Possible shell rot?

[tillytills]

Since you've come to the emergency forum, we know you want a fast answer to your question. In order for us to figure out the problem as quickly as possible, we ask that you answer the following questions as best you can. Some of them may seem odd, but they're all designed to give us the information we need to give you a good solution for your problem. The things in the [ brackets ] are there to make this post easier to read once submitted. Thanks!


1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
5:1 playsand to coco fiber, ~6 inches deep


2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?
Yes, one on the end farthest away from the pools and one in the middle of the tank. Far end reads 75% and 80 degrees, middle reads 85% and 75 degrees


3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Head pad on the side of the far end, covers 1/3rd of the tank to create a heat gradient, not insulated.


4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?
Sea Chem Prime fresh water (4-5 drops for 2 gallons) and Instant Ocean (prepared according to box instructions, 2 gallons made at a time).


5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
Dried meal mixes from etsy, specifically Naturally Crabby and Hermit Grub. ~half teaspoon of 4 different meals, two with proteins and two without. Occasionally a few dried river shrimp are added (from the aquarium aisle at PetCo).


6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
Had him for 1.5 years, purple pincher


7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Yes, about 6 months ago. Tunnel collapsed and we had to dig him out. He finished his molt early in an ISO tank above ground. Activity and behavior seemed normal afterwards so we considered it a successful molt despite the circumstances.


8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
75 gallon long tank. Only 12 inches tall, so not a lot of climbing. Lid is a plastic-wrapped screen lid.


9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
5 crabs in the tank. one is ~.75 inches, three are ~1-1.25 inches, the crab in question is ~1.5-1.75 inches


10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
~10-15, variety of sizes and shapes. None panted.


11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No


12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
Almost never, unless the crabs shred plastic wrap or decor. They seem to be self sufficient.


13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
No


14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
The most recent addition were two of our medium sized crabs, which were introduced while the crab in question was buried (about 2 months ago).


15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?
Our tank is close to a window, so there is some algae build up, but not molding or flooding.


16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
I don't know if our crab has shell rot, an injury, or what. He has two weird spots on him, which look almost like bruises. My partner said the spots don't feel soft. There's one spot on his back behind his eye stalks and one on his big claw. He's exhibiting normal behavior, and recently switched shells after coming back up from his time underground only a few days ago. Our biggest concern is shell rot, but we don't feed fresh food...it's possible he may have found one of the new crabs that didn't survive the transfer into our main tank and helped himself. Our second biggest concern is if this is contagious. He has been considered the dominant crab for the entire time we've had him, so I doubt it's an injury but you never know.

Picture: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nbYsGF ... sp=sharing


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[JoeHermits]

Looks kinda like he may have been bumped or hardened weird after molting. Has he been underground recently? Your description says the last molt was six months ago, but also just came up a few days ago. Did he just finish molting a few days ago?


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[tillytills]

He came up from a molt 6 months ago, then went down ~2 months ago, and came back up 3 days ago.

[JoeHermits]

In that case a weird molting thing is most likely, and will even out with the next molt


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