Lost Limbs

relaxits4lex · Post by **relaxits4lex** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 8:40 pm

Yo. So my crab Leo just came up from his 2 month molt missing a leg and his big claw. No clue how this happened. My other crab wasn’t near him as far as I know. I did notice small white bugs crawling on his shell. Not in big numbers but like maybe 2 - 4. What I’m more concerned about is, am I going to need to isolate him until he grows his limbs back? And will I need to hand feed/break up his food for him now that he can’t?

Pumpkincrab · Post by **Pumpkincrab** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:33 pm

First off how big is your tank? How much substrate? heat and humidity?

relaxits4lex · Post by **relaxits4lex** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:36 pm

Pumpkincrab wrote:First off how big is your tank? How much substrate? heat and humidity?

20 gal. 6-7 inches of dirt-sand mix. Temp is usually between 70 - 80. And humidity doesn’t drop lower than 70%.

Pumpkincrab · Post by **Pumpkincrab** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 9:38 pm

Hmm, that is definitely odd. Maybe stress? I would isolate him for a while, see how he does to recover and go from there. Put foods out that are easier to eat possibly, such as powders or liquids. Keep us updated please.

CrabbyLover77 · Post by **CrabbyLover77** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:37 pm

As long as you don't notice the other crabs picking on him, he should be ok in the main tank. He still has his little pincher? He can use that to help get food to his mouth. But like Pumpkin mentioned, you can offer him powdered food or food in bite size pieces to make it easier to grab. He should regrow the limbs when he molts again.
Imo, 70% is a little low for humidity. If you can keep it at 80%, that would be beneficial to his recovery. If you can also keep the temp warmer, above 75°F, that would also help.

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CrabbyLover77 · Post by **CrabbyLover77** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:42 pm

The bugs sound like they could be springtails or food mites, which are harmless. They help clean up leftover food and crabby poo lol.

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Post by **curlysister** » Wed Oct 28, 2020 10:45 pm

I agree that if he is moving around okay, he will be fine in the main tank.
Was this his first molt with you? When you say 'dirt-sand' mix, do you mean coco fiber and sand? Just wanting to make sure that it isn't something in your sub that could have caused a wonky molt.
And yes, their ability to re-grow limbs is amazing to me!

Be sure to check the HCA care sheet about bugs - most that you find in the tank are harmless, but the care sheet is pretty comprehensive.

relaxits4lex · Post by **relaxits4lex** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:43 am

curlysister wrote:I agree that if he is moving around okay, he will be fine in the main tank.
Was this his first molt with you? When you say 'dirt-sand' mix, do you mean coco fiber and sand? Just wanting to make sure that it isn't something in your sub that could have caused a wonky molt.
And yes, their ability to re-grow limbs is amazing to me!

Be sure to check the HCA care sheet about bugs - most that you find in the tank are harmless, but the care sheet is pretty comprehensive.

This was his 2nd molt. And yeah, the sub is coco fiber and sand.

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relaxits4lex · Post by **relaxits4lex** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:51 am

CrabbyLover77 wrote:As long as you don't notice the other crabs picking on him, he should be ok in the main tank. He still has his little pincher? He can use that to help get food to his mouth. But like Pumpkin mentioned, you can offer him powdered food or food in bite size pieces to make it easier to grab. He should regrow the limbs when he molts again.
Imo, 70% is a little low for humidity. If you can keep it at 80%, that would be beneficial to his recovery. If you can also keep the temp warmer, above 75°F, that would also help.

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Yeah he has his little pincher still, luckily. I’ll definitely see about finding ways to keep humidity and temperature up. What do you use/do? Our house AC/Heater is a bit messed up so it’s usually hot during the summer and cold during the winter. And recently temps have been fluctuating.

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crabbycasey · Post by **crabbycasey** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 8:19 am

I added a moss pit that I keep moist with dechlorinated water and that helped me finally reach my 80% humidity...plus they seem to love hanging out in it! My temp stayed right around 75 too, so i added a tank heater with adhesive and stuck it on the side, above the substrate, in the back corner away from the water dishes and that got my temp to 80 degrees! I hope that Leo does well until his next molt. Maybe try coconut oil, based on its consistency? I’m no expert, so hopefully one will chime in if I’m incorrect, haha. Good luck to you and Leo!

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relaxits4lex · Post by **relaxits4lex** » Thu Oct 29, 2020 9:09 pm

crabbycasey wrote:I added a moss pit that I keep moist with dechlorinated water and that helped me finally reach my 80% humidity...plus they seem to love hanging out in it! My temp stayed right around 75 too, so i added a tank heater with adhesive and stuck it on the side, above the substrate, in the back corner away from the water dishes and that got my temp to 80 degrees! I hope that Leo does well until his next molt. Maybe try coconut oil, based on its consistency? I’m no expert, so hopefully one will chime in if I’m incorrect, haha. Good luck to you and Leo!

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Thank you. I’ll definitely add those things in time. I’m pretty low on money at the moment.

Update for today:
I’ve kept an eye out for his activity in the main tank while I’ve been at home, but have kept him in iso with the proper things while I’ve been gone to ensure he is safe. He’s active and happy, and him and Rubi don’t have problems with one another, so I’m gonna keep him in the main tank. I’ve started taking the pellet food and softening it with bottled water and crushing it up enough to where he doesn’t need to try and take it apart. He hasn’t really tried eating on his own, but he did eat a bit yesterday when I hand fed him some coconut and a few pellets. That’s as much as there is right now, but I’ll definitely add on if anything new pops up.

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CrabbyLover77 · Post by **CrabbyLover77** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 12:12 am

relaxits4lex wrote: Yeah he has his little pincher still, luckily. I’ll definitely see about finding ways to keep humidity and temperature up. What do you use/do? Our house AC/Heater is a bit messed up so it’s usually hot during the summer and cold during the winter. And recently temps have been fluctuating.

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If you have a mesh lid, you can wrap the entire thing in saran wrap to keep the moisture in. The crabbies will get air exchange when you do your daily tank maintenance. Personally, I use glass tops on my tanks. They really hold in the moisture.
An Ultratherm uth (heater) plugged into a thermostat to regulate the temp is the way to go to warm up the tank. You can get one for a good price on reptilebasics.com. I don't think any of the uth's are over $35.

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crabbycasey · Post by **crabbycasey** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 7:24 am

So happy to hear that Leo is active and happy, they can be so resilient!

I added Saran Wrap to my mesh lid too, it does the trick!

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relaxits4lex · Post by **relaxits4lex** » Fri Oct 30, 2020 7:40 am

CrabbyLover77 wrote:If you have a mesh lid, you can wrap the entire thing in saran wrap to keep the moisture in. The crabbies will get air exchange when you do your daily tank maintenance. Personally, I use glass tops on my tanks. They really hold in the moisture.
An Ultratherm uth (heater) plugged into a thermostat to regulate the temp is the way to go to warm up the tank. You can get one for a good price on reptilebasics.com. I don't think any of the uth's are over $35.

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I currently have a glass lid. And I usually keep a small opening to prevent the tank from molding. Cuz I usually go overboard with misting the tank. Lol. I’ll definitely take a look at the ultratherm heater. I should be able to get it before it starts getting colder.

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relaxits4lex · Post by **relaxits4lex** » Wed Nov 04, 2020 10:20 pm

UPDATE:

I’ve been watching over Leo the past few days. He’s been hiding mostly, and he hasn’t really come out to get either food or water. I’ve started to pick him up and place him over the bowl so he can grab something (which has worked), though he doesn’t take the soft pellets I break down for him. He just goes for the other food and just keeps it in his mouth. Which I think is a good sign. Also as heating goes, I’ve been trying to warm up the water I spray the tank with in attempt to get the temperature up a couple degrees. It works, but not in the way I really wanted it to. I’m heading to the store sometime this week to get a heating pad to keep the tank warm.

Any thoughts on anything? On Leo’s eating habits?

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HCA: Hermit Crab Association

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