HCA: Hermit Crab Association

merangue died two weeks ago after a week of hand care. i found a third crab from that tank (post move and clean) dead this afternoon, a strawbaby named Lychee who i have had for over three years. that makes three out of the six crabs in that tank dead. lychee's death wasn't like the others. she did ...

hermitcrablover, i'm sorry to see that you have had the same thing happen. merangue's gills do not look overtly abnormal to me, but that doesn't mean there isn't something wrong with them. i also haven't had any experience with give antibiotics to crabs (it seems that therapeutic dosing would be a n...

try not to be so hard on yourself, you are doing the best you can and more than a lot of people could or would. in a situation like this its normal to look back and think "maybe if i did x or y it would of helped/saved them." but the reality did is you did everything you could think to do with the k...

it is possible that euthasol (the euthanasia solution used in dogs and cats) would work. it is thought to work on gaba receptors, which researchers think are involved in inhibitory nerve signals in crabs. but i don't think there has been enough research on it to know for sure (i think the current re...

that's a beautiful final resting place, and i really like what you did with his hidey. i'm so sorry for your loss. i'm going through something similar right now and i know how hard it is to watch them slowly fade. you definitely made his last days more comfortable, and sometimes that is all we can d...

thanks calla... well, i switched the crabs over the other 20L. the only things i took from their tank were them and their spare shells, and i made sure to boil their shells well. i bathed them all in salt water as well before putting them in, and i didn't see any signs of mites. in sad news, i think...

thanks so much for your replies guys, i'm really appreciative... i actually hadn't thought of mites. i've been lucky enough to never experience them in my 9 years of crabbing, so they don't generally come to mind. i haven't seen any, but i will check her for them tonight (i try to handle them just o...

Hey there guys…I haven’t posted in a while, but I used to be quite active on the HCA. I have about zero time for anything fun while I’m in veterinary school, though :(. But I’m having some trouble with my colony and I’m really stumped and sad and thought I’d see if you guys had any ideas. About thre...

wow, i really love the setup...especially nice considering you did it with what you already had around the house! i am sure that watching those cuties is going to provide endless entertainment for you over the next few weeks

annopia

my first name is Anna (but i go by my middle name, Caroline, and always have)...my first boyfriend way back in high school called me "Ann" as a nickname and made my first aol account "annopia," and i loved it.

annopia

hmm...that is worrisome. what are your tank conditions like: size/substrate/temp/humidity? it could be possible that the place you've been getting them from (since they've all come from that store) just has a really bad track record, that perhaps their supplier has horrible shipping conditions. are ...

wow...great pics! whenever i had babies i couldn't get anywhere near that level of precision in pics. i am sooo interested to see more pics when they get a little older!

annopia

wow, congrats! thats an amazing video...i loved it.

annopia

i'm rooting for you! i'm not 100% on all of the moms of the eggs that i have had, but the two moms i am sure about have both been with me a long while (Lilith since 2005 and Merangue since 2008). if i were you, i would advise (if at all possible) to do two tanks for them, even if the tanks are small...

so sorry you're going through this. i am in a similar situation right now-attacked molter, no pinchers, just one walking leg. i would leave Fasty alone (no hand feeding or watering) for a day or two so he can harden. i would mince up some shrimp tail and egg shells and put them very near to him, the...