HCA: Hermit Crab Association

For those of you who have had crabs for more than a year, and whose crabs have undergone several successful molts followed by a bad molt leading to death:

In your opinion what is it that causes a crab that has been living and thriving in good conditions for an extended period of time, and who has molted successfully at least once if not several times to suddenly experience a bad molt leading to deformity or death? I have heard of this happening to several people, and just wondered what theories you may have. Is it primarily related to diet do you think? Are they lacking some needed nutrient?

I am asking because I personally have never had a bad molt (having had my crabs for less than a year) but within the time I've owned my crabs I've had two that have molted twice and another once. I want to do everything I can to ensure that they don't have any bad molting experiences due to lack of knowledge on my part.

Thanks for any insight you can give.

That's a great question. I've only had one bad molt and it was a crab who was destressing, and probably not healthy to begin with. It's a question that could extend to mysterious deaths that occur for no known reason after having them an extended period of time. That I've unfortunately dealt with. Every time I've had an unexplained death I've examined my crabbing methods to try and figure out what I could do different.

Bad molts I would feel may very well be related to diet. Stuff that's in food, residues of pesticides, which kill close relatives of the crabs: bugs, (some of which are in the same Phylum in the animal kingdom: Arthropoda or arthropods) so it may have a bad effect on crabs over time. Non organic foods like chicken or other meats which contain hormones and commerical food which contains preservatives, all these nasties are not part of a crabs environment in the wild and I often wonder how it may effect their molts.

I also wonder about residues left from chemicals we use to clean decor with, especially food and water dishes, and if that could have an adverse effect. I wash my stuff in hot water instead of soap, but it's not declorinated water and so I wonder if that has effects.

We also have to keep in mind we don't know how many crabs die of bad molts in the wild, or what the death rate is at all, for example how many of 10,000 eggs make it to larva stage, how many of those make it to the beach, how many of those die before they get to teeny size, out of those how many make it to small, and so on. So really, it's hard to say for sure if we really are doing wrong at all.

Omg Crabber, you have really opened my eyes!
I'm feeding my crabbies,store bought non organic chicken at the moment,and also feeding washed and dried non organic fruits and vegetables. I could be harming my hermies
Luckily I am doing something right in only washing the food dishes in dechlor water(phew!)
Hmmmm,maybe I should start up a completely organic fruit & vegie patch for my crabbies,as organic stuff in stores is hideously expensive.
What about fruit and vegies that can be washed and peeled? Is that reasonably ok?

My list of bad molt causes that I try to eliminate:
Diet
Chemicals
Odors
Being disturbed half way through
Not getting enough calcium and protein
Being pressed up against a hard object
extreme temperature / humidity fluxuations
Heavy vibrations sustained over a period of more than an hour or two
The unknown.. *Plays X-Files theme*

I suppose a lot of what we're doing, especially where diet is concerned, is guesswork. We really don't know exactly what kinds of things crabs may encounter in the wild, and we don't know exactly what might contribute to a bad molt. That's where we just have to do the best we know and hope it's enough.

It would be interesting to see if there are patterns among different people's crabs which have had bad molts for no apparent reason--such as similarities in diet or conditions.

troppo wrote::
What about fruit and vegies that can be washed and peeled? Is that reasonably ok?

I don't risk it myself, since pesticides are sprayed pretty continuously while fruits and veggies are growing, and I can't say with any certainty this causes problems...it's really just theory.

I know what you mean about how expensive the organics are! So when I started crabbing again this last time I bought the safest commercial food I could find (which I am trying to get away from since it has the mysterious "meal" in the ingredients) and every time I go to the store I buy 1 item that is organic. Since crabs don't eat much I know it will last forever if I freeze it, and as soon as I feel like I have enough nutrients to go all organic I will not feed any more commerical food.

It would be interesting to see if there are patterns among different people's crabs which have had bad molts for no apparent reason--such as similarities in diet or conditions.

This is why I am so excited about the info OIF VET is collecting about molts, EVEN BAD ONES. I know it's painful when a molt goes bad and people don't want to talk about it always, but if someone can bring themselves to do it, this info could be REALLY helpful. I'm very excited about this data being collected.