HELP! my crab is acting weird [Archive]

wintersletter

11-23-04, 04:46 PM 11-23-04

last night i looked over to my crab house and saw one of the crabs stretched out and thought he was switching shells. then i went closer and he was completely out of his shell laying there in the sand, but he was still alive. i tried to help him by placing him in the new shell, but he tried to climb out. so i placed him in the old shell and then i quarintined him in case he's molting. i know he still alive after i put him in there because i saw his leg move. it's been about 24 hours and he hasn't moved, but he doesn't smell. what is going on??? i have 3 crabs and none of them have molted yet, so i'm kind of clueless.

Daethian

11-24-04, 05:45 PM 11-24-04

What is your temperature and humidity?
You can try rinsing the old shell with warm dechlorinated water, then place it in a cup and place the crab in the cup...place the cup into the isolation tank and wait. So long as your humidity and temperature are adequate there isn't much more you can do but leave him in the dark and quiet and wait.

wintersletter

11-25-04, 10:50 AM 11-25-04

he did stay inside his old shell after i put him back in it. the temperature is around 70 and the humidity is high- around 80. i haven't seen any activity after i put him in ISO, but he's not dead either. i'm just waiting. i miss him. i hope he's not dying. :crybucket

alie04

11-25-04, 11:54 AM 11-25-04

wintersletter

11-25-04, 12:55 PM 11-25-04

Daethian

11-25-04, 12:58 PM 11-25-04

I have a crab that molted about 9 days ago and I bathed it last night. Today it is totally out of its shell sitting on the log. There are tons of shells to choose from, and the temperature is 75 relative humidity is 75% not sure if this is normal behaviour. I hope I didn't bathe it too soon,

I'm afraid you did. If you are talking 9 days from when it shed its exo, it was too soon. I wait at least 7 days after their new exo is completely hard and they are up walking around.

Did you check your substrate temp and make sure its only 75 there also?

Daethian

11-25-04, 12:59 PM 11-25-04

i had no idea that they even went around without their shells. that's why i panicked when i saw my crab without his. how long did it take your crab to molt? is it safe for them to go around without a shell? do they ever molt above the sand or do they always go under the sand?

Going naked is a bad sign, it means they are severely stressed.
The length of time to molt is different for each crab. Their size is a factor too.

Sometimes they will surface molt.

wintersletter

11-25-04, 02:22 PM 11-25-04

i don't understand why my crab is so stressed. :( i try to take such good care of him. i've had him for like 4 months and he's been completely fine.

Daethian

11-26-04, 10:15 AM 11-26-04

It most likely has nothing to do with you. The method in which crabs are harvested in the wild and then brought to stores to sell is highly traumatic for them. Often they are dehydrated and starving when they arrive. By the time you purchase them the damage is already done and most of them can't recover from it.

Just give him some time and hope for the best.

wintersletter

11-26-04, 03:55 PM 11-26-04

thanks for the help :) there's still no change. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll be ok.

wintersletter

11-27-04, 05:07 PM 11-27-04

it turns out he wasn't molting.... he died. i'm so upset. he probably wasn't that healthy when i got him, even though he seemed ok. he was missing a leg and the tips of about 3 of his other legs were broken, including the tip of his feeding claw.. he was eating with his big claw. he just seemed (to me) to get sick so quickly... i wasn't prepared for it. i loved him so much.

Daethian

11-27-04, 05:16 PM 11-27-04

Can you now imagine how many crabs die every single day at pet stores? Its really depressing. The best you can do is try to find a store that provides good care and get your crabs from them. If you can find someone at the store who is willing to listen you might be able to help them improve their set up.

Another way to get a healthy crab is to wait until its warm and adopt one from someone.

alie04

12-06-04, 07:18 AM 12-06-04

my hermit crab is naked again after trying out two other shells. What will happen if I did bathe him too soon? Did I cause irresvirsable damage? It is my son's crab and he came accidentally from Mexico. He loves this crab soooo much I am not sure what to do. I took all the shells and boiled them in declorinated water and then let them cool and put them back in. What else can I do and what damage may I have caused by bathing him too soon. He had shed his skin about 9 days before I bathed him, but hadn't eaten it all. Is it possible that he didnt shed all of it as his bum looks like a different colour than the rest of his body? Does it usually look different? HELP the poor thing.

Daethian

12-06-04, 01:19 PM 12-06-04

Yes the bum is normally different. Sometimes bathing too soon can allow bacteria to take hold.

Really at this point the best thing to do is try to keep that crab as low stress as possible. If its from Mexico its most likely and ecuadorian crab and it requires ocean water. That could be part of the problem. Do not use table salt! It must be ocean mix of some sort like for salt water tank. Try offering a big enough dish that the crab can climb in and soak or bathe.

alie04

12-06-04, 03:31 PM 12-06-04

I am pretty certain that it is not an ecuadorian crab as it has a purple pincher and we have it since August. We did purchase one other crab from a pet store and its eyes were significantly different it didn't last two days before dying I am sure it was ecudorian. We now have another one in with the mexican and they were doing just fine...until I bathed them now the mexican is not doing well at all...what have I done is there anything I can do at this point?
I asked them at the pet store where I bought the last crab if they were ecudorian or not-of course they had no clue aghhh why don't they research these things??? I am pretty sure this latest one is not as most of the supplies for this aquariam place comes from Florida...??? Any suggestions for me in regards to my poor sick hermie???

alie04

12-06-04, 04:58 PM 12-06-04

the poor thing is dead. I feel so bad and my son is upset not as bad as I thought he would be. Would you recommend getting another one for the one that is still in there and is alone now? Oh man I feel horrible that this could and probably is my fault, man.

Daethian

12-07-04, 06:28 AM 12-07-04

Here's a link to an article from my crab blog that explains post purchase stress:
http://foreverpurple.com/bringinghome.html

Does my crab need a friend?
Yes he does! In the wild, land hermit crabs live in colonies of thousands. Despite their name, they are very social creatures and crave companionship of other crabs. At least one friend is needed but more is always better. For small to medium sized crabs you could keep 5 in a 10 gallon tank. Allow 2 gallons of space per crab. If your crabs are large then they will need much more space.

alie04

12-07-04, 08:47 AM 12-07-04

My son has only a 5 gallon tank I think. It is quite a large crab that is in there right now, I don't want to crowd them and also can't afford another aquarium right now. Post purchase stress wouldn't apply to the crab that died since it was from Mexico would it?

Daethian

12-08-04, 07:10 AM 12-08-04

It shouldn't... but that depends how the crab has been kept since you brought it home.

If you watch the classifieds or yard sales this summer you should be able to find a bigger tank cheap. Or if you are familiar with freecycle there seems to be tanks up for grabs pretty regularly.

www.freecycle.org join the one in your area, its free!

alie04

04-11-05, 11:50 AM 04-11-05

I have hemit crab that I just noticed when it is walking I see on it's right side (almost inside the shell) a small clear puss or something (tube shape) on it's side, what could this be?

Jiffykat

04-11-05, 03:17 PM 04-11-05

... he came accidentally from Mexico.How did he accidently come from Mexico, that's quite a hike for a hermit crab to accidently wander.

alie04

04-11-05, 06:12 PM 04-11-05

My sister-in-law brought a shell home and once it got home she realized it moved. But I am not talking about that one and unless you were going to give me some help with this new crab and what might be on it's side, I dont need the harrassing sarcasm..

Daethian

04-12-05, 05:26 PM 04-12-05

I have hemit crab that I just noticed when it is walking I see on it's right side (almost inside the shell) a small clear puss or something (tube shape) on it's side, what could this be?

Sounds like either a female egg sac or a molt sac. The molt sacs are typically a darker brown. All female hermit crabs will have a egg sac.

UNLESS.... is your hermie missing a leg? When the new leg begins to regenerate it will come in as a gel limb.

I have some pictures of gel limbs in my gallery.