Current shell: Tiger Moon (5 changes)
Date adopted: March 10th, 2006, Adopted from Paul (parent's co-worker)
Molts: No known molts.

(03/06)
Unnamed PP *Deceased* 4/28/05

Size and Species: Small-Medium C. Clypeatus
Gender: Female
Current shell: Pica. (2 changes)
Date adopted: March 10th, 2006, Adopted from Paul.
Molts: No known molts.

(03/06)

Unnamed E *Deceased* 4/26/05

Size and Species: Small-Medium C. Compressus
Gender: Unknown
No Photo Current shell: Rock shell (thais hemastoma?)
Date purchased: April 4th, 2006, Wonder Aquariums - Keifer Bvd.
Molts: No known molts.

Unnamed E *Deceased* 4/26/05

Size and Species: Small-Medium C. Compressus
Gender: Unknown
No Photo Current shell: Spotted Rock [melon] shell (thais melones)
Date purchased: April 4th, 2006, Wonder Aquariums - Keifer Bvd.
Molts: No known molts.

Updates - FINALLY a deep clean.

2006-03-27T01:21:00.000-08:00

Well it was going on four months since my last deep clean, and I couldn't put it off any longer.

I used a large RubberMaid storage bin to house my main tank residents, since my Iso tank is STILL in use by the 7 crabs (5 E"s 2 adopted PP's), and that 50 gallon is still lying in the back waiting to be fixed. I visited PetSmart AGAIN last weekend, to find that they were STILL out of aquarium sealant. Add that onto the fact that I got bad customer service (extremly rude chick), and the fact that I noticed several large spider webs all over the freaking filthy store, and I don't think I'm going to shop there anymore... Both local PetCo's are much larger, cheaper (well mostly) and have better, friendly staff. They are a bit further to travel though... But oh well.

So it's going on day 2 of being in the RubberMaid, and everyone seems to be doing okay. The first night, I had the first 16-odd or so transfered over. During that night, several E's and a PP came up (Pico made it for the big deep clean again, whom I hadn't seen in about a month!), and I transfered them over. I found Carmine, fairly freshly molted (regained all the color, but hadn't eaten much exo) underneath the turtle dock, and she's been transfered over to the freshly reboiled terra-cotta moss pit. (This time, she's near the top of it, incase that had anything to do with Io's passing on) She's already climbed out and gone off somewhere... Exo in the food dish... She's more beautiful than ever, deep red and purple, though seemingly smaller.

Callisto is ALREADY planning his grand escape. Freshly molted, he's gone beserk climbing over EVERYTHING and ANYTHING trying to find a way out of the bin, lol! Good to see him so active again. I hope I have enough weight on the lid to keep him in!

I was planning to finish up today, however I didn't finish in time, and plus I'll probably be able to go to Wal-Mart tomorrow (second digital gauge, new fake plants finally?), and finish up the new tank.

I've found the exo of my Purple ruggie (who's still as purple as ever, but even darker!), Peaches's exo (wow second molt in only 4 months!?), who's not so "peachy" anymore lol, and 2 PP exos (one being Carmines') and one other E exo. Only one of those I knew about, so that brings my total sucessful molts up to 19!!!

As for my two new misfit PP's, they're settling in with my 5 E's in the 20 gal well. They both show obvious signs of being mistreated... The larger of the two shudders and spazes (sp?) every time I make the slightest move, while I'm holding her (checked and found gonopores earlier). Missing the tips of her inner legs. The smaller of the two is doing great after that frightening shelless experiance, and is extremly active and friendly, though in a way that seems abnormal...

The larger of the two (who I'm thinking of naming Spaz LOL) has moved into a slightly chipped green turbo, and the smaller into a beautiful tiger moon, and has become the first PP to try on such a popular E shell, after both trying several other shells.

Terretorial agression?

2006-03-13T01:02:00.000-08:00

Just caught sight of something strange... I went over to check up on my main 40 gal breeder residents, and heard some shuffling from beneath the second level.

There I see my PP, Sycorax, my E Ayanami, and near by, Oberon.

For some reason, Ayanami was clawing away at the base of the second level, inbetween it and the glass side of the aquarium, trying to fit through the opening, seemingly trying to escape from something. She starts to chirp, and Sycorax raises his inner two legs, and then uses his small claw to knock Ayanami off of the cup, onto the substrate below.

Sycorax then flips Ayanami over, grabs ahold of the top lip of her shell with his large pincher, and flings her into the glass wall upside down! He moves to the shell and digs a claw into the aperature, so I immediatly opened up the lid to intervene. Of course, innocently, Sycorax withdraws into his shell, while I then pick him up and move him across the tank. Ayanami then scurries off faster then I've ever seen her run, for the cover of the fake tree.

I'm not quite sure what drove Sycorax to behave so agressivly, but he seems to not be interested in fighting any longer... He's currently chilling out in his hideout below the second level. Perhaps this is the pre-molt terretorial agression I've heard of?

As a side note, Carmine is still no where to be found... She's been missing almost a month and a half now. My purple ruggie is also missing, now for about a month.

2 new adoptions!

2006-03-13T00:34:00.000-08:00

I finally went over to Paul's (mom's Co-worker) and picked up those two hermies last Friday. He gave me the Hermit Crab Cove they were stored in aswell...

When I got there, I noticed that both crabs were a bit lethargic and unresponsive. I also noted a fishy smell, and assumed one was gone right off the bat, but when I got home, I found both of them to be alive and well. There was quite a bit of buried commercial food... He was feeding them TetraFauna Hermit Crab Cakes (Ethoxyquin +) causing the smell. He had told me he bought them from a PetSmart (instead of via mail, through the coupon that the cove comes with).

The cove was SLIGHTLY larger then I had expected, perhaps a 2-3 gallon tank (as if it could hold water), made of the cheapest plastic imagineable (I can easily push in a side of the tank, or crush the top). Amazingly it had a lid, and a sponge in the water dish, which was too shallow for even a micro to use. The 'cute' little food dish was no larger then the largest crab in the tank... The water dish had a small puddle of yellowish foul smelling stagnant water, and the sponge also leaked this liquid...
Makes me wonder how companies actually can sell products like these, and make a profit, when people can buy a MUCH larger GLASS tank for 1/3 the price of the Cove ($7.99-11.99 for a 10 gallon glass tank), large food/water bowls, tank decorations, food, and more for less than $30

Both crabs (PP's of course, being from PetSmart) were found huddled together under this plastic cave thing, in the farthest corner of it. After being held a little bit, to warm them up, I moved them over to a 70% humid 2 gallon iso tank, they started to move around... Only to scurry back into their plastic cave. One paused to inspect the food (peanuts, raisins) but didn't bother to sample it. The larger was in a striped fox shell, perhaps about the size of my PP Crimson. The smaller of the two would have to be the second smallest PP I own, maybe twice the size of my micro (but still much smaller than Riven Leither's smallest PP), in a trochus shell far too small for him.

I'd forgotten the water dishes somehow the first few hours (I dunno where my brain went right about then), but I gave them both a dip in the saltwater dish, trying to flush out some of the foul water they'd somehow filled their shells with, causing them to reek as well. (I really don't see how they could of filled up their shells with so much water in such a shallow dish).

A bit later I introduced some shells into the tank, and IMMEDIATLY, the smaller crab changed out of his tiny trochus shell and into my smallest Murex. The larger tried on a Pica... Took some photos, will post later... but anyway.

The next morning, I awoke to see only one of the two seemingly on the surface... No signs of any digging, so I checked all the shells, to no avail. But then I checked the shell the largest PP was latched onto (His original fox shell), to find in horror the littler one clammed up inside! The shell was clearly waaay too large for him, he could hardly lug it around. I suspect that he'd only gone into the shell to protect himself when the other crab got too close during an aborted shell change.

After getting the other to let go, I seperated them and moved them over to the 20 gal to introduce them to my resident E's. (Well the only one of the five that was up anyway lol).

I was rearranging the tank a bit, and I was going to move the smallest PP over, who was inspecting a tiny white rock shell, when amazingly, he crawled RIGHT out of his shell in my hands! I nearly panicked, and I put him back onto the sand, and the shell he was latched on to... He tried to swing his abdomen into the shell, but it was far too tiny, and so he started to walk off WITHOUT a shell! (The shell he'd taken off rolled away a bit). So I gently picked him up and placed the old shell, and a few others, nearby. He immediatly crawled back into the one he'd just left.

I hope to NEVER experience something like that again. I could have easily of injured the poor little guy, but I think he's okay... It's been almost 2 full days since then, and he seems to be doing okay, and is quite active...

I'm planning on keeping them with my 5 E's and moving them over to the 40 gal tank when it's fixed up (if it ever does get fixed lol)...

But anyway I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to save atleast 2 more hermies! I can already tell these two will be quite interesting characters!

Not yet...

2006-02-25T23:40:00.000-08:00

After thinking about it a bit more, I'd asked if we could instead arrange a time to meet, to instead pick up the hermies, rather then leaving them in a car for 8 hours during work!

Unfortunatly, he doesn't work Sun-Mon, and we have no idea of his phone number/adress, so I'll have to wait until next Wednesday at the earliest, to pick them up.

Anyway, I've offered up some lettuce and carrots for tonights dinner... Within 2 hours it was GONE. This is the third time this has happened, and all three times, I'd seen Peaches in the area (who STILL has not regained much any color at all). I'm not entierly certain why, but they've all been eating ravenously this last week!

Also, Asuka came up from a molt yesterday. I didn't get a very good look (very late, extremly tired, and she buried again the next day), but I could tell she'd completed a molt. Callisto seems to have totally regained his color, and he's looking great! More uniform orange/dark sienna all over instead of only around his BP and far left leg!

Tomorrow, I will be going to PetSmart to get some stuff (out of Oceanic) and FINALLY (hopefully) get that sealant..... I've put it off far too long, I need to do a deep clean on the main tank, and my isolation tank is currently in use...

Adopting 2 more!!!

2006-02-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

Not that long ago my mom had told me that one of her co-workers kept two hermit crabs of his own. She'd told him about my 28 and how I took care of them, and today he decided to adopt them out to me!

He'd told my mom that they never bothered to come out of their shells, in the few months that he'd had them, other then when he put food in their cage (I beleive a small kritter carrier), and that he didn't have time to take care of them anymore [Take care of them? Feeding them and Watering them is the least you can do, and only takes mere minutes a day! He makes no attempt to increase the in tank humidity at all... Fortunatly humidity is naturally pretty high around here...]

I've set up my 2 gallon hexagonal tank for them, and my mom will have to keep them in their break room (reasonably warm, above 70F+) until she gets off work. I just hope that they make it okay through the 8 hour wait... I'll include one of my hygrometors and have her use the spray/mister to get the humidity leveled out at 70% (Going to increase it gradually as they've likely had lower levels before).

So hopefully by tomorrow I'll have a pair of new hermies! [Probably saving their lives.] I am almost certain they will be PP's (From PetSmart), so I'll be sure to include some spare turbos.

Yet another 2 molts.

2006-02-19T03:21:00.000-08:00

I found another E fresh up from a molt, who I'd only seen no longer then 3 weeks ago. Pale exo, long leg tips... the usual. But I also noticed s/he was missing the far left leg!

Also, I discovered Proteus after only seemingly a week or two of absence (I swear I saw him just 8 days ago....) has apparantly completed a molt. Long leg tips, ect... But he's ALSO missing his far left leg! (Second molt!!!)

This makes my fourth molt with limb loss... and all 4 were the far left leg. One was fatal... Strange...

Another molt... Callisto's second!

2006-02-16T01:47:00.000-08:00

I had just begun noticing that Callisto had been missing for a bit, uncharacteristaclly buried in the sand some where, a few days ago. Just last night he'd surfaced, still munching on his exo little pincher. I immediatly noticed the new leg tips, the differently colored exo (paler), and the hair... He's molted again! 2 successful molts in the 8 months that I've had him!!! Number 11...

Callisto is now quite a bit large for his favorite tiger moon shell... perhaps he'll try on that large rock shell I got when I bought him? It seems to be the perfect size now... I really can't quite comprehend how quickly these little guys grow!

I also notice that my Indo has been buried under the fake tree for about a week now. I can still see the top of his shell wriggling around at times... Going on day 5 or 6 of being in the same area... perhaps it's time for him to molt finally?

My surprise naked PP molter has moved into Mungo's original pet store shell. Last night he had a feast on the green bell peppers and pomegranite seeds I offered. Ate for HOURS. Perhaps it'll help him regain some color... he's still very pale...

Also, I never did get the time to set up my second tank. I tried Home Depot... got "help" from some stupid teenage employees who knew absolutely nothing about sealants. I left there for PetSmart down the road. I found out they did stock sealant, as I had suspected... but when I reached the aisle it was located, I found they were sold out. The first time I visit them in 3 months and they're sold out of what I need. Typical... I'll try again this weekend... Once I get my 5 E's in iso moved into the more spacious 50 gallon, I'll start transferring my main tank residents into Iso over the week, as they come up in preperation for the first major deep clean of that 40 gallon breeder... I'll get an accurate head count this time as well.

He didn't make it... first crab death.

2006-02-16T01:34:00.000-08:00

Io passed away last week, of seemingly post-molt stress... He'd dropped a second limb (I assumed he had dropped the first right after his molt, but I guess it was from stress!) and was totally lifeless with his eyes clung together when I checked on him on the 5th of Feb. I tried a quick dip in water to see if there was any response... nothing. I re-covered him in the moss, and waited another day.

The next morning, as I took him out to check up on him, he fell out of his shell, and I got a whiff of a fishy odor...

This is the last photo I ever took of Io, just a week before he passed on.

In memory of Io, whom never seemed to have the same colored eyes... even after his molt. Always the shy one, he was the first to meet Riven's crabs and spent a few days with them in Iso before everyone got moved into the main tank... I'll never forget how active and curious he was about the other crabs that day...

Setting up my second tank.

2006-02-04T03:05:00.000-08:00

Yeah the chart isn't done, not quite enough time to finish it... but I thought it was important to post this. Tomorrow I'll be able to finally finish up the repairs (hopefully lol) on the 40 gallon tank outside, and after some cleaning, I'll set it up Sunday.

The 40 gallon will be home to my last 5 "rescued" E's and any other future crabbies I may have the joy of taking care of. (Actually trying to get a pair of PP's from one of my mom's co-workers... They don't take care of them at all, only providing food and water, and they wonder why they don't come out very often...) So tomorrow I hope to spend my saved up $82 bucks on (first of all, a new 15 watt moon-glo, as mine just burned out! gah), a new tank hood (any size smaller then 3/4 of the top of my 40B and takes up to 45 watt bulbs), a 45 watt day-glo, new plants and toys for the new tank, possibly including dishes, and whatever else I think I need.

Planning to use something like 1/4 Bed-A-Beast, and 3/4 playsand, with many moss pits (either sunken terra-cotta pots, or some bathroom accessories from Wal-Mart) and hopefully some Cholla wood.

Also, I've found some little glass jars that I had the idea to use for sprouts! I've put in some Bed-A-Beast, and I plan to plant some lettuce seeds, and also
hopefully some green beans, and cilantro (if I can find the seeds from my plants last year!).

My camera is still out, so I won't have photos atleast until Sunday (probably later).

Also, I have yet ANOTHER molter today. An E came up, and is unfortunatly missing two legs! His exo has a strange blue-black tinge to it, and he's shrunken considerably... Seems to be quite active. I found him on the top of the fake-tree thing...

Molt Number 10 indeed!

2006-02-02T01:48:00.000-08:00

Crimson reappeared last night, and in typical fresh post-molter fashion, I found him gorging in the food dish. He's been recovering for quite some time, he's now got brilliant coloring, a beautiful deep purple claw and REAL Crimson red legs!

Mungo also took a quick stroll tonight, aswell as my black ruggie and my unnamed E (molted recently). My tank's been taken over by molters!!! Now all of the ones that kept me company in the last few weeks seem to be missing, including my Indo. I think they're all taking turns to molt just to drive me mad!

Io is STILL buried in the moss, approaching on week three. He's alive and seems okay, but he refuses, I mean REFUSES to leave his moss pit... I just wonder if I should take him out . possibly for his own good?

My PP in the small tapestry, (Okay that's it, I'm making a chart tomorrow and naming them all!) drained out the water dish, twice yesterday. I think he's also preparing for the big event...

I just realized that Callisto has been missing for about 5-6 days now. Could he seriously be molting for a second time? Argh, will it ever cease?!? LOL. Callisto isn't the type that likes to dig... Well he does on occasion, but almost never stays under for more then a few hours...

I'm planning my deep clean this weekend (providing that my crabs cooperate!) which I've put off for the last two weeks or so. I'll use that new sand (may bake it as it's been in the back seat of the truck for a few weeks) and add in some Bed-A-Beast to the main tank; I LOVE that earth smell it has. I hope I won't have any mold issues, my humidity tends to skyrocket in the main tank...

Weekly updates from now on?

2006-01-29T03:09:00.000-08:00

Thinking maybe I should only do weekly updates. Allows whatever (few, Lol) people who visit to keep track of things better.

Mungo came up about a day after my last post. Obviously freshly molted, and with very healthy coloring! After being quite rambunctions for a day or two, and eating a lot of scrambled eggs, she reburied. Molt number 8!

Well two days ago my black ruggie came up... Blue! Well mostly still black-ish, but with a tint of slate blue around. VERY sharp leg tips (Man, Ruggies seem to have evil, skin peircing leg tips after a molt!), and lots of hair affirms this, Molt number 9!!!

Io is still buried in the moss... going on week TWO now. Yet to come out for food or drink or anything... Has only nibbled at exo now.

I am very nearly completed with my individual photos of my hermies. Now I'll be able to sort everything out and name the adoptees!

Crimson is missing... No trace of him. Molt number 10? Lol. And I thought prime molting months were May-August!!! Sheesh.

Molters, Magicians and more!

2006-01-21T20:13:00.000-08:00

Well again I apologize for the lack of posts. I should be regularly posting from here on out, now that everything has settled down over here.

My smallest Ruggie Hachi-Roku has completed a molt not that long ago. Spiffy new Exo, that's beautifully colored (pictures soon!) and very SHARP leg tips that can puncture my skin (OUCH) are all evidence of his molt. He's got nutso climbing on and over everything. Successful molt 5.

Two weeks ago, another E who I hadn't seen in weeks (16 E's now LOL I miscounted and forgot this guy) came up also obviously fresh from a molt. Extremly long leg tips and an absence of nearly 3 weeks gave it away. He immediatly changed into a giant rock shell and has remained in in since. Molt 6...

Last week I discovered a surprise as I was going to bed... a PP, that I at first was naked, running frantically about the tank. The poor thing was all pale orange and purple, obviously fresh from a molt. It had on a shell so tiny that the only thing it could do to hide was to tuck in it's eyes... I cleaned out all the shells and offered them to him. He immediatly tried three on, and settled on a large Pica shell. A week later he's doing great, and is my most active PP! He's regained some color, but still not very much. That's successful molt number 7. This makes 11 PP's??? I'm a bit confused now I really dunno where this PP came from LOL. It has to be one of Riven's.

And finally, while I was looking for shells in the sand to offer the above PP molter, I accidentally uncovered my PP Io... and ironically, he was going through a molt too! I moved him over to the new moss pit and put a thin layer of moss to give him some darkness, with what I could find of his exo. After a week he still hadn't come up from the moss pit in Iso (with my E's), so I took him up two days ago to check up on him and to offer his exo BP and a few legs I had just found. Unfortunatly he'd dropped his inner left leg (I almost didn't notice!), and he seems much smaller then he was before his molt... :(
I put in some cuttlebone with him in the moss pit and two days later (today) he's still buried...

Last week I bought some Fluker's Moss, Bed-A-Beast CF, and a new 15 watt sun-glo bulb... The sun-glo generates much more heat, which is perfect. I just put in a tiny bit of Bed-A-Beast in my Iso tank (I LOOOVE the smell of it! So earthy lol) to give it a "trial" run. All of my E's flocked to it, I assume because of the humidity. (Tank humidity has risen to 82 from 75% already). It seems messier then sand though...

My largest Black ruggie is AWOL, and has been for two weeks. I honestly didn't expect a molt so soon! I just honestly hope he keeps his black coloring. Also Mungo is down, I assume for a molt. She was missing for two weeks, and about a week ago came up and soaked in the new saltwater dish I had put in while she was buried for about half an hour... Then she went back down... Sheesh, molting mania all of a sudden!

Anyway just thought I'd post a few updates here.

Ok update time!

2006-01-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

I really apologize for not posting within the last few weeks! It's been pretty hectic with the holidays and all the new crabs... Well here's some updates.

I received 2 E's for X-mas (Pet Center's free crab thing again... grr) from my Uncle and went back to the PetCenter the next day with my dad. I brought in about 20 caresheets for them to look at and hopefully pass out to people who were getting their crab with a coupon. The worker there seemed really interested that I'd brought in caresheets for them (even though their tank followed almost none of it) and thanked me by letting me take another crab for free (also used a coupon). So I picked out the two tiniest E's I could find. The lady behind the cash register placed the caresheets next to the (slightly improved since last time) tank... Later my dad walked in with a coupon and got a large beautiful brown-black E.

Well I managed to get photos indivudally of the new "rescued" E's and here they are!

Gorgeous dark brown-black-with-a-hint-of yellow Ecuadorian. Thinking of the name "Hershey", it fits him well LOL.

They are currently housed in the 20 gallon iso, however I am going to cut that plexiglass today(or tomorrow) and get some aquarium sealant to FINALLY patch up that 40 gal spare tank in the back and give that to them.

In other news, my yellow ruggie Hachi-Roku is up from a flawless molt after 3 weeks of absence today! He'd gone down the day after I moved him to the main tank with the others and he's now back up looking even paler (strangely) then before, but much more hair and VERY sharp leg tips. Also the exo is darker in a few places, typical of Ruggies.

Someone brought up his exo BP to munch on last night. That makes my fifth confirmed molt so far! I suspect that another adopted E has already molted and another is in the process of doing so but have no evidence so far.

If you do NOT want to be driven to insanity

2006-01-02T01:53:00.000-08:00

do NOT purchase a Kodak EasyShare C340.

The brand and name (easy share? C'mon lol) made me suspicous when I first bought it. Unfortunatly, it was the only remotly good deal either Costco or Staples had at the time.

Immediatly I noticed the flimsy design of the camera, after using several others from my family. The plastic spinning "mode" dial seemed as if it would snap off each time I spun it to get to Macro.

Initially the camera worked great. Took over 80+ pictures. But then something strange started happenning the day I needed it for New Years pictures... Every time I'd turn it on, it's led would flash green normally as it was loading up. I'd see the LED screen light up... but then the LED would turn red and the camera would shut off.

I assumed it was the battery going out (strange after only 2 days? and no "low battery" indicator?) so I tried out a few others. A few dozen others... Finally on "borrowing" a pair of used Energizer batteries, I got the camera working... For another 2 minutes. The batteries were low, and so I didn't get any life out of them. I tried several other energizers, finding 2 more that worked... untill I moved the camera in the slightest way. Then I'd get that damned "red light" again, followed by the camera shutting off.

No matter what I do, I cannot use the camera more then a few seconds.

I did a search online to find many bad reviews of the C340, and countless others experiancing the same problem, red light, and camera shutting off... It's apparantly caused by the CHEAP manufacturing of the camera. The electrical contacts quickly loose their ability to keep the batteries in place, so every time the camera moves, the battery moves, and the contact is lost, shutting off the camera.

So now I'm stuck with several dozen pictures on a camera that I can't EVEN START UP.

I'll see what I can do tomorrow...

Busy holidays - This week's news...

2005-12-27T03:46:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not posting in a while. It all started with the incident of Vicki's banning, and then the holidays coming out of no where. I've been extremly busy the last few days...

Well for starters, I got 5 new crabs, all 'rescued' from the PetCenter, 2 given as a gift from my uncle. (Will post more later) 4 are E's and I'm nearly certain the last one is a cav.

I plan to (using x-mas money LOL) get some aquarium sealant and finally fix up my 40 gallon tank. If I don't get a nice hood from uh.. santa, I'll also buy one for my 40 gal breeder. I think I'll be placing the new E's seperatly into the 40 gal, and also any new adoptions, rescues, or whatever. This means I'll have to deck out another tank however.

As for the holidays, I got a nice haul this year LOL. For starters I got my own digital camera! It's a Kodak EasyShare C315, and it doesn't even have macro, but my aunts got the wrong one (or so they say) and are planning to get something a bit less... well... crappy. But I can't blame them for trying, it's definatly one of my better X-mas presents in a long time! Other then the two E's from my uncle, I didn't get anything crab related, but I did get two GBA games...

The crabs in my main tank are doing fine still, however I'm smelling a strange odor, which I can't quite identify. Everyone's been a bit inactive however, my PP's are the most active of the bunch, out of 10 E's... I wonder if I have a mass E-molt coming up?

The indo Goten pigged out on some lettuce and coconut, stayingf there eating, overnight. The coconut was gone by morning, with only small peices scattered around the 'tat.

I need to prep dinner for them tomorrow, as I missed the last 4 days. I'm thinkin scrambled eggs with a side of apples and krill.

Okay, I need to be sent back to 1st grade.

2005-12-16T01:40:00.000-08:00

Because apparantly I cannot count.

Yes, I have 10 Ecuadorians! The other red E came up, and is the same one as I saw a few days ago. The big red E in the tiny thais melones is a different crab entierly, making my 10th Eccie.

I still don't know how I got a wrong count when I moved them over to the main tank...

The good news is that the big red E has changed! Not sure which shell he chose, but his old thais melones shell is sitting empty in the shell pile. Hopefully he's chosen something he can actually hide in.

I have a total of 6 crabs on the surface right now lol.

Today's readings,
Temperature: 72-79 (quite cold this morning, nothing but fog, and frosted grass)
Humidity: 72%-90% (when I put in the new shells last night) . It seems I still have too much water in my 'tat as the humidity won't stay below 90%... I'll start leaving more of the lid uncovered.

Stubborn... E?

2005-12-15T01:52:00.000-08:00

Well the "questionable" E came back up today.

Or so I thought. I think I have 10 Ecuadorians now. o_O

Either he molted, IN A HURRY (was gone three days), or I miscounted... I have two E's (I think) with reddish-orange Cav like coloring. (I know this guy is an E, he's got your typical E colored eyestalk, candycorn shaped, as well as blue-ish antennae, which I don't think a cav could have)

This guy is MUCH bigger then the other red-orange "E". He's currently in a thais melones that was inhabited by a smaller E. (ok now I worry, where the heck did this crab go?) I do not have the slightest clue as to why he would change into this thais melones, it's so tiny on him, that he can't even tuck his eyes in!

I picked him up just now, half not looking at what I was doing... I think I may have accidently poked his eyes with my fingernail... He was incredibly slow to "come out" (the only thing he really could to was pop his eyes in and out somewhat) and totally froze up.

After a minute or two, he came to, and so I put him back into the tank. He's immediatly dug down.

I wonder why he seems so much bigger then the last time I saw "him". I have a feeling this is my 10th E. I also wonder why the heck he'd choose to put on this tiny little shell; there's a plenty large enough selection of others. I may put in the rest of my shells, but I really don't have much room anymore...

Wow... corn.

2005-12-14T18:28:00.000-08:00

Last night I sliced off a small portion of corn still on the cob before cooking it.

I cut off the kernals on one side (access to inner stuff) and offered it to them after cooking seperatly last night.

I woke up to find half eaten corn kernals lying all over the place! Someone had a party last night LOL.

Just a few hours ago, as I got home, I walked into my room. Immediatly I hear three "plops" and I as I get closer I notice that 3 of my E's have all freaked and literally dropped where they were. Fortunatly they all landed in the soft sand lol.

After watching a bit, I see two of the E's go to sample the corn cob, as well as the purple ruggie...

Anyway, fast foward to now. Just checked on the tank again, and now have 5 crabs piled up around the food dish! My Indo, two E's, the purple rug and Crimson were munching away, or atleast trying to - the Indo had wrapped herself around the cob, picking away LOL.

Edit, 1:48 AM: Wow. Everyone scattered about 4 hours ago to make room for the big PP. He ate three whole kernals on his own, but then he spotted me, and made off to his terra-cotta pot, kernal still in claw.

A bit later, the Indo returned, ready for more (after 'depositing' a nice pile of poop under in an overturned water dish lol) as did the purple ruggie, and they were joined by two E's.

Right now my second smallest PP (besides the micro) is eating away at the corn. Half of the kernals are gone now LOL.

One of these days...

2005-12-12T03:52:00.000-08:00

I swear one of these days Callisto is gonna end up dead!!! I just watched as Callisto did a backflip off of the top of the tree, after failing in his attempt to grab ahold of the lid of the tank. He landed on a pile of shells, a good 9 inches below...

He then stumbles to get up, and starts to walk off, all confused like. I picked him up, and I immediatly notice he's broken his leg, AGAIN.

He's chipped off part of the end of his inner right leg, and also took off the black leg tip from his inner left leg. I even saw the broken pecies stuck to his claw... Of course he looks at me and tries to pinch me like nothing happened... He only molted three months ago! Ugh...

Crabbie chart...

2005-12-12T01:07:00.000-08:00

I decided I'd keep this little chart to help me keep track of who's who, how many I actually have (is it 23 or 24?), their species, and their gender.

Sorted by size.

Coenobita Clypeatus

Total: 10?

Oberon? (Largest)

Tapestry Turbo. (Naples)
Uniform rich red-brown coloring, long ringed antennae, red eyestalks and reddish-brown eyes.
Male.
No missing limbs.
Recently molted (lots of hair, some leg tips)
Shy to come out, but extremly fast and active. Not very shy. Never digs.
Loves silversides, krill, honey, jasmine petals. (Eats a lot)

Sycorax?

Unknown Turbo. (spotted, very wavy. black and tan)
Deep purple claw, faded orange-to-purple legs. Extremly long antennae.
Unknown?
No missing limbs.
Recently molted (some hair, two leg tips)
Very shy, extremly cautious and mostly inactive. Very agressive. Never digs.
Loves krill.

Mungo

Pearl banded tapestry turbo. (Naples)
Dark claw, "ruby" red-to-deep red legs, long antennae. Brown eyes. Black splotch on shield.
Female.
No missing limbs
No signs of previous molt.
Very outgoing, highly active, though slow. Will pinch if feels threatened. Often digs. Can be grouchy, and a little agressive.
Loves apple, krill, roses, carrots, honey and watermelon. (Eats like a pig)

Pearl banded tapestry turbo. (Naples)
Lavander, or light purple unform claw. Tan to faded orange/red legs. Short antanae.
Male (lol, bad name choice, Io = female)
Missing outer left antennae, short outer right antennae, crooked red right eye, missing two leg tips. (Maybe had a shell fight before I got him?)
No signs of previous molt.
Very shy, refuses to come out of shell if held. Moderate activity, likes to hide. Often digs.
Loves krill, apple, roses, ground beef, eggs, silversides.

Unnamed

Unknown turbo (spotted, banded black and tan). Shell extremly large (sinks far in)
Very dark purple claw, purple-red legs...
Unknown?
Unknown
Very, very shy, refuses to come out if held, fairly inactive. Hides often, never digs.
Loves krill...

Crimson

Goldmouth green turbo. (Micheal's) Originally had painted shell.
Faded purple-tan claw. Faded red-tan legs, Red eyes. (now black???) Short antennae.
Male
Missing inner right leg tip.
No signs of previous molt.
Somewhat outgoing, though totally inactive in tank(will recline in shell for days). Usually hiding, sometimes digs.
Apple, honey, krill, raisins. (Does not each much)

Pepper

Green turbo. (PetCo) Shell too large (sinks in).
Very dark purple-olive colored BP and limb. Black spotted ruby red-to-blood red legs. Short antennae.
Female?
No missing limbs.
No signs of previous molt.
Outgoing, most active original PP, but inactive compared to new guys. Usually hides, digs moderatly.
Apple, krill, lettuce, carrots, coconut, cantaloupe, roses.

Sakano?

Tapestry turbo (Naples)
Very rich, dark purple BP, uniform dark reddish-purple. Long antennae (for size), orange eyestalks.
Female?
No missing limbs.
Some black leg tips.
Very outgoing, very active and fast. Will pinch to get away like an E. Did I mention fast? For a PP anyway. Digs rarely, loves to climb.
Krill, silversides, honey.

Unnamed (Have not yet had a good look...)

Silver turbo.
Very faded coloring...
Unknown?
No missing limbs?
Dunno?
Very shy, did not come out during bath.
Silversides.

Pico

Pica (I beleive)
Very healthy dark purple BP, very orange/red legs. (considering that Pico is half the size of a quarter) Tiny orange antennae, orange eye stalks.
Unknown
No missing limbs.
1 molt. Short black leg tips, however he's seriously grown since the last time I saw him. (No longer sinks in shell)
EXTREMLY, EXTREMLY shy. Refused to move after being moved for an hour and a half once. Seemingly active, he spends 99% of his time with me buried. Rarely see him.
Scrambled eggs (only time I've seen him eat)

Coenobita Compressus

Total: 9

All similar in size, estimated.

Callisto

Tiger Moon shell (SeaShellCity) Perhaps a little too big for shell.
Orange-reddish BP and legs. Typical E tan coloring elsewhere. Large stitch marks, long antennae. (For an E)
Male
No missing limbs. Missing 1 small portion of leg tip, and one large portion (as of today lol)
1 molt, very hairy, though he's already lost leg tips.
EXTREMLY active, by far my most. Incredibly unshy, even of me and shadows. Fast, loves to climb over EVERYTHING, and very, very rarely digs. Never stops shell shopping. Will pinch.
Honey, coconut, mango, krill, celery leaves, oats, carrots.

Unnamed

Tiger Moon shell.
Orange BP and legs, typical E coloring elsewhere. Large stitch marks, average antennae. Similar in size and appearance to Callisto.
Female
No mssing limbs, missing portion of one leg tip.
Some black leg tips from last molt. Hairy.
VERY active, and rarely digs. Not shy (though not as much as Callisto), loves to climb over everything. Seems to enjoy shell changing, tried on tapestry, but then changed back.
Krill (have not seen him eating just yet)

Proteus

Brown rock shell. thais hemastoma. (PetCenter)
ORANGE BP, slightly orange leg tips, reddish joints between legs. Short (always curled?) antennae. Formerally largest E, last molt went "bad"?
Male
No missing limbs.
1 molt. Long black leg tips, some hair. (molted in September)
Active, outgoing when held, but shy in tank. Climber, has "split personality" as he hides at the slightest sight of movement, yet is a "bully" and frequently disturbs molters. Attacked Callisto in attempt to take shell in August.
Honey, krill, celery leaves, coconut. (Does not eat much)

Misato??

Black rock shell. (thais hemastoma) (Pet Center)
Dark tan/grey coloring. Large stitch marks.
Unknown?
No missing limbs.
Black leg tips (recent molt).
Active, not too shy, seems to like hiding more then climbing. Digs a lot.
Jasmine petals, silversides.

Azura

Tiger Moon Shell (SeaShellCity)
Green-orange matted BP. Green-slate gray legs, grey body. Long antennae, large eyestalks (for size).
Female.
No missing limbs. Missing end of top half of BP.
1 Molt, September-October, sharp leg tips.
Very active, extremly shy, will retreat to shell at any hint of movement. Pops out of shell quickly to pinch and get away. EXTREMLY fast runner. Lives by philosophy of "Pinch, run and hide!"
Scrambled eggs, honey, coconut, pineapple, mango, spinach, krill.

Asuka

Rock Shell??? thais melones
Orange-yellow coloring. Tan with brown on body. Seemingly small eyestalks for size...
Unknown.
No missing limbs.
Recent molt, leg tips.
Active, LOVES to dig. Shy when held.
Have yet to see eat.

Unnamed

Rock shell thais hemastoma (Proteus' old shell)
Orange-red BP, red legs, brown body, with touches of orange. Sliiiight red on base of eyestalks.
Male?
No missing limbs.
Recent molt, sharp black leg tips, very hairy.
Not very active, LOVES to dig. Very shy when held, also very fast.
Have yet to see eat.

Unnamed

Rock shell thais hemastoma (Azura's old shell)
Slate grey/brown coloring. Unusual for an E, uniform. Short antennae. Large stitch marks.
Female
No missing limbs.
No sign of previous molt.
Very active, loves to climb and dig. EXTREMLY fast runner, fastest in the tank. Takes off like a rocket when she spots me. Loves to pinch...
Krill

Ayanami

Rock shell??? thais melones
Brown-orange coloring. Short antennae, very dark for being so small.
Unknown (shell makes it impossible to see)
No missing limbs.
No sign of previous molt.
Very active, but loves to dig. Also an avid climber, and very fast runner. Pinches like mad.
Krill, honey.

Coenobita Rugosus
Total: 3

Unnamed

Green turbo. (Mungo's old shell) Slightly too small for shell.
Black BP with white stripe. Black limbs, with tint of blue/indigo. Short antennae.
Unknown.
No missing limbs
Short black leg tips, molted not long ago.
Not very active, will climb somewhere and stay there for hours. Slow runner, slower then some of my PP's, and will retract into shell quickly. Refuses to pinch.
Have not yet seen eating.

Unnamed

Rock shell thais hemastoma (PetCenter)
Beautiful purple/pink BP, with dark purple/burgundy legs. Almost black. Long antennae.
Male (lol)
No missing limbs.
Long black leg tips, recent molter, lots of hair too.
Fairly active and outgoing, loves to climb and explore. Quick to hide in shell. Will pinch to get away.
Krill, Silversides

Hachi-Roku (8-6)

Green turbo. (Naples)
Uniform yellow-orange coloring over body and BP. Fleshy colored antennae bases. Very small (smallest after to my micro Pico)
Male?
No missing limbs.
Medium sized black leg tips, recent molt.
Outgoing, but will retract in shell in an instant. Has yet to try pinching, very, very fast. LOVES to dig.
Krill, Jamine petals, rose petals, honey.

Coenobita Brevimanus

Total: 1

Goten

Green ? turbo.
Uniform pinkish-purple color. Lots of black spots. LARGE BP of course. Large antennae.
Female.
No missing limbs, but top half of BP is deformed. (much like Azura's)
No signs of last molt.
Shy, but will come out quickly. Tries to pinch, but cannot grab ahold (top half of BP is missing). Slow. Will climb, but never digs.
Krill, Silversides, honey, jasmine petals, rose petals. (BIGGEST eater so far)

Will update as I go along here... Seem to be missing a PP?

Doh. 6th E.

2005-12-11T04:06:00.000-08:00

Today as I was doing a head count, I noticed that I had FOUR crabs running around in black rock shells. I wondered about this and examined them. It turns out the red "ruggie" is actually a dark colored Ecuadorian, now in Proteus' old shell. Doh!

It looks like I have 6 adopted E's and not 4 ruggies, but 3.

So as a recap, I have three E's in tiger moons (largest unnamed E, Callisto and Azura), four E's in rock shells (3 midsized adopted E's and Proteus) and finally two E's in Thais Melones shells (the two smallest adoptees)

So currently, the "black" (looks very blue in certain lighting too) ruggie has on a green turbo (just changed out of Mungo's old green turbo), the yellow (Hachi-Roku) ruggie's in a small green turbo, and the purple ruggie is in a black rock shell.

Today's musings..

2005-12-09T02:51:00.000-08:00

Checked the gauge today to see how the tank held up while I was gone (school).

The minimum reading it had was 73 degrees, and 77% humidity. Maximum read 79 degrees and 91% humidity (doh). The temperature is doing great with the new bulbs, but I think I overdid it the last time I misted the tank LOL. I've dissassembled the Humdifier a bit (easy to rebuild tho) and tried using it to create a bubble saltwater pool, but I had difficulty keeping the airstone in there, so I took it out for now. Besides I don't need any more humidity help from it LOL.

Caught sight of the Indo scooping up some of Real Ocean water from Vicki just now. He seems to love it. On the opposite end of the pool was the new female brown E, taking a dip. She freaked and zoomed on outta there as soon as she saw me peeking in the tank though lol.

Medium sized PP (second smallest of new ones) has just hopped into the tapestry turbo abandoned by the E a few days ago. Quite a nice fit for him. My smallest PP out of the new adoptee's has suddenly become much more active (she spent the second day with me not moving, huddled under her shell near the tree, so I was a bit worried). Caught sight of her exploring and sampling some krill...

The largest PP has changed into a Tapestry Turbo that is a bit of a tight squeeze for him. His claw still hangs out fully retracted a bit. But I think he loves the lightness of it compared to lugging around that heavy green turbo. The next largest PP seems to be a fresh molter. VERY sharp leg tips, and extremly hairy with a nice sharp coloring.

Black ruggie...

2005-12-09T02:43:00.000-08:00

The last crab I had identified before moving them all into the main tank turned out to be a ruggie, and a black one at that!!!

He's (no gonopores I think. Didn't get a very good look tho) not quite as dark as some of the ruggies I've seen at the HCA, however he still has quite the beautiful black big claw with a white stripe down the middle.

I took him out (against my better judgement lol) to run around on my hand a bit. He's very sweet, and refuses to pinch, even if he thinks he may fall. He's a little bit on the shy side but still quick to come out. Seems to enjoy just chilling out, and doesn't run around frantically like my other Rugs do!

He's moved into the beat up green turbo that Mungo came home in. Quite an odd shell choice of the many turbos in there, but it does allow him to stick out his eyes easily! I just can't beleive that Mungo was at one point stuffed into this turbo. It's gotta be 1/4 of an inch smaller then her current banded tapestry. This ruggie's quite large...

Main tank!

2005-12-08T02:53:00.000-08:00

I've gone ahead and introduced the adoptee's to the main tank tonight.

I bathed all of them together, including my old crabs, and let them have their first impressions of eachother in the 20 gallon iso as I totally made over the 40 gallon main tank.

No agression whatsoever, though I did notice the coolest thing; There is a new adopted E who looks ALMOST totally identical to Callisto. Callisto has a partner in crime LOL! Heck, they both are wearing same sized tiger moon shells, Callisto's is a tad bit darker with more spots, while the other's is a bit worn down and less shiny. That's the only way I can tell them apart besides by looking at their shields. The new guy has very wing-looking marks on his shield, very dark! But they are both absolute nuts, and the new E is a friggen speed demon! I have a feeling he's got the 'shell hopping' bug that Callisto has. He's the same E who tried on a tapestry turbo for a couple hours two days ago.

He (no gonopores, just checked) and another little tiny grey E (saw gonopores. Only the fourth female crab I've identified so far) are INSANELY fast. When I was taking some things out of the 20 gal iso, these two guys took off in a panic mode, I have NEVER seen crabs run so fast! When I took out the tree/fake leaf thing, the E's abandoned ship, and took off like bullets, madly dashing around in a crazied panic in reaction to the movement above them LOL.

If I don't get my pictures up and a reply from Riven about the names soon, I may start naming some of them. Was looking at some charts today, and I quite like the following names: Sycorax, Oberon, Sinope, Hermippe, and maaaybe Portia, all moons of the solar system. This time I'll do proper research before applying names though. (Found out Io and Callisto are females in greek mythology, DOH)

I am GLAD to have them in one tank now, I had just about enough, frantically running about trying to maintain steady temperature and humidity between the two tanks lol.

No pictures... [rant]

2005-12-07T17:55:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I swear I'm the only person who is fully sane in my family...

My cousin's husband's grandmother passed away last night. I had never really known her, only seen her a few times at family meetings, such as this Thanksgiving. Of course now my aunts are going over to smother Jim (cousin's husband) about it, saying "OH I'm so sorry!" (as if any of them cared) and giving pictures ect ect. I'd think the poor guy needs some time to get over it, but nooo.

So of course, me, having the BEST luck in the world, end up borrowing the ONLY digital camera with a picture of his grandmother. My mom tells me I must give it back before 6 pm today.

EVEN THOUGH there are over 5 FREAKING people with these pictures. My aunt uses her Dell SOLEY to send pictures to her friends in the Phillipines, and she cant' even do that without my help. I have been over there SO many times that I am sick of it. She has atleast TWO copies of EVERYTHING on the digital camera ON HER COMPUTER. But she insists on getting the camera back. So now I get into an argument with my own parents, trying to tell them that she HAS the pictures. But do they listen? Nooo...

My aunt is too stupid to figure out how to work her computer, so she must use the camera instead. SO I won't be taking pictures I promised today. Now my mom is angry that I keep borroing these cameras so I'm not allowed to anymore.

Long story short, I am not able to take any more pictures of my hermies (or anything), simply because my aunts (there are 3 of them, my grandmother and two of my uncles. Not ONE of them knows how to use a computer) aren't literate enough to figure out how to click "My Computer", "My Pictures" then select the picture and click print.[/rant]

Well I got about 5 crappy pictures that were taken last night in the middle of the night. I had to rely soley on flash, low batteries, and had to take pictures of a tank that was on the floor. Needless to say, none of them turned out very well, but I'll be posting them soon...

~16 New crabs --- Adoption!!! --------- Stay tuned for pics.

2005-12-05T01:16:00.000-08:00

I got my dad to drive down to Fremont to meet up with Vicki. She'd just adopted quite a few crabbies from two people. So I had an oppertunity to adopt, instead of purchase, and actually help out!

I'm now the proud caretaker over over 6 (7? haven't identified the last guy yet, as he's hidden and refuses to come out LOL), PP's, 5 E's, 3 ruggies and an indo! WOW. These guys must have been through a lot together; they seem to get along almost perfectly, even though they're currently cramped up in a little 20 gallon iso. They are INCREDIBLY active, and like I said, show almost no agression to eachother. They seem like a firmly established colony.

Quick rundown through some of the crabbies that stand out to me... I'll post more tomorrow as it's getting late.

First of all, there is a large PP, and I mean BIG. Just under Jumbo sized I'd estimate! His BP looks quite powerful, and I'd hate to be pinched by this guy. He's got rich dark brown/red coloring, and is quite friendly for such a giant crab.

Then there's the Indo. Such a beautiful crab! S/he's a large sized, and the second largest of the group. What an appetite this Indo has! He was the first to inspect the food dish, and the last to leave. He's been on an eating binge of mostly honey and krill for the last 4 hours. Now I clearly see the differences between a C. Brev and a C. Clypeatus!

The ruggies! At first glance I thought they were all E's, but then I noticed the off color patterns, and then, on their adorable tiny little eye stalks, black smudge marks! I finally have some ruggies! One is an orange/brown, another is orange/yellow (and barely larger then my micro!), and the last ruggie is an AMAZING deep violet/pink color! The largest ruggie has the most amazing coloring I've seen on a crab, totally purple, and it's BP is beautiful with deep purple with a touch of pink and of course the classic ruggie stitch marks.

The E's I now have are all as crazy as my originals. 4 of them are in tiger moon shells (man these shells are popular! I have 6 of 8 E's in these LOL) and the tiniest little guy is in a long spiral shell. The largest E of the bunch immediatly hopped into a small tapestry turbo. After strutting around in it all day, it switched back into it's tiger moon. I was hoping to get some shots of an E in a turbo but oh well.

I laid out almost all of my shell collection inside the turtle dock, and laid it on the substrate to act as a "shell shelf". I've seen atleast 9 crabs go into it (lol only two of the PP's, 3 of which are still clinging to the tree), and of those 9, 7 have changed shells already!!! The gorgeus purple ruggie took the larger rock shell that was inhabited by both Callisto and then Azura, and it matches the color PERFECTLY. The medium sized ruggie jumped into Azura's "baby" shell, the first shell she had with me. Finally the near micro ruggie hopped first into a jade turbo, then into a polished green turbo. I was kinda hoping it'd stay with that beautiful jade though!

As for the E's, I've had two ditch their shells (one returned to his original shell though after a few hours) , one for a turbo, and one for a rock shell. Two PP's have changed, one from a pica into an older goldmouth turbo, and one from a beat up turbo into a nice shiny green turbo from Naples.

Tomorrow I SHOULD be able to borrow my aunt's camera, however she always seems to flake out on me, and never lets me use the camera unless I get someone to drive me there and ask her directly lol.

I CANNOT WAIT to upload pics of everything!

Anyway I'll write up more tomorrow, for some reason I couldn't access my blog until just now, and I really need to get to bed lol.

Return to Normalcy?

2005-12-03T15:11:00.000-08:00

Last night, literally out of no where popped up four of my crabs. Pepper, Crimson, Callisto and Proteus were all out and about, at their normal activity levels.

I added in the fish netting from Naples last night, Most of the smell is gone, and only a very faint trace remains. I wrapped one end around a suction cup and the other around the grapevines... Already Callisto has tried climbing on it, but didn't stay very long...

I saw Pepper taking a dip in the saltwater pool, and Proteus sampling last night's dinner of raw (microwaved) ground beef, leftover frozen pork (from a couple weeks ago), and a side of coconut with honey. Even Crimson was quite active, I watched as he kept trying to climb up the slope of the turtle dock, and sliding back down lol.

This morning, Mungo came up from her self made EE cave... She immediatly took a dip in the freshwater, tried out the food, and evidently went back to her hole, as I cannot find her now.

Callisto is currently in the food dish, I think after the coconut and honey...

So much for a mass molt.

Just a few updates...

2005-11-30T01:43:00.000-08:00

I had a horrible day Monday... I guess I got some sort of food poisoning as the night before I could NOT sleep, due to the fact that I had to go to the bathroom every 10 minutes. I vomited more then once... It's been a long time since I've been so sick as to actually get a day off from school... Monday I stayed home. Either I had some sort of 24 hour bug, or I ate something that SERIOUSLY didn't agree with me.

Anyway add that onto the busy Thanksgiving schedule of the last few days prior, and that left me with little time for the crabbies.

Last two dinners for them were spaced 3-4 days apart... First one Wednesday consisted of simply of scrambled egges. I left that in a bit too long and by Saturday I had replaced it with two kalamundin slices and a dried up hibiscus flower.

By today there seems to be no interest in the Kalamundin (which I probably didn't let ripen enough anyway) and surprisingly in the hibiscus either. I think they know I've been skimping off on their dinner a bit lately and are revolting by not eating LOL.

Oh well I have a bit of a feast planned out tomorrow (Wednesday) for them as I will have plenty of free time.

Callisto and Mungo have been primarily the only two ones active over the last few days (as evidenced by the photos, and I had to give the camera back Monday morning), and Azura popped up briefly yesterday. This morning I spotted Crimson shell shopping, though I don't beleive he slected a new shell (I think I scared him off).

More new photos

2005-11-29T02:33:00.000-08:00

Possibly the best photo of my crabs so far. Here's Callisto, an Ecuadorian, Post molt. Has only been 3 months since his molt, and he's already managed to break off many of his leg tips lol. Post-molt hair is very evident still however.

Again showing off his expert climbing skills lol.

Next few Photos are of Mungo, who I'd JUUST missed during her shell change.

Mungo moments after the change, looking over her old tapestry turbo.

Practicing hiding in the new shell...

"Oh! I don't know which to pick!"

Thinking time...

"I give up... I'll just go with this one..."

Walking off with her beautiful new shell.

Both of Frank's (From the NaplesSeaShellCompany) pearl banded tapestry turbos are taken now. It seems that these Turbo Pletholas really are quite a favorite among crabs. I'm almost certain that someone's gonna pick up that regular tapestry; it's been tried on over 4 times now.

Some new photos!

2005-11-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos I managed to snap last night. Callisto, Io and Crimson were the only ones up however.

Callisto back in the second Tiger moon shell. His first one was taken by Azura. You can see the babylonia he abandoned last night in the background.

Io toting around his beautiful new Pearl Banded Tapestry Turbo. Who wants or needs painted shells, when you can get such beauitful natural ones like these?

Io and Callisto hanging out in the grapevines.

Borrowing new camera...

2005-11-26T02:52:00.000-08:00

I will be borrowing another one of my Aunt's new camera's for the next day or two.

I've already taken a few pics, and this Nikon 4600 has taken amazing quality snapshots, comparing to the previous two cameras (pictures of which were edited due to color imbalance, contrast errors ect).

I'll upload tomorrow!

Will he EVER stop shell shopping!?

2005-11-25T02:11:00.000-08:00

He's up to 12 total changes now that he's back in his tiger moon shell...

Callisto is up and about by his lonesome again right now. All of my others are buried!

So he's by himself with nothing to do... So what's he do? Go shell shopping! He's inspected 3 different shells so far, and is currently looking a a pearl banded green turbo, that could EASILY fit him SHELL AND ALL. And he's still inspecting the shell to see if it's a good choice.

I swear that little crab has some form of brain damage... I mean that shell is so humongous, it's too large for even MUNGO!

Digging, digging, and more digging...

2005-11-25T00:54:00.000-08:00

For the last week or so I've been noticing that my crabs have gone nutso digging all the time.

All of my PP's are dug down right now, and over the last three days the only one to come up was Io for a few minutes. Crimson is shell opening down under neath the turtle dock and on the second level. It seems like he enjoys the heat, but not the light, from the lighting, which is right above the second level.

Poor Callisto has been up by himself most of the week. Proteus just came up tonight from a week long exodus under the sand.

Callisto has changed back into his Tiger Moon shell, I suppose he didn't like the fact that the babylonia was so small. He took a good look at the larger virgin murex and spun it around for over an hour, but I don't think he actually tried it on.

I was kind of hoping someone would try out a murex, they're such beautiful shells! Oh well...

Lighting trial...

2005-11-23T00:37:00.000-08:00

I've been using a 14 watt fluorescent bulb with the hood to see if it made any difference in temp. It has, and the temp has gone up by about 4 degrees on average... This is only a fluorescent bulb too... I'm sure the sun-glo will make quite a bit of difference!

Sometime this week I'm getting a Sun-Glo/Moon-Glo pair of bulbs, somehow lol.

Last night's dish was a simple one of scrambed eggs...

As for the new shells, surprisingly not much enthusiasm has been shown by my crabs. Mungo tried on the green pearl banded turbo, and after realizing he couldn't fit in the half-log anymore, he switched into Io's abandoned tapestry.

Callisto switched into a Babylonia sometime last night. Oddly enough he chose the chipped one. But I suppose it makes sense because he can get his eyes out very easily now. I LOVE the new shell choice, in my opinion, babylonias are second in beauty only to turbos. He's extremly light now however. A little bit smaller then his last shell too.

Return of the "orange spider"... + Light system and humidifer on the way!

2005-11-20T21:55:00.000-08:00

I lifted the towel over the tank in order to get ready to place the rest of the freshly boiled seashells into the 'tat. And right infront of me, frozen in fear to the spot is my little micro PP! He stood there, gaze completly affixed to me until I moved... And of course he hid. So I put all the newly cleaned shells into the tank, and half an hour later the micro is STLL scared and hiding on the same spot.

Wow... While I did see him, it looked like he'd grown considerably. I think he was still hardening up from his molt, maybe it took longer cause of the slightly overcrowded conditions at the Petco (stolen exo?)

He's gotten incredibly larger, and I even mistook him for Proteus for a minute because of the total orangeness. Then I realized... the shell was too small. LOL.

This is only the FOURTH time he's come up in the month and a half I've owned him. Talk about a total hermit!

I lucked out on Saturday as I was working on one of the cars... I noticed the same box I got my 2.5 gallon hexagonal ISO from, had stuff in it... So I peered inside and found... A hood for the 2.5 gallon tank with a light bulb slot!!! It's got a maximum of 15 watts, but I plan to use it as a temporary heating device for my 30 gallon. I found an old 14 watt flourescant bulb, and I'm using that for now. It's only brought up the temp by about 3-4 degrees but you can't expect too much heat from a little flourescant bulb.

Next weekend (or maaaaybe sometime this week), I'll pick up a Day-Glo and Moon-Glo bulb from PetCo (They're on sale!) and since those are incandescant, they'll create a lot more heat.

Hopefully this will be a solution to my temperature problems!

Also in the same box was an air pump! It was actually working, and had a tube and airstone attached!!! I'll pick up another tube and maaaybe some sponges so I can build my own humidifier this week!

This will help regulate my humidity more automatically, even though it's already fine. (and skyrocketing. I keep having to prop the lid opening which is annoying lol).

Busy...

2005-11-18T23:18:00.000-08:00

Wow no post in almost a week... I apologize for that, I've had a lot going on this week!

First off, Those seashells from Naples came on WEDNESDAY. Much sooner then I had expected!! I got over 16 turbos, 1 pink murex, 2 virgin murex, 2 babylonia, 4 heavy nautica, a frog shell, a rock shell and a candy land snail shell!

I got a wide variety of turbos, including 2 polished silver turbos(these look absolutely BRILLIANT in person! I didn't think much of them from the pictures, but the pics don't do them justice), 2 polished gold turbos, two tapestries, two pearl banded tapestries, 1 pearl banded green turbo, 2 goldmouths, 2 green turbos and many smaller greens.

I only placed 4 turbos (only ones I had time to boil) in the tank, and Already I've had 4 shell changes, mostly from Mungo trying out the Pearl banded tapestry, the pearl banded green, and then into a tapestry. Io has ditched his tapestry for a pearl banded one, and it's a snugger fit too.

Also I got a new DIGITAL humidity/thermometor gauge, aswell as some "powerlock" suction cups which are reaaaly strong. I have one holding up the gauge in the tank now. It seems my analogues really do suck as the digital said the humidity was 86%. Once I dropped it to 80% I noticed a significan increease in activity; I had assumed it was the lower temps causing this inactivity, but it turns out they had the air too humid!

I got a plastic T-Rex brand palm tree 'island' from my cousin who had owned a single hermie many years ago. I'll be adding that into the substrate as soon as I sterelize it, and when I get a larger water dish, I may even use it as a literal 'island' and a way for them to climb out LOL. I'm sure my E's will love the new palm tree, as they liked the old one so much.

Tomorrow, or Sunday I'll be able to hitch a ride to a PetCo or something. I'm aiming to buy a smaller UTH to put on the side of the tank with the deeper substrate to boost the temp a couple degrees; I don't need a very strong UTH as it does not get much colder then this weird weather we've been having in Sacramento. Also I'll ask to got to a Home Depot for some playsand (this stuff goes fast lol) and some aquarium safe sealant to work on the 50 gal.
There's always the possibility of finally getting some ruggies... you never know!

Drop in activity?

2005-11-13T19:26:00.000-08:00

After the initial "new tank" panic, activity has seriously died down, even almost a week after the move...

My ONLY crab who is currently on the surface is Callisto, and he's halfway slumped in his shell sitting on the grapevines... All alone. He hasn't moved most of the day, but I see his antennae wiggling so I know he's okay.

I can see Pepper in the terra-cotta pot and I think IO under the half-log, but that's it.

My temp was a little bit on the chilly side this morning, 72 again, however it is currently 77 and the humidity is about 79%...

Who knows, maybe my PP's are finally going to molt... In that case maybe I should go visit a pet store for some new crabbies to keep me company while the rest are molting? LOL! I have plenty of room now.

I really think I need to get that digital hygrometor/thermometor. Most likely my mom will go to Wal-Mart this Wednesday, so hopefully I'll be getting it.

Also I never did get to work on the 50 gallon today... I didn't find any bleach to disinfect with, nor did I ever get any aquarium sealant, so it will have to wait another week.

Ordered new shells!

2005-11-13T19:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I finally managed to order some new shells, this time from Naples!!! I spent about $30 on ~22-30 shells... I ordered a large turbo assortment, small turbo assortment, a pink murex, climbing net, and india large mix!

I can't wait until it gets here: I haven't introduced any new shells to the 'tat in over a month now lol, so some new shells are a bit overdue.

This is the most I've ever spent in one purchase LOL. I have a feeling it will be well worth it though!

Chicken bones...

2005-11-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

Last night I managed to snag some tiny chicken wing bones before dinner was cooked.

I have bit off the edges so the crabs can have acess to the marrow, and yet again they've shown me their love for that stuff!!!

Last time I tried some, I had Callisto and Mungo go on an eating binge for over 4 hours, and Io also joined in for about 2 hours!

They surprisingly didn't eat that much... I did have just about every crab except my once again bureid micro try it out however. Just now I caught sight of Azura struggling to get some out with her small pincher - her large pincher has been made virtually useless since her molt. She's gotten alot darker too, and is by far my darkest E now.

Anyway I kinda feel asleep today and so I didn't get to work on the 50 gallon, however tomorrow I should get started.

As per advice from the HCA, I will bleach the tank first as it was used for reptiles, and may possibly harbor salmonella. I'll follow up the bleaching with a good rinse, and then switch to vinegar... Rinse that out and let air dry for a bit.

I still don't have any sealant, however I may get some tomorrow.

Move complete...

2005-11-08T01:02:00.000-08:00

Io finally came back up... Well I suppose I shouldn't use "finally" as I managed to have all 8 crabs all up tonight, which is in it self rare.

After being incredibly shy for a while (lol I "jumped" him as soon as he popped out of his hole to move him over... d'oh), he's out and about just like the others.

This tank is soooo big though! I think it's a 30-35 gallon regular (as opposed to a 30 long or 30 high), as it's much higher then my 20 long, but still has more floor space then it. Plus it's a terrarium, not an aquarium, and therefore not made to hold water. I can actually approach the tank without scaring Azura into her shell now, if she's on the opposite side lol! She still backed up and eyed every single move I made, but she made no movement to hide.

I just can't get over how TINY my micro is!!! He looks like a tiny orange spider with a green/grey abdomen walking about the tank LOL! And his eyes must be no larger then the eye of a needle! He's quite quick for his size too, but doesn't like to get moving as much as the other PP's.

Also, my mom hinted that she may FINALLY purchase the Turbo assortment from Naples I've been wanting so badly! I plan to order both the large and small assortment, aswell as the india large mix, which *MAY* include Frog shells, Rock shells, moon shells, babylonias and even Murex! Can't gaurauntee that they won't be cracked as they are intended for craft uses, but it's soo cheap. I'll be getting about 22-30 usable shells, perfect for my PP's and E's! Hopefuly some of the India Mix shells are small enough for my micro too, however if I get my way, I'll be picking up those tiny green turbo's I saw at the Pet Center last month, providing they are still there. I don't think they have any other shell shoppers there lol, so they're likely there, not to mention they were at the bottom of the bin.

Oh, I will be having new pictures up for my next post, hopefully. I only got a few usable ones from the digital camcorder last weekend...

30 gallon ready...

2005-11-07T23:23:00.000-08:00

After some intitial cleaning, and using a razor to get rid of some duct tape (thanks to Brandi for the idea (HCA)) the 30 gallon is ready. I went to Home Depot for a 50 pound bag of playsand which I thought would be enough..

Jeez this 30 gallon terrarrium took all 50 pounds of the playsand, and it's just barely enough!

I only have 3 crabs up in the 20 gallon, so I moved them on over to be the first "crabby pioneers" lol. I'll keep the 20 gallon empty for now, but before I go to bed I'll put it a spare water and food dish incase someone comes up tonight while I'm asleep.

Everyone, even Crimson is having their usual excited (or frantic) new tank exploring, especially Callisto who just won't hold the heck still. Can't wait untill I finish up the 50 gallon this weekend!!!

Edit, 12:46 AM Azura came up about an hour ago. Just now Proteus and Mungo came up, however Mungo partially exposed Pico's cave, and I could see his tiny shell in the hole, clinging to his shell. I moved everyone into the new 30 gallon now... I put the Micro in the terra-cotta pot for some privacy, so he isn't so stressed out about me moving him.

Still waiting on Io...

New 30? gallon tank too!

2005-11-07T01:46:00.000-08:00

Well after some delays in getting going earlier today, (lol I overslept by about 3 hours...) we finally managed to go get the 30? gallon from a nice old woman in N. Sacramento!

The tank looked ABSOLUTLY great! She had mentioned online that the tank had a crack along the side of it, so I didn't know what to expect. But the tank's only got a tiny hairline fracture in one corner, barely noticable, though I do worry about the duct tape she had over it.

It's a wood rimmed (instead of the usual black) terrarium, and is most likely a 30 gallon, however I do wonder about that. It does seem unusually long for a 30 gallon, so maybe it's a 35 or something? After rinsing it out with some vinegar and water, and getting some of the stickers off with the help of a moist towel, the tank looks brand new! It even has a sliding mesh lid, it seems like custom built!

Tomorrow my dad will go out and get some playsand (wow lol, he's been "infected" by the hermit crab bug too LOL) since I am running low, so tomorrow I'll set up the 30 gallon for now, untill I can get the 50 gal properly patched up and cleaned, probably next weekend.

Unfortunatly I had to return the digital camcorder today, so I won't have any pics! I didn't even get a chance to photograph my micro, he was dug under the last 3 days! That little guy sure loves digging...

Shell change # 10...

2005-11-05T18:27:00.000-08:00

Callisto's at it again. He's changed shells FAR more then any other crab in the tank... Don't forget that this guy's a little E. So much for E's not liking to try out new shells!

I just took a look at the tank about 15 minutes ago... I see an empty tiger moon shell lying in the sand! Both of my tiger moons are being used by a crab, so I knew there was a shell change (or naked crab). Right next to it, I see a shell start moving!

There is Callisto inside yet another rock shell. I'm really surprised he tried this one on! This was the VERY first shell I purchased back in June. It was waaaaay too large for him, and he had trouble getting around LOL. No one (my E's I mean) ever took an interest in the shell before simply because it was so massive. But of course Callisto has to try on every potential shell ya know.

After running around (or trying to run around, he could barely move in it) for a few minutes, he apparantly decided it wasn't a match for him. He's back in his tiger moon as of 5 minutes ago.

So, Callisto must continue his search for the "perfect" shell, lmao.

New 50 gallon tank!

2005-11-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

I just got a new 50 gallon tank today; nearly three times bigger then my current 'tat! I'm REAALLY excited right now LOL!

I'd been arranging this for some time now, but I've learned not to post anything until it's happened... I had to trade in my 10 gallons for it however. I beleive the 3 gallon and the 20 gallon I use now are more then sufficient as isolation tanks; the 20 for newcomers, and the 3 for "emergencies" or (surface) molters.

It's bottom is a bit cracked however... I've purchased a large slab of plexiglass to reinforce the bottom of the tank. Tomorrow I'll buy some aquarium sealant to glue down the plexiglass and to reinforce the glass bottom. With a little bit of fixing, it'll be ready for use soon.

I guess the cracked bottom pretty much rules out a UTH as my heating system. I'll have to look into a lighting heat source then...

Tomorrow I should be getting a 30 gallon tank for free too! I can't wait! It'll be my backup iso, and maybe a home for any adoptee's I can now take in!

Borrowing another camera...

2005-11-04T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well I managed to borrow my Aunt's digital camcorder today. It's macro setting isn't very good, and there isn't even any flash, as it's made as a camcorder, not a camera really.

I already tried some photos, but all that really came out (save one pic) was a blurry blob LOL. The only good one was taken from quite far out, atleast compared to the last digital camera I used, so I'm gonna have to make my pictures further away, even with the macro setting on.

Stay tuned, I'll have new pictures tomorrow, when it's nice and bright during the day. Hopefully I can get some shots of my micro, who's been up for the last 3 or so days now. He just went back down somewhere, so I may not be so fortunate.

MICROO!!!!!!!!!

2005-11-02T20:55:00.000-08:00

HE'S FINALLY back up!

I am absolutly overjoyed, but I don't really know why LOL!

I lifted the towel to take a peek inside the tank just now, and who do I see staring up at me? My beautiful pale orange micro crabby thats who! After a 2 week exodus under the sand, my micro PP is finally back up. Oddly enough it happens to be the same hour he went down two weeks ago.

I just can't beleive he's been down that long for apparantly no reason. I suppose he could have been destresing, but I already had him for almost a week before he went down into the sand.

I'm gonna continue my hands off policy for another few days or so I think, though I may check on him right now just to see how his coloring is. That way he has time to adjust to his new tank.

Edit, 1:14 AM Okay, so I lied LOL. I took him out and after waiting patiently for nearly 40 minutes, the little guy finally peeked out. When I picked him up, he went crazy trying to run; one thing I've noticed about him. He's easy to scare into his shell, and takes forever to come back out, but once he does, he doesn't seem to be afraid anymore.

He's considerably darker now, almost reddish all over, with a deep purple on his BP, and some semi-sharp black leg tips, which further re-enforces my idea that he molted right before I purchased him.

Azura's molt...

2005-11-02T18:49:00.000-08:00

Azura came back up again today after being missing for two days. I took her out of the tank just to see how much she had changed since her molt...

With Callisto in the other hand, I compared them side by side. If it wasn't for Azura's now fading green tint, they'd look completly identical! Azura is one size smaller, and of course has the missing BP tip, but otherwise they look nearly identical, shell and all. I wonder if it has to do with the fact thatt they have been eating the same foods as eachother in the time that I've had them?

Anyway, Callisto spent hours gnawing away at the coconut last night.

Mungo came back up from depths unknown, and gave my tank a complete makeover! She knocked over the larger fresh water pool, emptying the water into the substrate, and knocking out the shells and gravel lining the inside of it. She then proceeded to hide in the sideways dish LOL.

I guess because the half-log has Io, Pepper, Crimson and Azura stuffed under it, she decded to make her own hidey.

Midterms ALREADY yay!!

2005-11-01T02:47:00.000-08:00

Well it's already November... This week marks the midterms for the first semester classes, and so I'll be studying (hopefully) and cramming (lol) like a madman for a while. I probably won't be on much for a few days.

I really need to get this test down for my AP History class, my grades have sagged to a C in there, and I can't let it go any lower. It is indeed much harder then just regular History, much more then I thought...

Still no micro...

2005-11-01T02:38:00.000-08:00

1 more day until I can mark the micro as missing for 2 weeks. I really am getting worried as there is no reason for a micro to be missing much longer then 5 weeks at most, and that's probably VERY long.

Last night's dish was made into a COMPLETE mess! There was bits of scrambled eggs and pork EVERYWHERE. Much of the pork was gone, strangely enough no one seemed remotely intereseted in any part of the hard boiled egg, except for some nibbling at the yolk.

Took me a while ( and the removal of some substrate lol) to clean this all up, and so today I'm preparing a less messy dish.

Today is a rather simple dinner consisting of calcium supplimented (Okay'ed by Julia_Crab and the EH) raisins and defrosted coconut.

Wow. It seems they REALLY do perfer frozen, then defrosted coconut, as I currently have 3 crabs sharing one large slab of coconut LOL. Mungo, Pepper and Callisto somehow managed to drag out a size of coconut larger then any of them onto the substrate, and are all digging in at different ends. The process of microwaving/defrosting seriously releases the wonderful (by some, I hate the smell) coconut aroma, so it drew the crabs very quickly to it!

For some odd reason Mungo is acting REALLY skittish. I lifted the towel up a little bit to get a better view, and Mungo took off like a rocket backwards. Perhaps a sign of an upcoming molt? Personalites tend to change before and after one... We shall see.

Day 2...

2005-10-30T21:29:00.000-08:00

After careful observation today it seems Proteus has no more interest in Azura.

Proteus ACTUALLY changed shells! He was my only E not to change shells, and now only my micro (who is still no where to be found, nearing week 2) is the only one who still hasn't tried something else on. Proteus jumped into the Rock shell that Callisto abandonded for a tiger shell last night.

Today I have prepared some of last week's scrambled eggs (which I refridgerated of course), half a hardboiled egg with shell still attached, and some slices of pork. Also a few peices of krill in the other dish.

Already Azura has dragged out some of the pork and is munching away at it. Io and Mungo are eying it right now, though I think they're unsure about coming out of their burrows, as I have a light on in my room right now.

So this all brings my total molt count to 3!!! All of my E's have molted. Now I anxiously await one of my PP's to start. Something tells me that the PP's don't much like sand as a molting substrate as they are more inland crabs. I may purchase some EE the next time I go to PetCo or PetSmart

Azura reintroduced

2005-10-30T02:01:00.000-08:00

Well I couldn't stand how depressed Azura seemed being locked in up Iso by her self. She even spent an hour just sulking in the corner, so I decided that today is the day I'd put her back in the main tank.

I bathed everyone who was up (Azura, Callisto, Crimson, Mungo, Pepper, and Proteus), to get everyone with a neutral smell, and help get rid of Azura's "freshly molted" smell.

I hate bathing the crabs as afterwards they always simply sulk around and try to get sand off of them that's stuck onto them. Then they usually go off and hide for hours... but it had to be done to lessen the chance of further agression.

Proteus tried once to apparantly attack Azura, and she started chirping away. I seperated them and for the next 15 minutes nothing happened, so I put everyone one by one into the main tank.

Immediatly, Crimson went off to hide in the terra-cotta pot, Proteus went to the half-log, Callisto (being his strange self) immediatly goes to check out a shell like nothing had happened. Not 5 minutes later he was already in the shell, making it his 9th shell change. Now I feel bad cause Proteus had carefully examined the shell while in Iso but deemed it unfit because I hadn't cleaned out the sand yet...

Azura seems thrilled about being back in her home with the others, she's gone nuts and is back to her active self exploring every inch of the 20 gallon.

So far no agression, Proteus is staring out at Azura from under the half-log while she attempting to scale the glass... But he doesn't seem interested anymore.

Wherefore art thou Micro crabby?

2005-10-28T20:19:00.000-07:00

Okay yes I know, "Wherefore" is really more like "Why" but still.

It's been a week and two days since I've seen my micro PP Pico up and it's starting to worry me.

I think he may have been too stressed from the pet store, then me accidentially uncovering his hole.

No smells, no shells, no traces of anything. He was just *I THINK* finishing up a molt when I got him, as the very first day I got him he was completly orange with a slight purple tint on his BP. A few days later his BP was a much darker purple, so I don't think he's molting.

On a happier note I can now see the top of Azura's shell in the iso tank in that new hole that appeared two days ago, so she's still alive and atleast moving.

Psycho crab.

2005-10-27T00:37:00.000-07:00

After taking a good look at Callisto again today, I realize he's already somehow broken off his inner left leg's tip. It's only minor, but where there's supposed to be a sharp black nail, he has a stub.

He just molted 2 months ago, and is supposed to have nice long leg tips and everything, but nooo... I can only imagine in what daring feat he managed to lose that in, LOL.

Crabs gain these black leg tips after they molt, and the longer they are, the more recently they have molted. They tend to dull down just like a dog's nail for example as they run around and explore, and once in a while they do get clipped by a fall or something like that.

Proteus still has painfully sharp legs after his molt in very early September, but one thing that puzzles me is why he never grew afterwards. When I first got them, Proteus was clearly the largest crab, with Callisto quite a bit smaller, and Azura smaller still. I swear Callisto nearly swelled up double his size after his molt, but Proteus never really grew any. Infact it looked like he shrunk as he now can fit further in his shell by maybe a millimeter or two. Even a month and a half afterwards, Callisto is clearly larger with a shell aperature of 12/16ths of an inch (3/4ths) while Proteus is only 11/16ths of an inch.

Cold again...

2005-10-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

Once again this morning the 'tat has reached a low of 71 degrees F. And it ain't gonna get any warmer in the next few days.

I now have a dilemma...

I was planning to buy a larger tank when I got another 50 dollars in November from my grandmother, and with my spare money (or borrowed from my parents) a nice heating system, either a UTH or some sort of lighting system ( currently leaning more towards UTH. I think it'll fit with my routine nicely if I turn it on right before I go to bed, as it doesn't really make a difference untill it's been on for 8 hours anyway, right when I wake up.)

Now my problem is... It's getting cold, very quickly. I won't get that 50 bucks for another 2-3 weeks, but I need heating like now.

Do I go ahead and wait 2 weeks depending on my dad (who doesn't work) to keep the temperature stable then get a larger tank and a heating system, or do I just forget the larger tank and buy a 20 gal UTH?

I'll have to wait and see for another day...

Well I didn't have time to prepare food for my crabs last night, so I just took out their emptied food dish. Now I find Pepper in the SAME exact spot I usually have my food dish, looking out at me, as if telling me she wants food NOW LOL.

Well I guess I better go and prepare tonights dinner, which will consist of cooked shrimp, squash blossom, and strawberry leaves and flower petals.

Return of the purple pigs...

2005-10-23T22:56:00.000-07:00

Couldn't help the title LOL.

Well Today's Sunday and I think since it's reccommended to offer some eggs cooked in EVOO or Coconut Oil weekly, I'll make it every Sunday.

It's actually been a bit longer then a week (doh) since I last cooked up some scrambled eggs, and since it seems to be Azura's favorite dish, I kinda feel bad...

But my other crabs have found the food dish today! Within minutes, Mungo was eating away. He didn't stay very long surprisingly, but not long after, Pepper, Io and Callisto joined in. It's been two hours, and finally Callisto has gotten filled up and returned to his favorite spot up on the second level, but before he did, he and the other two PP's totally trashed the area near the food dish.

Each one of them dragged several large peices of food out onto the substrate. Io and Pepper are still working at it, and I think Pepper attempted to make it all the way to the terra-cotta pot, but just decided to forget it and eat it on the spot LOL.

Never had such a strong reaction to scrambled eggs before, but I'm glad they are eating up, as it will help my PP's if they choose to molt soon. And I'm hoping they do, as Pepper is the only one that has even tiny black leg tips.

Azura is still buried in the Iso tank, but I think she's doing okay. If she comes up tomorrow I'll still leave her in Iso, but otherwise when she does finally come up, I'll give my E's a bath, and let them all (including PP's) run around in the iso incase Azura has any molt smells on her. I think i'm gonna opt out the PP's from the bath, especially Pico.

Edit, 1:04 AM Io and Pepper are STILL eating. Mungo has come back, and dragged a very large peice underneath the second level. Crimson has joined in and is propped right on top of the food dish lol. THE MESS!!! It's not gonna be fun cleaning up the horribly stinky mess tomorrow, and I just hope no one gets the idea to bury any...

I just hope Pico comes back up to try some too, I don't beleive I've ever seen him eat, other then my own freaking skin LOL.

Whew... Azura.

2005-10-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

I woke up today to find Azura's big pincher up on the surface!

I knew last night Proteus had burrowed down in the area where I beleive she has gone to molt. I didn't think anything of it though.

So I ask for help on the HCA, and I go ahead and start lightly digging for Azura. I put everyone else in the Iso tank for a bit.

I find one green leg... then two legs... I feared the worst when I felt a shell.

After brushing away some sand, I see Azura in the shell, big pincher and all! She immediatly starts to come out, so I place her into the Iso and move everyone back to the main tank.

She seems okay, and is right now eating her big pincher exo and two shedded exoskeleton legs.

I guess Proteus had stold her empty big pincher to snack on last night lol!

Here she is prior to her molt. This is the last time I saw her eat, in preperation for the molt. She's already lost the majority of her green coloring.

Anyway, wish her good luck as she is still probably stressed out from this whole ordeal!

Edit, 6:20 PM. Stay tuned, I'm working on building my own webpage dedicated to my hermies and how to care for them!

Fall = Maple leaves leaking sap = WHITE FLY INSANITY

2005-10-22T17:36:00.000-07:00

Well it's October, and the maple tree out front is beginning to leak it's sap all over the place and leaves are coming down.

Last year we had a slight white fly infestation... This year? It's just beyond words.

I have NEVER seen so many critters in one area before. I counted HUNDREDS of white flies zooming about in the afternoon sunlight flying from leaf to leaf, I assume collecting the rich sap.

But it's not only the white flies that are invading. I see HUNDREDS of aphids crawling up the trunk of the tree. I've got some larva up there too of which I can't p[ositivly identify, however I BELEIVE they are lady bug larva. Either that or the evil mexican bean bug larva.

I took one lower leaf of the maple and on the backside were dozens of bright yellow eggs!!!

I REAAALY need a digital camera!

I took off a whole branch with dozens of bugs on it, and I've stuck it into a giant ziplock (including the leaf with the eggs) sealed it, and frozen it in the freezer.

I plan to let it freeze untill Wednesday when I can borrow my cousin's camera again. I'll also ask on the HCA later if frozen aphid/white fly eggs and lady bug larva are acceptable for the crabs to eat.

TWO molters???

2005-10-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

I am just now noticing that Mungo's been missing for 3 days now. 3 days ago, he buried side by side with Io. Io has since then popped up, eat a bit and went to hide in the half-log for the next day or so... Today he's out and about again, once again sampling that apple cider! So I think that I'll include juices more often into their diet. Hey, if just one crab likes it, that's good enough for me!

Anyway, I dunno how I missed her, but Mungo is no where to be found.

The "gym sock" smell I got when I beleive Proteus molted is kicking in, I'm hoping that's Azura.

Today's dish features Persimmon. I ACTUALLY found a use for the garlic mincer thing LOL! We don't even use it for garlic anymore, as it's better off just smashing them for better flavor... but anyway, I used the garlic mincer to mince the persimmon into tiny little blocks. Looked absolutly fantastic, so I went ahead and minced some canteloupe (also letting out much of the canteloupe juices) and I tried a watermelon, but lol mostly it came out as juice.

So they're having minced persimmon and canteloupe soaking in some canteloupe and watermelon juice tonight.

I'll take out the apple cider and honey mixture later tonight, as currently Io is drinking it up.

Edit, 10/24/05: I found Mungo up yesterday, so he just happened to be buried I guess.

New cave opening has appeared...

2005-10-21T00:35:00.000-07:00

And I was expecting to see Azura, even though I knew 9 days was pretty much too short for a molt.

It turned out just to be Proteus though, as he was covered in sand, and already up on the second level lol.

I took the micro out for a bit again today. Poor thing was terrified, and didn't leave his shell for half an hour. I did slightly brush some sand off of his BP, and he then used his BP to push my finger out of his shell LOL, as if telling me to 'GO AWAY!'. I just went ahead and placed him back in the tank, and for a while he remained paralyzed up on the second level. I left the room, and 10 minutes later I come back to see he's no where to be found, though I believe I see traces of a new hole he's digging.

My other PP's are being their usual selves, bumps on the half-log lol. I've got all 4 of my other PP's crammed into the half-log right now. Two of them have been there since Tuesday.

As for the liquids experiment, Io and Callisto were the only ones who showed even remote interest in it. Io stayed in there for an hour atleast, while Callisto dragged out a soaked maple leaf and made a complete and total mess in the sand... Crazy little E...

Then again no one else really bothered to come out to the food area today, other then Proteus who briefly munched on some carrot.

"Liquid foods" experiment.

2005-10-20T01:51:00.000-07:00

Well I got bored and of course I have an excess of unpasteruized, unpreserved and unsweetened apple cider as well as the entire jug of honey.

So after reading that crabs might try out 'juices' I decided I'd try some out... I got a small unused bowl, lined it with several maple leaves, and added a bit of honey and apple cider, to complement the rather generic main dish of spinach and carrot.

I placed the bowl ride out side of the opening to the half-log so hopefully my PP's in there will get a whiff!

Will edit this post later or tomorrow if any of them seems to like it.

Edit, 2:12 AM: Already, I have Io stretched out over the dish, I beleive drinking from it. I can't quite tell cause he's soooo shy that if I even approach the tank (the dish is near the glass) he'll hide.

Callisto is on the prowl down on the main area, heading towards Io actually. Even Pico my micro is actually stirring up on the second level. He reminds me of a tiny little spider or something LOL.

Micro; Stressed? Or just shy?

2005-10-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit worried about my micro now... While I was refilling a near-by water dish, I accidentally caved in his hole in the sand. Acting more on impulse, I softly removed the sand around the collapsed hole, until I uncovered the top of his shell, and left it at that, figuring he'd be able to figure his way out from there without the stress of me yanking him out of his hole. I know that he was atleast alive earlier this morning, cause he had dug a second cave a bit over.

Well for the next thee hours he didn't budge. So I slowly lifted him out of the sand... He looked fine, but there was not the slightest movement. He's got what seems to be that PP habit of choosing a shell WAAAAY too large for him, so when he's fully retracted into it, he kind of sinks all the way into the shell, like Io and especially Pepper do. Normally the micro's atleast having his claw twitch at me, but this time no movement at all... I took him out and I got some sand out of the opening of his shell by dipping just the top of the mouth of the shell into some dechlorinated salt water. I tried not to actually let the water touch him, just get rid of the sand.

So I let him sit in my hand for the next 20 minutes. Nothing. I even let him sit on a towel for atleast another 25 minutes... Nothing. So I just now put him back in the tank... I'm hoping he's okay.

Edit, 11:13 I just went back to check on him just now... and at first he's no where to be found. After a close examination of the tank with a low powered flashlight, I found out he had snuggled up underneath the turtle dock and the coconut fiber. Innocently looking out with his tiny eyes at me like nothing was wrong... This little guy is so tiny and cute, It's hard NOT to be worried about not seeing him LOL.

Still no sign of Azura... 3 of my 4 other PP's are crammed under the half-log again, while Mungo has been in the same corner of the tank under the second level all day. His antennae are going about, so I know he's okay.

Hermit crab shopping list.

2005-10-19T02:12:00.000-07:00

(Repost, Originally posted October 4th, 05. Edited today, October 19th)

I think I'll also keep track of how much I've spent. Since this is my first post I'll begin with everything I can remember so far. Every paragraph break indicates a different store/shopping date.

June:
Food Source (not actually bought for crabs)
2 gallon distilled water = $1.50

Julliard Pet Center
3 E hermit crabs (Proteus, E) = $1.99 (two were free)
Small IO bag = $0.37?
Two bags of beach sand = $5.00 (rip off!!!)
3 shells (two whales eye's, one rock shell) = $1.50
HBH Variety Bites (now in garbage) = $2.09?

PetSmart (Zinfandel Dr)
10 gallon tank = $9.99
2 shells (tapestry, green turbo) = $3.00
Jungle Aquarium Salt (never really used it) = $2.99?
Micheal's (Zinfandel Dr)
Seashell pack (2 Delphinula, gold mouth turbo) = $1.99
Basket Seashell pack (Delphinula, Muffin land snail) = $2.29

June total = $32.71

July:

Home Depot
Playsand = $4.29

PetSmart (Zinfandel Dr)
Ammo Lock Dechlorinator = $2.99?
Cuttlebone = $1.00? (no idea)

Julliard Pet Center
Hygrometor/Thermometor combo pack = $11 (I now know this was also a ripoff)
2 shells (two rock shells, induced first shell changes) = $1.00

July total = $20.28

August:

Store ?(don't remember where I got it)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil = $3.29 ?

99 cents Store.
Coconut = $1.99

Sea Shell City(Online)
Moon/Nautica sea shell pack = $4.99 + $6 in shipping = $11.99 total.

PetCo (Arden Way)
2 PP hermit crabs (one in painted shell, (no longer has it))= $11.00
Natural Half-log = $3.29

Asian Food Store (I did not go)
Young Coconut = $6.99 (Pack of 9)
Young Coconut = $6.99 (Pack of 9)
Young Coconut = $6.99 (Pack of 9)
(Can you tell my family loves coconut? LOL. After only a month, there's a grand total of 2 coconuts left out of the orignal 27)

Julliard Pet Center
Small bag of Instant Ocean = $.67 ?

August total = $53.20

September:

Free! (THANK YOU VCKUMS!!!!!)
20 gallon tank + lid
10 gallon tank + lid
Feeder dish
Many fresh herbs and flowers
Turtle Dock

Micheal's (Zinfandel Dr)
Seashell pack(2 goldmouth turbo) = $1.99
Seashell pack (goldmouth turbo, delphinula) = $1.99
Spanish Moss = $2.99? (Never used it. Likely treated with pesticides)

Target (Zinfandel Dr)
Wardley's Chlor Out = $2.19
Terra-cotta pot = $0.49

PetCo (Laguna Bvd, Elk Grove)
2 PP hermit crabs = $9.00 (no painted shells = cheaper, and better)
Oceanic Saltwater mix = $4.99?
Krill = $3.99

Home Depot??? (I assume it was)
Plywood + 4 by 4's for add on to bunkbed = $7.00?

September total = $34.63

October:

Julliard Pet Center
3 shells (rock shell, nerite, um... long spiral one) = $1.08

Apple Hill
Locally Harvest Organic Honey = $5.00

PetCo (Arden Way)
1 micro PP hermit crab (Pico!) = $3.49

Apple Hill
Indian Corn = $2.50
Apples (variety) = $4.00
Squash = $0.29

Unknown? (I didn't purchase)
Canteloupe + net = $.79
Spinach = $2.00??

October total = $19.15As of 11/19)

So, a total amount of all my hermit crab related purchases equals out to...:

GRAND TOTAL = $159.97 (so far)

So much for the cheap easy pet! And I have had it pretty lucky too, I know many spent much more.

Also please note, I have plenty of food, it's just that half of it is organically grown in my backyard, and the rest is from what I can snag before dinner ect.

PLUNK!!!!!!!

2005-10-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

LOL. As I was typing the last post, I heard an EXTREMLY loud ka-PLUNK from the tank.

I of course went to check things out, and it looks like my PP Mungo was up on the turtle dock inspecting one of the empty gould-mouth green turbos, and didn't realize he was about to go over the edge with it. He was hanging partially out of his shell over the side of the turtle dock, with the green turbo all the way at the bottom LOL. I just hope he takes the LONG way down, and doesn't go jumping after it...

They are lovin' that coconut fiber bedding! I've got 5 of my 6 crabs that are up currently in the CF substrate on the second level. Mungo I have NEVER seen go climbing before, neither have I seen Io climb anything. Io, Pepper and Callisto are all snoozing up on the second level, halfway buried. Proteus is also up there just on the top looking around, while Mungo apparantly is shell shopping up on the turtle dock. I placed my less 'favorable' shells there, such as the delphinulas, muffin land snail shells, and a slightly cracked (probably busted open after that fall LOL) green turbo.

Edit, 1:41 AM: Doh! I posted it was Crimson, I meant Mungo! I am really sleepy obviously lol.

New Online Photo Album!

2005-10-19T01:03:00.000-07:00

I spent most of Sunday organizing my new Yahoo! Hermit crab photo album. I completly forgot to post the link to it ANYWHERE though LOL!

So here it is! http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shadow51689/my_photos . Has 4 albums currently, food, group photos, E's and PP's. Various photos of my crabs, at a higher resolution then the HCA one.

Azura?

2005-10-19T00:02:00.000-07:00

Well it's day 8 since Azura has gone missing. I guess she really is molting then... Callisto also molted when he still had pretty sharp toe-nails so I suppose it's not impossible to happen. Not the faintest clue where she could be buried at though. Or if she's even in the tank : /...

As for my other crabs, there was a lot of activity. Partly I beleive cause my mom was blaring out the radio while I was at school lol. Everyone else except the micro is up, Mungo is currently sitting at the edge of the half-log, and Crimson is trying to climb it. Io, Pepper, Callisto AND Proteus are all up on the second level together. The PP's are in the dark area between the second level and the turtle dock. I can just barely make out the micro PP in a hole in the sand, he's made himself a large cave, and I can see some of his legs and part of his shell in there, from the top.

I took out Io and Pepper since there were next to the lid opening. I can now confirm Io is male, but I'm a bit confused about Pepper! I swear Pepper has ONE gonopore! I'll try to get a photo asap... I do notice that Pepper is now EXTREMLY active. When I took him out of the tank, he only hid in his shell for a few seconds. The rest of the time he was running around quite quickly, fairly unafraid of me. I guess he's getting used to me, as he was sooo shy when I first got him. He wouldn't come out of his shell, even during the introductary bath!

I'm thinking of the name Pico for the micro. Pico being one millionth of a million, or a very, very small amount lol.

'Micro-proofing', or so I hope.

2005-10-17T00:12:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention in my previous post that I took steps to help 'micro-proof' my crabitat.

I boiled several craft and clam shells that I can't use and cleaned them thoroughly. I then placed one or more shells pointing upwards, to act as a ramp or ladder, in each water bowl. This way, I think the micro will be able to easily get in and out of the water dishes, which to him are absolutly massive. My food dish is a fake rock with a little indent in the center, so there's no need to worry about that one...

Now this 20 gal doesn't have as much silocone holding it together compared to my 10 gallons, so I'm hoping the micro climbing the silicone glue won't be an issue. Still, I plan to add a weight to the lid of the tank as soon as I find something appropriate to use, just in case.

I'm hoping my solo micro will be able to live happily with my other crabbies.

Micro PP, Introduction day!

2005-10-16T23:32:00.000-07:00

I went ahead and decided to introduce my micro PP today. I kinda feel bad about having to bathe them all, as I had bathed them (except the new guy of course) all last Friday. That was one of my rarer 'impulse" baths lol, I just... felt like I wanted to bathe them. (Don't worry, the bath prior to this was over a month ago.)

Holy crap LOL. When I took out the terra-cotta pot, I looked inside to find 3 PP'S inside! That really made me feel bad about taking their half-log and putting in into the iso, and so I went ahead introducing them.

I took everyone who was up, (everyone except Azura, she's still no where to be found) and placed them in my secondary isolation tank (THANK YOU VCKUMS AGAIN!!!) with a moist towel so I could rinse out the shells and refill the water in the 'tat.

I then took out each of my crabs one by one and gave them a bath in a small half-strength saltwater bowl. Everyone was cooperative today, and they all came out and flipped, even Io! Wow. There was sooo much sand that came off of them... One by one again, I put them into the tank with the micro to dry off... I then bathed the micro PP.

He obviously didn't much like it, took him forever to come out, and he struggled to flip himself up... I helped him out, and put him back in the iso tank to meet his future tankmates. He zoomed off faster then I've every seen a PP move, into the half-log, without taking notice of the giant moving "rocks" around him. Callisto soon entered the hidey, and seemed fascinated by his new tiny friend. He had a feeler fight with the crab, not even 1/5th his size.

The micro grew bolder and came out to explore.

Other then that, my crabs didn't seem to care they had a new tankmate, nor did the micro seem interested in saying hello. Then again, I wouldn't be interested in greeting someone if a creature 100x my size had just taken me out of my home, dunked me in water and then put me in a room full of strangers = S...

Anyway I put everyone back in to the main tank once I was done. Not a trace of Azura still...

The general 'after-bath time' panic ensued, my poor micro was so shy he didn't come out for a few minutes. During this time, Io nearly trampled him... Just one of Io's legs is enough to squish the poor micro LOL.

Proteus and Crimson went to chill out on the second level, Callisto eventually joined them. Mungo is currently digging himself a large hole by the corner of the tank, right underneath the half-log lol. Io and Pepper are now hidding in the terra-cotta pot, I don't think they quite realize their favorite half-log is back.

At first the micro clung to his shell for a few minutes, but eventually he went exploring a bit. He then partially buried himself, and isn't moving. I can still see part of his antennea twitching though, through the hole he's made.

No ones taken any interest in the freshly cleaned shells yet.

I just hope the stress of coming into a new home wasn't too much for em.

He's back up!!!!

2005-10-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

My micro PP just came back up it seems!

The little bugger scared me half to death, making me think he'd escaped! I just went to take a look at the tank, and he's innocently walking along, with sand all over him, as if nothing had happened.

Just wondering if I should take this oppertunity to introduce him into the tank (After a bath of course, and a close inspection for mites), or take the more cautious approach of waiting a few more days...

Day 5...

2005-10-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Azura is still no where to be found... I dunno why I'm so worried about her, I had Callisto missing for 6 weeks due to a molt. Something tells me this time it's different though. =/

My Micro PP in ISO is no where to be found either. Not a trace of him after 2 days. I never saw him even attempt to eat or drink when he got home either (Other then some bark from the half-log)

Apple Hill part 2!

2005-10-16T01:46:00.000-07:00

Will write up more tomorrow, a bit sleepy tonight...

One of my uncles from down in LA is visiting us for the next two weeks. We took him up to Apple Hill, and I got to go for a second time. JEEZE the place was CROWDED. I swear there were atleast 3x the amount of people there were last saturday.

I got quite alot more indian corn, a wide variety of apples, some squash (like I need more), and I think persimmon? I almost bought some organic applesauce but I figured I could make my own or something, at $5 bucks for a tiny bottle...

When I got home I checked the tanks... Not a TRACE of my new micro PP in the iso tank. I have a bad feeling about this, and I don't see any signs of him. I even checked the water bowls just incase... The lid wasn't secured down by any means, either....

Also Azura is STILL not up. It's day 4 since she's gone down and not a trace of her either. I don't think it's a molt because she still has some somewhat long leg-tips. Then again she's my only E that hasn't molted (or so I beleive).

They never did bring the digital camera, lol. Oh well, there's always next Wednesday... and the Wednesday after that... and the Wednesday after that... you get the picture lol.

New MICRO PP!!!

2005-10-15T00:24:00.000-07:00

After driving through Watt Ave. Aka "The parking lot" around here (lol) and eating dinner out, I convinced my parents to take me to the PetCo very close by.

I heard on the HCA that Thursday's were their 'new shipments' of crabs day, so I was hoping for maybe a new species, such as ruggies. No Rugs, but I saw an adorable little PP in the tank! I picked him up and held him for a good 10 minutes while the worker there refilled some water. He never came out, but I knew he was alive as he was opening and closing his BP. His Pica shell was sooo tiny, not even bigger then a dime!

I recognized the worker there as the same guy who helped me last time. He also apparantly recognized me, and asked if I was some sort of hermit crab collector lol. I told him I was part of the HCA, and he went on to how he was study reptile biology in college! He even said that he was against hermit crabs being sold because they were wild caught (This I knew of course, but it still made me feel guilty...), which totally surprised me, a pet store worker with actual brain capacity! He also said that he was trying to convince PetCo to bring in a shipment of Straws (which totally contradicted his last sentance to me but whatever), and I tried to convince him otherwise by telling him how delicate straws were... It seemed like he listened.

Anyway, the entire trip home my new micro PP only came out of the shell once to check out what was going on, but quickly retreated.

I set up the iso and placed him in there. After about 15 minutes he FINALLY came out. The guy's shell only takes up 3/4s of a DIME! He's soooooo tiny! His legs are the size of toothpicks, and so delicate looking. I picked him up (surprisngly he didn't retract and hide), and I got a good look. Definate PP, orange/peach all across, with a slight hint of purple on his BP. No missing limbs or even cut antennea it looked like! I think he recently molted, as his nails were sharp.

He didn't take kindly to this inspection though LOL! While I was holding him, he tore a small chunk of skin off my thumb... He then lifted it up to his mouthparts! He had to have been starving, trying to eat his owner lol! After that, he tried to dig in with both claws, so I had to put him back in the tank before he did any more damage lol.

Personality wise, he's kind of strange. He came out once for a second in the entire 45 minute trip home. But after he got in the iso tank, and when I picked him up, and put him back down, he never hid! After you coax him out, he refuses to go back in lol (No not all the way out of the shell of course).

Anyway, tomorrow I should be able to borrow the digital camera from my cousin as they are coming over again, and I may be able to snap a few pics of my new micro tomorrow!

Hmm. Updates and more pictures!

2005-10-13T01:26:00.000-07:00

Here's last night's dinner...

Fresh Cabbage and Cauliflower leaves. Sprinkled with Krill powder and mostly whole krill. Also has dried rose petals.

And... WOW. Today it's almost completly gone. Not a trace of the krill left, and only one tiny peice of rose petal left. Much of the cauliflower leaf is gone. Half of the krill was smuggled "elsewhere" by my crabs though LOL. I see atleast two peices outside of the dish, and one is inside the terra-cotta pot where Mungo brought it to munch away, away from my prying eyes (and camera!)

Here he is attacking that peice of krill. He see's the papparazzi and grabs onto it...

The Krill smuggler in action. He's got it firmly in his LP, and is headed towards the terra-cotta pot for some privacy LOL. Buh-bye!

Mungo tells Io about the yummy food. (Sorry for bad angle! All I could do without disturbing them)

Pretty soon he's feasting down too. Eventually even Pepper and Proteus join in, but this was after I had given back the camera.

Some miscellanious photos.

Crimson acting like his cute self. Better clarity then the last one.

ARGH! ATTACK OF THE NEARLY-CLONES!

3 of my 4 PP's are in green turbos lol. From left to right, Pepper, Crimson, Mungo.

Well It's Wednesday already...

2005-10-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

And I have to give back the camera...

Well Over the last few days I've snagged almost 300 photos LOL.

I'll be adding them in gradually so I don't get one post super long.

For today, I'll include my crab's "shell history"! Dime included in shot to show size.

Here are Callisto's shells, from left to right. His first one was rather beat up and very thin. Tried on second shell then third, and then back into that second one. The last shell is VERY similar to his last one, but NOT the same. Azura is currently inhabating that one, so I used one that was nearly identical to it. Total of 8 shells he's tried on. So much for E's not liking to change shells!

Here's my third most frequent shell hopper, Mungo. He started out in that rather interesting looking turbo... A brown? I dunno. Anyway he changed into that smaller green (which currently Crimson has), then into the tapestry which Io has (So I couldn't get a pic of it). Finally he went on to that larger green turbo.

Here's pepper hiding out his his shell on the right. He's the first to take interest in that silvermouth green turbo. His old shell looked like an odd pica/trochus combo, and blended in with the sand lol.

Io with his old yellow and black pica to the right.

I didn't get any photos of Azura or her shells because she was buried almost all of today. And obviously Proteus hasn't changed yet. Crimson I didn't get cause... I kinda destroyed his old painted shell LOL. I tried boiling it several times to get the paint off, all I ended up doing was making it super brittle, and it got crushed as I was trying to file the paint off of it. This was of course after he changed into another shell lol.

Planned redo...

2005-10-10T00:43:00.000-07:00

Well once I get the free time (which has been very scare lately), I plan to completly redo this Blog, WITH PICTURES!

It's been a long time since I've done much web page editing, but I plan to create some additional pages, one for each crab, with more info, their personality, food preferences, and pictures!

I think this will most likely come next weekend. (Friday, Sunday, not Sat, as I won't be most of the day for Apple hill.)

Azura approves. Unnamed PP shots too.

2005-10-10T00:05:00.000-07:00

Heard some noise so I whipped out the digital camera before I go to bed here lol.

Who do I find? The unnammed PP! Apparantly he was actually hiding in the buried half-log rather then actually being buried!

So here are some pictures!

Here's Azura on the prowl again. Clearer shot of her green-ness.

She's found the food dish. Gotta love that pineapple! Looks like she approves of the dish.

Azura washing it all down with some fresh water. (Sorry for blurryness. This side of the tank has alot of condensation and sand)

Now Heres' my Unnammed PP's. Names anyone?

Straigtening out his shell, peering out. Notice his eyes? Left one is black, right one is red? Also the red one looks crooked and... kind of dead looking... Hope he doesn't loose that eye stalk in the next molt!

Starting to walk around. Notice his outer right antennea is cut short...

He's got those pale peach/skin colored right set of legs. Reminds me of a freshly molted crab.

Anyway, I plan to create my own album in the HCA Image Gallery, or maybe a Yahoo one tomorrow! Stay tuned for more pics.

Edit:After browsing around, I am thinking of the name Io. Short, sweet and simple, it also follows the 'moon' theme of some of my other crabs. His reddish coloring reminds me of the volcanically active moon, and I think it fits. He's probably my most unique colored PP.

PICTURES!

2005-10-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

Some pictures, FINALLY! Also posted on HCA Forums.

Callisto and Proteus hanging out on top of the Coconut Fiber Second level. Proteus is hiding in his black shell in this pic.

Crimson reclining in his shell as usual, being camera shy. (Good view of his damaged leg. Hasn't molted yet)

Azura also shying away from the camera. Yesterday's dish of maple leaves and honey.

Azura perched up on the palm tree. Flash gave me a slight glare, d'oh.

Callisto out of the tank, in his new shell, showing off for the camera.

Proteus shyly peeking out at the camera.

Mungo (largest crab) out of the tank. I guess I interrupted her taking a dump as evidenced by the poop LOL.

Mungo, with her pudgy eyes coming out, claws a-ready.

Mungo fully splayed out. Now you see how why she's my largest lol. Beautiful Gold-mouth turbo.

Tonight's dinner!

Boiled dried corn kernals and pineapple chunks served on a bedding of breifly blanched spinach. Drizzled with honey.

OMG... Finally! DIGITAL CAMERA!!!

2005-10-08T23:16:00.000-07:00

After I got home from Apple Hill today, I asked my cousin Jennifer if I could borrow her digital camera. I completly forgot that she and her current boyfriend (lol) are also into electronics.

She brought it with for the Apple Hill thing, and so I've gotten the chance to use it until this Wednesday!

The Camera is a newer $800 camera (or so they say), so I won't be trying any extrordinaire photos or anything LOL. Once I get the hang of using the Macro settings, and practicing, I'm going to go ahead and take some LONG awaited pictures of my crabs and their tank!

I can't wait to posts some pics! For now I will use my Comcast PWP, until I can get my own Yahoo! Gallery.

October means... APPLE HILL!

2005-10-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

Well It's October again, and as usual the festivities at Apple Hill are being held from this October and on into November.

Every October-November Apple Hill offers locals and tourists the opportunity to have fun and celebrate the harvest season. The main attraction of course, are the apples. Everything from Carmalized apples, REAL apple cider, and wonderful apple cake creations are for sale and sample. The event takes place in the Foothills near the edge of the Rockies in the valley, and there are rows upon rows of apples, peaches, nectarine, squash, pumpkin, corn and almost every other American fruit/vegetable you can imagine.

I got to go today with my uncle and cousins! (Infact I'll be going again next week with my parents! I love the place!) Spent most of the day there, and after buying several jugs of real apple cider (nothing like the CRAP they sell in the stores. This stuff is STRONG.), and several apple pies, we went on to explore some of the other areas, like Boa Vista, which is known for it's wide variety of harvest crops. I didn't actually buy anything (Was limited to 20 bucks today), but I will be able to go back next weekend to buy all sorts of organic fruits and vegetables! At another place, I noticed that they were selling "Organic Locally Harvested Honey"!!! I only bought one of the medium sized bottles, but it was hard not buying the giant $ 8 ones! I can't wait to try some of the local honey out in the crabitat!

Also I bought some fresh Indian corn (long story, but we use them every Halloween lol), which I think will also be great to try out in the 'tat. Hopefully next weekend I can get more things such as some pumpkin, apples and some other things that Boa Vista sells.

We also picked up some apple coffee cake aswell as some carrot cake, which I absolutely love. The cake never even made it home, even though it didn't even have frosting LOL.

Anyway I plan to try the toothpick and honey thing with some of the crabs that are currently up!

Completed deep clean and... Mungo's a she?!

2005-10-08T04:19:00.000-07:00

Well I started the deep clean of the 20 gal tank at 11 PM last night. I am just now finishing up at 4 am LOL.

I placed the crabs in a 10 gallon iso. In the process I made sure everyone was okay, checked up on them all. When I got to Mungo, he was freaking out, and trying to get a hold of me with his BP. While he was trying to come out to pinch me as I placed him in the 10 gallon, he exposed his rear leg set, or should I say she. I saw two gonopores! Mungo is a she! Completly surprises me, as she seems to be the current 'top crab' not only in size, but in the pecking order. She seemed to have sucessfully scared the other crabs into submission when she first met them, and she's a general grump with the other crabs lol.

I sifted the sand (which is what took up 90% of the time), and in the process I found several moldy raisins, some maple leaves shreds, TONS of poop, and 3 leg tips... 2 were hollow, and looked like Proteus' Exo. So there's definitive proof I had atleast a second molter (Prot). But the third leg tip is a mystery. It screams PP. But no PP has any black leg tips (Other then Crimson, but his are reaaaaly short), or any other post-molt signs! I think one of my PP's injured itself somehow. The leg tip doesn't look hollow... Of course it could just be Proteus' but it doesn't look like an Ecuadorian leg. My PP's seem fine though.

After failing at trying to use some suction cups to hold up the turtle dock, (I ended up just propping it up on top of the other second level lol) I placed everything back in the tank, including a dish of fresh canteloupe and seeds, as well as some defrosted squash. Refilled the water and remodelled the tank completly.
It looks much more organized now, hideys in one side, second level(s) on the other, accessable by grapevine and netting. Shells on either side of the tank, with an clear spot in the centre, with only the food dish taking up room. Still have 4 water dishes (2 salt, 2 regular), and I borrowed an idea from one of the HCA members; the half-log is ... well half buried into the sand. I sloped the sand towards the side with the hideys, and so now it's more of a log-cave type thing lol. Only bad thing is that I won't be able to see as much in there anymore, and I hope the logwon't want to mold.

As for the crabs, being stuffed into a 10 gallon for nearly 5 hours built up a lot of energy in them. They're going mad (hopefully not too much from stress) exploring the new tank. While they were in the 10 gal, there was a feeling of general panic, especially by my E's who couldn't figure out why their tank had suddenly shrunk lol. Mungo nearly trampled poor Azura at one point, she chirped like mad, and my E's climbed all over the much larger PP's to their annoyance.

Immediatly after being placed in the tank, Callisto goes off and knocks over a plastic plant lol. Azura has gone to explore up the grapevines, she's the first to explore the new turtle dock second level. Proteus went over to sample the food dish (I've only seen him eating canteloupe and carrot now...)Unnamed guy went to soak in the salt water again, which I'm sure will be empty soon. All 3 of my other PP's are gathered under the second level, apparantly attempting to scale the glass. I'm surprised Crimson and Pepper haven't gone to their half-log to hide the rest of the night as usual lol.

Well I'm pleased with how the tank looks now, and hopefully the crabs like it too. I didn't find as much buried stuff as I thought I would, but getting rid of those moldy raisins couldn't of been bad lol.

Anyway, I'm off to some much needed food, and then sleep.

Okay.. On to Friday.

2005-10-07T02:45:00.000-07:00

Well I never really got to clean anything today (well Thursday as it's 2 am now) because one of my mom's friends came over... Typically she wanted the house spotless. I guess it's time to move the deep clean on to Friday.

Finally managed to get some time to post on my blog today, been busy the last few days.

As for my crabby news, not much has happened. I could swear I saw Proteus strutting around in the other large black rock shell yesterday, but today it seems hardly moved and is empty. Proteus is still (or back in) his old shell.

Activity's been a bit dead actually, but they seem okay. Callisto has been up on the second level the last two days. Pepper and Crimson are both still hiding under the half-log, Mungo is STILL under the second level. The unnamed PP is currently the most active, digging holes EVERYWHERE. Azura dug down yesterday, and I haven't seen her since.

No one touched the Strawberries and Coconut I made on Wednesday, which quite surprises me. It was all I could do to keep MYSELF from eating the strawberry before serving it; it smelled sooo sweet and delicious. It seems that not a single crab even bothered to take a look at it, even with the smell of thawed strawberry flooding the tank.

As a bit of a side note, I managed to talk to an aunt last Wednesday. She said she's ask my cousin if I could borrow one of her digital cameras. Hopefully I'll have it by next Wednesday. With my luck it'll never happen though...

Delays.

2005-10-05T01:48:00.000-07:00

Well it's deep clean day and of course the crabs have sensed it lol. Only 4 crabs are up right now... I guess it'll have to wait untill tomorrow.

I'm not quite sure but I beleive I may be smelling a faint "molt" smell again. Very similar to the smell the tank had while Protues molted, but this one is fainter and it's.... different. Leads me to beleive it may be a different species, as in one of my PP's who may be molting...

I may just be imagining it though, the Unnamed Pp has only been missing for a day and a half now, the other day he was soaking a lot and also eating though. I doubt he could of started shedding the exo and emit the smell so quickly.

For now I'm preparing a dish of freshly picked Strawberry and some coconut shavings. I have a feeling the Strawberry will be a hit with the PP's. The backyard has become infested with wild strawberry patches, and the little tiny wild strawberries are starting to mature. Also I've heard they like the strawberry flower petals too, so I may take a few. In the front yard there is one 'regular' sized strawberry patch, and I'll be using one of the berries from it today.

COLD!

2005-10-04T02:18:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just when I was complaining about the tank soaring into the lower 80's, today the tank has dropped to 71.

I haven't used my computer all day (in other words my heater LOL) untill a an hour or so ago, and I think SOMEONE at my house left my door open, letting the warmth escape. My parents love to keep the front door open which effectivly freezes the whole house at night, so I try to keep my door closed.

Planning deep clean...

2005-10-04T01:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I plan to set up the 10 gal temporarily for my crabs while I clean everything in the main tank. My PP's have made an absolute mess of everything, and I'm finding buried food EVERYWHERE. I've even gotten a fly in my room trying to get into the tank, I guess attracted to the smell of food. Fortunatly I managed to shoo it out for now...

I bet I will probably find atleast a few buts if exoskeleton from Proteus's last molt while I sift the sand, which could take hours lol at the rate I go along.

For tonight, I put in the old produce netting from when I first started crabbing. I kinda forgot about it, and it's been sitting in the 3 gallon all this time. I used it as a mesh lid back then, with a rubber band to seal it closed. I've stuck it onto the new main tank for tonight, rigged up between the grapevine. I tried to be sure that it didn't go over any hard objects; I moved the shells, but there is one water dish below... I think it'll work great as an 'inbetween' for the branches.

Callisto is snoozing up on the second level again. I took the oppertunity to offer him some appropriate shells. Cleaned out the Nerite, his old recently-abandoned-by-Azura rock shell, a larger rock shell, and a smaller nautica tigrina shell.

He immediatly perked up at all the noise and movement, and has already gone shell shopping, and has looked at three of the shells. I'm kinda half hoping he'll change out of his current rock shell cause it's leaky at the end, and is smaller then his previous spotted nautica (which Azura took).

Mungo, Pepper and Azura are all huddled under the half-log, and the other three are buried. Hoping they all come up tomorrow!

Edit, 1:08 AM I forgot to mention that last night (well two nights ago now) I served up some crushed and whole squash seeds with raisins and a bedding of decaying maple leaves.

Most of it's gone and someone dragged out three half-eaten peices of raisin LOL. I'll leave it in until after school tomorrow (or today since it's after midnight) as I don't think raisins can really spoil easily. Besides they like the maple a day or two old.

Hmm... what should I prep for dinner today?

2005-10-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just wondering what I should ceate today for their dinner...

Azura's continued her odd preference in shells just now: She's changed into Callisto's recently abandoned shell! This is the FOURTH time she's taken Callisto's old and recently abandoned shell. I have no idea why, maybe she figures it's safe if another crabby has worn it previously... lol.

Proteus has come up and is going nuts, climbing on the grapevine. He's got such a split personality, one minute being super-shy, the next being the most active one of the group.

Some of my PP's are running about right now. I think they're starting to realize they are safe during the day now. My newer PP's are still sooo shy though.

Pepper is again soaking in the saltwater. Ever since I switched to Oceanic, I've noticed an increase in interest of saltwater. I mean heck, I've seen all of my crabs except Crimson soaking in the saltwater pool atleast once. Proteus loves to empty the smaller saltwater dish every time he comes up, and then he hides inside of it, while he sends the gravel inside flying eveywhere. Good to the last drop 'eh?

Crazy crab!

2005-10-01T23:51:00.000-07:00

After I boiled the new shells earlier today (well technically yesterday as it's after 12 now lol), and let them cool off a bit, I decided to take Callisto out for a bit of exercise. I haven't taken him out in a looong time, plus I wanted to see if the shells were about the right size for my E's.

Admittedly, I've been paying more attention to my PP's with all the new stuff and shells, so I'm glad I got a chance to buy some new slot shaped shells for my E's. Callisto has always seemed the most 'calm' about being handled. I mean sure he'd run around like a nut like all the other E most of the time, but the other two get scared by the slightest movement. Heck, Proteus will sometimes hide when I'm not even moving lol.

Anyway I put the new shells on the couch and let him run around a bit. First he just walked up to me, and looked up at me for a bit. He then walked over to the first shell he saw, the Thais Hemastoma. Immediatly he started turning it around and round, looking inside of it, and measuring it. I got a little bit closer, and he got a little scared and stopped... but eventually he continued his inspection, and then I started seeing him slide out of his shell!!!!

Right there on the couch, he was determined to change shells! He came all the way out, and his abdomen was exposed. It curled up slightly as it came out of the shell, and he then turned around, and placed his butt in the new hemastoma. He did this all with me just inches away from him!

He practiced retracting into the shell and stretching out of it. After spinning his old shell a few times, I guess he figured he liked the new one better and strolled off.

I know 90% of crabs out there are afraid enough to switch shells in their TANK while they've got someone watching, but this crab doesn't seem to care if he's got a giant person sitting next to him. I swear Callisto has something wrong with his little crabby brain, and I wonder how the heck he stayed alive in the wild with his trusting personality LOL!

Anyway I placed him back in the tank with his old shell and the other two new shells next to him. He took no interest in them and wandered off to the saltwater dish, I assume to add some shell water to his new shell.

I honestly don't much like his new shell, it's leaky (end is chipped off), and it isn't as unique as his old shell. Now he looks like the others with duplicate Thais shells, though his is slightly lighter in color. I was hoping he'd stay in his tiger moon shell atleast untill I could get a digital camera shot of him. There was something about that cute little mostly white shell moving around in the tank LOL. Oh well, he's changed by far, much more then my other crabbies, so I couldn't really expect him to stay long I suppose.

LOL Anyway I just thought this was absolutly amazing!

No crabs...

2005-10-01T23:37:00.000-07:00

Well I got a chance to visit the Pet Centre today. Empty except for one poor dead little E... I have no idea when or if they will get more crabs. They had a large selection of shells, (probably from all the poor crabs they've killed) I only bought three shells though; a thais hemastoma, large black nerite, and a shorter spiral shell, which I don't know the name of. I've seen E's in them though... there were these beautiful green turbos in there, two tiny ones the size of a dime, and one was even partially striped it looked like! The shells were so tiny though... It looks like I got the largest crabs out of the pack (my E's). I really wish there were some of those tiny E's around at the time I was there... I probably would of bought the tankful LOL.

Now that I think about it, I really don't know why I didn't buy those turbos! They were soooooo tiny! Even if I don't have a crabby small enough to fit in them (other then my E's) they still could of been use to future crabs or for trading shells.

Oh well... I also visited the nearby flea market. Apparantly the guy who owns the Julliard place also runs a stand/kiosk type thing in the flea market. Over there were many poor birds crammed into cages, and even a little sink plastic tub filled with nothing but a tiny bit of water and several turtles panicking, swimming about...

He had some other products that weren't at the Julliard place, including a row of 10 gallons, and some very crappy looking giant tanks. I saw one that was HUUUUUGE. I mean it had to be like 4 feet long, maybe more. It was very dirty though.... I probably should of asked what the going prices were on the tanks, but... well I didn't lol.

The manager guy there who owns the place recognized me, and asked if my crabs were still alive! ... I told him yes, and that they were doing very well, and he kinda looked surprised... I'd only gone there 3 times, so I was a bit surprised he recognized me... he even called me "buddy". I guess he realizes I'm his only crab customer ugh.... Typical salesman.

Homework, homework and more homework...

2005-09-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

Well I stayed up till 3:30 AM last night finishing up on homework lol. Mostly my fault for not starting it earlier though. Well that's over with and it's the weekend again.

First thing I did was refill the water in the 'tat. I last refilled everything back on Monday, and I put it off Wednesday, and again Thursday cause of massive amounts of homework and study. I finally got some time to clean up the tank somewhat.

Refilled and cleaned water dishes, added some raisins to the current food dish of herbs and flowers.

Another lazy day for the crabbies. Crimson and Mungo are both snoozing underneath the second level. Azura and Callisto are up on the second level CF, or rather Azura WAS. She freaked and fell off, just hitting the edge of Crimson's shell and waking him up lol. Crimson came out to see what the heck was going on, and Azura climbed on top of his shell, confused for a moment it seems. I hope she didn't hurt herself in the fall from the second level (only maybe 3-4 inches, but she landed on another shell). I can see the top of the unnammed PP's shell under the half-log, and Proteus is no where to be found as usual.

My dad may have found a job (after 2 years of unemployment LOL) as a truck driver, shipping for now, truckloads of cement powder across California. Hopefully he can get the liscence and get the job. Tomorrow he's bringing me to the place where they load up the trucks... and guess what? Right down the street is the Julliard Pet Center!

I can only hope they've got their crabs in after a week. I will most likely be visting the place tomorrow, and with some luck, have some new E's! With my luck though they've probably switched to more PP's or something lol... If nothing else I'll hopefully be able to get more suitable E shells such as the Thais Hemastoma, maybe a few whale's eyes and hopefully some um... No idea what they're called, but those black and brown striped shells that E's frequently wear. I like them, but the last ones I saw looked pretty crummy on the inside (cracked and chipped ect).

More odd behaviour....

2005-09-28T23:29:00.000-07:00

3 of my 4 PP's are currently huddled up together under neath the second level. Poor Crimson is in the middle, and I think my unnammed PP and Mungo are picking on him; Crimson is upside down hanging out of his shell.

Why do my crabs ALWAYS do things like this behind the second level where I can't get them!? Last month I had Proteus attacking Callisto back there, and I had to knock it over to get to them.

So far I haven't seen any evidence that the other PP's are bothering Crimson, but they are aweful close...

I also just noticed that my tank is at 82 degrees!!!! I have already opened my window, and door, along with the front door. I get a good cold breeze in my room if both my door and the front door is open, my room's the first one in the hallway next to the front door.

So much for needing a heater any time soon!

Odd behaviour.

2005-09-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Well just a while ago, I had Peppers come out of the hut to do some exploring. He sat at the edge of the saltwater dish, scooping it up to his mouthparts for a full half hour.

Now I've got the unnammed PP sitting in the freshwater dish, (which is halfway empty, so he's just wading in it) and he's been there for the last hour. I know he's okay cause he got a bit scared when I checked on the tank and went to the opposite end of the dish.

Looks kinda funny, with a crab in two of the dishes just wading in there...

Beginning to wonder if I have a mass molt coming up here. They all sure have been eating alot...

Crimson is still snoozing in the same general vicinity as yesterday, still with his shell reclined against the glass. I know he's okay cause he moved around and had a bit of a feeler fight with Mungo earlier.

Callisto is yet again trying to escape. he's on top of the terra-cotta pot clawing at the glass, I have yet to figure out how he gets on top of it.
Proteus buried himself earlier in the day.

Removed food dish this morning from the leftover carrot/celery. I need to prep something up real fast for food tonight... Thinking of a simple dish.

Anyway I have some HW I need to finish up!

Edit, 11:16 PM: Wow. The Unnammed PP has drained the ENTIRE freshwater pool. I also noticed earlier that someone drained the smaller saltwater dish, the gravel at the bottom of the dish are now strewn about, and the cup has been knocked around. The larger saltwater pool is nearly empty now too.

Someone's been drinking like mad and/or filling up shell water. It's about time to refill the dishes I suppose anyway.

Just another day...

2005-09-28T00:32:00.000-07:00

Well I currently have only 5 crabs up. I'm amazed that all 3 E's are still up after two days, and that Azura hasn't dug herself down in the last few weeks at all.

I really am beginning to wonder if Azura molted... She's noticably more orange then she was, and rapidly loosing her green. Leg tips are pretty sharp, but she's always had sharp leg tips...

I'm absolutely confused about my PP's right now. I THINK it's Crimson who's up, and Peppers in the hidey, but I'm not sure with all the shell hopping going on lol.

As for the food dish, the carrot shavings are COMPLETLY gone. The baby carrot I placed in has been cut in half by claw markings, so it looks like my PP's really love carrot. I'm hoping to try some softened boiled carrots sometime this week. Surprisingly no one really touched the celery leaves. I'm just wondering what I should prepare tonight.

I NEED A CAMERA!!

2005-09-26T22:54:00.000-07:00

I NEED A CAMERA! #*$&*(@#.

I just caught sight of the cutest thing! Proteus came up and is currently sitting on top of Crimson as if he's some tank decoration LOL. Both crabs are awake, and anteannae are a-flutter, and no chirping, so it doesn't seem that Crimson minds the piggy-back ride.

Did I mention that I need a digital camera? lol.

Edit, 11:49 PM: I forgot to mention, the bell pepper was picked at pretty well yesterday, and I caught Crimson eating a bunch. Can't tell if they liked the Squash or the seeds, but the maple leaf was pretty torn up. I also saw Mungo munching at some of the grapevine earlier.

Tonight I have a more traditional dish; thinly sliced carrot (made with vegtable peeler lol), and celery leaves served on yesterday's maple leaf.

Peppers came up, and I can confirm it's him in the Green turbo. I thought MUNGO had strange taste in shells waay to big for him, but poor Peppers slides back so far into his green turbo I can hardly see him! Guess he wants to make himself look as big as the other PP's LOL.

I accidentally just scared Proteus as he was negotiating the grapevines... He was sitting on top of it, and when he saw me, he freaked, and shell and all he swung upside down, and went flying off of it onto the second level. With a thud, he landed upright, and then just looked at me like nothing had happened. After falling a good few inches, he seems totally unphased by what just happened and kept his composure LOL.

Interesting day...

2005-09-26T22:32:00.000-07:00

Well, today marks the first rainfall of the season, and boy did it come down hard.

Started with a sudden pelting of rain, which lasted for about a minute after I got home... I fell asleep sometime in the afternoon... I wake up with a start at like 7 PM...

Apparantly a thunderstorm had brewed up, and knocked out the power temporarily. So for the next 2 hours, the thunderstorm dumped rain non stop, and I could see vivid flashes of lightning in the night sky. It's been a looooong time since I've seen the lightning so... well brightly.

Well anyway that's over with now... I just now am taking a look at my crabitat. I remember the talk of how hermies reacted to season changes, changes in air pressure, tempurature, weather ect. so I was curious to see if anything was going on in the tank.

Immediatly I see an empty Pica shell lying in the sand, which Pepper had taken the night before! Fortunatly I see that theres a crab in the green turbo shell... He's successfully scared me to death for the second time in a row. Actually surprised that he likes the green turbo, I've long suspected it of being not totally cleaned out, none of my other crabs even took a remote interest in it. Pepper even took a good look at the largest Delphinula shell, which no other crab has done before. I think he was intrigued by the soft interior, but confused why the outside was so rough lol.

LOL with all the shell changing going on with my PP's I'm beginning to have difficulty telling who is who here! As for my E's, nothing much as changed. My E's are currently the inactive ones in my tank, which is worrying. Callisto is still perched on top of his palm tree. He's come off and on it a few times, so I know he's okay, but frankly he seems kind of bored. Azura was exploring the lower tank last night, but she's back up on the second level. Proteus is no where to be found. I am assuming he's buried himself again as usual though.

Naked crab?! Not.

2005-09-26T00:37:00.000-07:00

Whew, bit of a scare just now. I check the tank again. Everyone's in there, even Crimson and Mungo were huddled on one end together. They look nearly identical now, except that Mungo's about twice as big.

Then I noticed Pepper's shell sitting there, upside down! Completly empty! So I look in the other shells in the tank. Not a trace of him, so I nearly freaked out. I looked everywhere, took moved the terra-cotta, lifted up the half-log hidey (poor unnammed PP freaked out as he was hiding underneath) and looked just about everywhere expecting to find a naked crab...

Then innocently sitting under a plant decoration, I see my little Pepper looking up at me, with a the unnamed PP's former Pica shell on. He had this inquisitive look on him like, "What are you doing, searching under everything for?" staring at me innocently.

Whew... I was surprised that Pepper would take the Pica cause... well the other guy had ditched it so quickly for the brown? turbo. (He went back into the Pica and into the only Tapestry). I guess it's his choice though LOL.

Well lets see now... I've had a total of 9-10 shell changes from my E's (Possibly a 4th from Azura? Not sure, but she eyed Callisto's first shell for a good half hour. I don't think she tried it on cause it was so beat up) and uh... 9 PP shell changes. The Purple Pinchers are quickly catching up, and I see where they get their reputations as frequent shell changers from.

Peppers, the... magically dissapearing crab?

2005-09-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

For the last two days I've noticed that Pepper has calmed down. He's stayed in the terra-cotta pot the last two days/afternoons. But last night, and again tonight, he's left it. I haven't the slightest clue where he's gone though!
His shell blends in to the sand, so this could help explain it but... he's completly gone without a trace, for the second time.
While I was searching for Pepper, my unnamed PP in the Tapestry took a good look at my only green turbo. He freaked when he saw me, and I think I interrupted him. The green turbo is tiny in comparison to the Tapestry, but I don't want there to be any fights over the Tapestry, was hoping he'd switch out.
Now for a name...
Edit, 11:23 PM: I just checked the 'tat to see a shell remerging from the sand under the halflog. Sure enough it's Peppers. He coulda fooled me with the way he suddenly vanished from the terra-cotta pot after being in there for like hours.
I just did a quick dish for tonight, slice of green bell pepper, browning maple leaves and some frozen inner acorn squash meat + seeds.

I get the feeling there won't be much eating tonight, I think they're all still full from the smorgasbord of the last few day's dishes.

Revisiting a memory...

2005-09-25T17:40:00.000-07:00

Well all the talk about Ecuadorians and new crabbers on the HCA have reminded me about how I first started crabbing too...

So heres how my first day with my hermit crabs went...

I had come home on a Wednesday. It was mid-June, and my 7 year old cousin, Matthew, AKA terror child (for good reason) had come over since he was already out of school.

My uncle called and asked if I want to get a free hermit crab. I think to myself... why on earth would I want a crab for? (It's amazing how much my thinking has changed about these wonderful crabs!) But since it was free, and was an oppertunity to go back to the Pet Center again, which I'd visited a few weeks prior, I decided to go.

When we got there, I figured I'd see some monsterously huge crabs, ready to pinch the crap out of me... But I couldn't find a tank full of those crabs. Then I realized, that there were these tiny little crabs in the tank right infront of me! I hand in my 'coupon', and the worker there tosses two of the only maybe 6 there alive and active, into individual tupperwares. Without a word, other then me asking what they ate, we left the store.

I take a good look at the crabs as we go home. I immediatly loved how the one I got was soo active, trying to climb upside down on the tupperware lid, but failing and falling back onto his shell!

So after being stuck in these containers on the kitchen counter for another 2 hours, (I feel bad about this now...) and after my cousin had left with his, I looked on the internet about crab care.

I gathered up some garden sand (which was the only kind I had at the time), washed it in water, and before it was even dry, I plopped it into a little 2-3 gal hexagonal tank we had. In goes the crab onto the sand (which was sloppy and pretty dirty) and I placed in a towel rinsed with tap water for humidty, distilled water in a dish, and for food, I dropped in a potato chip that had been rinsed to remove salt. (Lol, yes, I know they're bad now) I watched for hours as the crab tried to escape continously. Eventually he calmed down, and nibbles at the potato chip... I go to bed.

The next morning, all that's left of the potato chip is just a little crumb. I couldn't beleive it, and I was bitten by the hermit crab bug ever since then LOL.

The following Sunday, I returned and got two more crabs (my other E's), as well as some hermit crab food, some IO, and severly overpriced beach sand. I made a makeshift lid with cardboard and netting + saran wrap over the opening, tied shut with a rubber band to give them more floor space. I would watch them for hours on end...

I learn the morning after that Wednesday, that my cousin Matthew had left his crab in the car, and it was dead, very obviously smelling.

Then I found the HCA. After lurking around a bit, and mislabeling my crabs as Rugs, I purchased a 10 gal, created this blog, and 4 months later, I am where I am now.

To this day I wonder what would have happened if I managed to save that crab. It's a wonder that my Callisto is still alive today after what he went through... I'm glad he is.