Sick crab

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curlysister
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Re: Sick crab

Post by curlysister » Sun May 12, 2019 7:50 pm

Not sure why you are the only one replying Oliviet! LOL!
I have not had a similar situation. All your conditions seem good.
I am not sure if it would be beneficial to gently turn him over to see what he does, whether he accesses the food and water?
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Motörcrab
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Motörcrab » Sun May 12, 2019 8:18 pm

I know normally you shouldn't bathe crabs unless they can't do it on their own. You can try putting him in a pool of tank temperature fresh water and see if he "wakes up". If he does get a little more active you can try feeding by hand like I did with Eddie. Hopefully he will peek out then place the Q-tip with food under his head. With any luck he will start picking at food with his mouth parts. Bee pollen, organic natural peanut butter and raw organic honey are really good for sick crabs. They should give him some energy.

I wish I had more advice. I don't want to give wrong information but there is very little information about dealing with sick crabs. Every case is different too. We lost Eddie even with all the time I put into his care. I don't think it is anything that I did. I would just feel more comfortable giving better advise if he made it.
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Plasmoc
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Plasmoc » Mon May 13, 2019 12:59 pm

Geez I typed a giant response earlier but it hasn’t let me post it I keep getting an error. Test?


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Plasmoc
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Plasmoc » Mon May 13, 2019 1:08 pm

Ok good I can post now.

Thank you curly & motorcrab I appreciate your help! I’m glad the parameters are ok!

He hadnt appeared to move or touch the w-tips yesterday.
I tried giving him a partial dip in fresh water last night, he didn’t like it and pulled farther I into his shell
I also put a drop of honey on the tip of his claw last night so he wouldn’t have to even reach for the q-tip.

This morning he had rotated himself away from the q-tips and had his head poking out a little bit. I offered him a q-tip of honey but he retreated back into his shell more so I put him back facing the q-tips.

I forgot to say that I’ve been using 2 hand warmers on one side of the iso & a washcloth partially covering the iso instead of the leaf now. Hopefully this is adding good heat for him.


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purplepincher
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Re: Sick crab

Post by purplepincher » Mon May 13, 2019 1:30 pm

this happened to me before, although i am sure it was PPS. he deid that night.
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Plasmoc » Tue May 14, 2019 7:39 pm

Guys he practically climbed into the capful of water when I picked him up and held him over it. So I Gabe him a full bath and he loved it.

He still wouldn’t eat from a q-tip I offered him but some got on his antenna and I caught him eating that lol. It’s a super mix of honey, bee pollen, green sand, powdered calcium, and kelp.

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How often should I give him baths? Just fresh water of salt water too? He showed little interest in the salt water today.

Also, why are his eyes like this? I don’t recall them being green like this before.

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Motörcrab
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Motörcrab » Tue May 14, 2019 9:30 pm

He looks really pale to me. Perhaps he came up or was disturbed before he was completely done molting? He may still be in that post molt stage that could explain why he is not very active.

As for the specks on his eyes I have never seen that. Judging on your two pictures it is really hard to see really good detail. Since you mentioned you had mites several months ago, you may not have got rid of them all. I am not sure of this at all. Perhaps someone with more experience can chime in. check out the careguide to Mites here.
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 24&t=92530
Scroll down and there is a picture with mites on a crabs eyes. To me it looks similar to your crabs eyes. If you can get some close up pictures of his eyes that should help us determine what it is for sure. As a precaution I would read through that care sheet very carefully and the section for getting rid of the mites.
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Plasmoc » Wed May 15, 2019 6:54 am

Image well that’s scary! I posters here before and we determined the mites were food mites and then there were springtails. There were mites who ate our crab after he died though :(

He is very pale, post-molt last time he turned from pale to this blue color. His eyes looked green then too. I can’t see any mites / legs in these photos but I will look closer next time he cons out. This morning he stayed clammed up in his shell.

And he’s more pale than he was when he came up post molt 4/25. Or maybe this was another crab and I got confused.


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RiNiKy506
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Re: Sick crab

Post by RiNiKy506 » Wed May 15, 2019 8:38 am

Sorry I don’t have any advice to offer, I just had to tell you he has such a beautiful purple color!

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Re: Sick crab

Post by Motörcrab » Wed May 15, 2019 11:24 am

Looking at the close up. It appears to be in his eyes not something on them. I don't know what that could be. Does he detect movement with his eyes? I don't know if crabs can get something similar to a cataract or go blind. I would think if they developed something like that they would just drop the part and grow a new one. I wish I had more advice I'm stumped
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Plasmoc » Wed May 15, 2019 1:13 pm

Yeah I think it’s in his eyes, I’ll try looking closer when he lets me.

To clarify, that first photo is from 4/25 post-molt. The other photos where he’s deep blue / purple are from after the previous molt (ie before the April molt).


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Oliviet#1
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Oliviet#1 » Wed May 15, 2019 3:23 pm

How is he doing now?
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Plasmoc
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Plasmoc » Wed May 15, 2019 6:23 pm

He definitely flinched when I walked up to him in the saltwater bath just now so I do think he can detect movement.

I can’t tell if he likes the saltwater bath or not. He stretched out and wiggled around s but so I started to take him out but he reached like he wanted to stay in. I got him settled resting on a fork halfway in halfway out now, maybe he wants in but also needs to breathe right now.




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Plasmoc
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Re: Sick crab

Post by Plasmoc » Wed May 15, 2019 7:03 pm

He had about 5 minutes in saltwater and 10-15 in freshwater which he liked better. I upgraded him to a bigger iso tank so that I could do deeper substrate and upright the q-tips like motorcrab did. I noticed the q-tips were moving on him now that he’s trying to eat more. Hopefully these are good signs Image

The green is definitely in his eyes not mites.

He looks so tiny in the big iso, but hopefully he can eat better without the q-tips moving. It also lets me bury the bottle caps so he can walk right in instead of climbing in. Though I haven’t seen him. I’ve yet except to rotate and flip over.

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Re: Sick crab

Post by Plasmoc » Sat May 18, 2019 7:48 pm

If anyone’s wondering my little guy is still hanging in there. He seems to be slowly getting better. Today he ate this morning and rotated himself and tonight he soaked for a few minutes in saltwater and about 10
Minutes in fresh water until he stood up and moved a couple legs like he wanted out. After bath he ate a little food and I caught him walking which is a first since he got sick. His color is darkening I think too. Still hopeful

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