worried about surface molter & exo(sad update)

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:11 am

Thanks Trysha & Tremors,I'm praying as hard as I can too for these little guys and girls. It's hard to resist the temptation of checking on Eeyore right now to see if he's ok,but have to wait,don't want to stress him out.

hulk · Post by **hulk** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 11:44 am

Oh my gosh! That is terrible! I wish I had some advice, but I have no clue to what is going on! I hope the crabs make it. I am so sorry!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 2:43 pm

Wow that's really crazy! I've never heard of such a thing happening. I'm still fairly new to having hermit crabs but I've done a lot of research on the care of them. I'm so sorry for you. I think I would go into a catatonic state if I lost that many of my babies.

I'm sure this is a dumb question, but have you researched the different illnesses online? There has to be something you can do besides just feeding them and ISO tanking them to watch them die.

I'm very busy but I did try to look some things up myself, and I found that there is a kind of black fungus, but it says it's treatable...maybe you could try going from there?

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Tue Sep 26, 2006 4:39 pm

Hi Hulk,thanks for your reply,I wish I knew too how to stop this.
It's become that way where I'm dreaming about the crabbies each night,and dreading getting up in the morning to find another ill or dead crab.
Ladyfirerose,that is very interesting. If you have the link,I'd love to check it out,anything at this point is worth a look,and the info may be just what the problem is.
I'd been googling all the time to find out what could be going on,but with no result,have even scoured all the well-known hermit crab sites without any luck. Hey, they say two hands a better than one

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 12:15 am

Troppo,

I am so very sorry for your losses!! I hope you can find out what is going on and stop it.

~~~~~~~healing vibes for the crabbies~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 1:50 am

Hey troppo, check this link out if you haven't already, and then possibly google on with the "Shell disease" phrase if you think this sounds like it!

http://www.crabstreetjournal.com/articl ... index.html

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 3:41 am

Thanks for the link Trysha

, I kinda found it by sheer luck this morning
and it sounds suspiciously like what my crabs are suffering from,but can't be 100% sure.
Am thinking of all the time I've been crabbing and have never heard of this condition 'Shell disease'.
Have raced out and bought spirulina powder(100% organic,OMG cost me $24 Aus!) and a heap of fruit/vegies containing vitamin C. Will give regular salt water baths too & step up the cleaning of the tat,but for antibiotics,I wouldn't even know where to start getting that from,as vets treat larger animals,not hermit crabs

I wish there were photos of affected crabs,so I can compare my crabs to them and be a bit more sure about what's going on,as if this keeps going my crabs won't have much longer to live. Can see a little bit of my crab Eeyore under the half log,but he hasn't moved the tiniest bit and it's the second day after he molted.
Swtlygrace,thanks for the vibes

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 7:46 am

Troppo, has Chestersmom got back to you?

It's terrible to think you might loose all of your crabs to this.

You and your crabs are in my thoughts.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:24 am

http://www.coenobita.org/modules.php?na ... age&pid=10

I found this treatment for shell rot on Chestermoms site.
There are two different treatments to try... you can also find her email on this site incase she's not on HCA for a while to answer your PM.

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 4:49 pm

Thanks Featherscrabs,
I guess shell disease and shell rot are the same thing? I just wish I could find more photos. Chestersmom hasn't gotten back to me,she must be busy at the moment.
Right now am going on gut feeling with the crabbies. Eeyore still hasn't touched any exo(can see him a little bit under the half log),so I don't think he's going to make it,there's nothing I can do for him that I know about,wish there was,he's a favourite crab.
The other 6 crabs appear amazingly to have picked up,don't know whether it's my imagination or not with this,but cautiously am feeling that they are somehow getting better,time will tell(I just wish I knew 100% what was wrong with them).
It happened after Monday when I went to the beach and got some sea-water for them and a heap of fresh seaweed. The seaweed disappeared overnight and the crabs are continously drinking and bathing in the sea-water now. Even the spirulina that was put in their food dish is disappearing. The crabs have gone from sleeping all the time around the clock(I'd smooth the sand out,no tracks)to running/walking around the tat normally and doing all the other normal crabby things. I know that I can't get my hopes up yet though at this stage,until the problem is sorted out.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 4:58 pm

Jedi Senia's crabs were suffering from a bacterial infection that looked like a black spot on the crabs leg... there were pics maybe if you PMed Jedi you could get to look at those...

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 5:29 pm

Thanks again Featherscrabs

, with my crabs,it's kinda weird,as it's only their soft tissues(gills and abdomen) that are really affected.
Here's a photo below of Mojo after death. The photo shows the black spots on her abdomen.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 2:18 pm

Troppo - I'm all choked up over this... I really hope that the rest of your babies are ok. Someone out there must have more advice on what's going on and how to treat it. At least the spirulina is disappearing so they are still eating. Keeping you in my thoughts. You can't give up on crabbing now... who am I going to talk to at 2am Pacific time when I've got insomnia?

wickedannabella · Post by **wickedannabella** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 2:49 pm

What a horrible helpless feeling you must have! I wish I could help you in some way! Thoughts and prayers are with you and your little crabbies!

((((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:38 pm

CityZoo wrote:Troppo - I'm all choked up over this... I really hope that the rest of your babies are ok. Someone out there must have more advice on what's going on and how to treat it. At least the spirulina is disappearing so they are still eating. Keeping you in my thoughts. You can't give up on crabbing now... who am I going to talk to at 2am Pacific time when I've got insomnia?

Hey CityZoo,sorry you suffer from insomnia!

Am thinking though if I do lose all my crabbies,would have to have a small break from this site(and others) for a little while just to get over the grief. It sounds silly because part of me says'They're only crabs!' but the the other part says 'all living creatures no matter how small deserve respect and shouldn't suffer and die unecessarily,and I love them anyway'
But hey,I love chatting and getting to know other people no matter how far away they live,so I'll always be around for a gasbagging session if you want it CityZoo

Thanks for the hugs too Annabella

HCA: Hermit Crab Association

worried about surface molter & exo(sad update)

Horrifying!