I think my hermit crab is dead??

[Guest]

Hello, I am a new hermit crab owner (only about a month) so I'm not sure about what's going on. Shelly one of our crabs my kids got at the county fair lost part of "her" leg one morning it was just there in the tank. She had been fine prior to this. Since then she hasn't moved that I can tell maybe been 4 days. I moved her into an ISO tank last night but now it's pretty smelly and still no sign of movement. I am so confused by all the info on the Internet because some sites say they smell when molting some say they don't.... Our crabitate is a ten gallon glass tank with lid, temperature and humidity controlled, they have fresh well water as well as their ocean "pool" with sea sponge, lots to climb on and a wood hut, the saturate is sand and coconut fiber from The Hermit Crab Patch and their food is all natural no additives or preservatives, they have crushed oyster sprinkled around and a calcium supplement I give them, they have plenty of extra shells Spike even changed which we got to see while Shelly didn't. I want to be absolutely sure she is dead before taking care of it all. She is tucked into her shell though I think it's to small for her...please help!!

[hermitcrab101]

A dead crab is usually very limp and will easly fall out of it's shell. Also a dead crab will often smell of dead fish, have you notice any of these? If you could also fill this out please.
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?

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?

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?

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)?

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?

7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?

8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?

9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?

10. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?

11. How often do you clean the tank and how?

12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?

13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?

14. 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.)?

15. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.

[rednerite]

Agree with above post, more details! Especially the temp and humidity. You want to keep the isolation set up consistent with the main tanks temp and humidity to reduce further environmental stress.

The crab would be limp and rolling out of shell if dead. If not, try offering a toothpick between antennae (where their mouth parts are) covered in pure honey and crushed cuttlebone/calcium powder to help boost your sick crab. Let us know what happens!

[Guest]

[quote="hermitcrab101"]A dead crab is usually very limp and will easly fall out of it's shell. Also a dead crab will often smell of dead fish, have you notice any of these? If you could also fill this out please.
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Sand and coconut fiber mix 6in give or take

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?
Between 70 and 80 on both usually around 75

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Flat heater on one side

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)?
I have well water. I bought a ocean water mix that I added to a gallon of water per the instructions

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I feed them fresh foods of different variety that I purchased off of The Hermit Crab Patch

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
About a month / purple pincer

7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
10 gallon glass tank with a screen cover that I keep a towel over for the humidity until I can purchase a better top and light.

8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
2 crabs before moving Shelly to ISO they are not very big

9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
I keep 4 extra shells for them...2 Each

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

11. How often do you clean the tank and how?
I clean the pool every other day change the water everyday and clean out the food dish everyday. I haven't had them long and haven't really had to clean the whole thing, it's not stinky or anything

12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
Yes I haven't clean them other then a rinse in running well water

13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
I had some other saturate that had some sort the of petemoss in it that I found out was not good for them so I ordered the sand mix from The Hermit Crab Patch and changed it as soon as it arrived. It was less then 2 weeks they were in the dirt with the petemoss stuff...

14. 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.)?
They are new to us so we haven't really done all that, I was trying to allow them to distress. My kids had her out for a short while the night before but they were supervised and nothing seemed wrong. The next morning is when I saw the part of the leg, about 4 days ago hasn't moved since then, put in ISO tank with about 3in of saturate water food dark room last night and she's smelly...not overwhelming but enough to notice

[hermitcrab101]

Sature water? Do you mean salt water? If your crab is stressed then don't bathe him. And you said you saw part of the leg, do you mean it fell off? Your care condtions sound good, this sounds like PPS (post purchase syndrome), it's uncureable the most you can do is ISO and provide lots of substrate. Heres more on the topic; http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 67&t=92531.

[CallaLily]

For some reason this reply isn't visible to me through tapatalk until I quote it. Weird.
Sorry your crab isn't doing too well. I agree it sounds like Post Purchase Syndrome. I do however have a few recommendations. 3 extra shells per crab is the minimum number recommended, so to be safe I would add more. This will help prevent any shell fights. Your temps are ok as long as it isn't dropping to 70F for an extended period of time. Also, sponges tend to harbor bad bacteria. You can provide easy ways out of pools with plastic plants, smooth pebbles, shells, plastic needle point canvas, etc. If you want to continue using the sponges that's fine, they'll just need to be sterilized regularly. It's easiest to have extras on hand. Every couple days swap out the dirty ones for clean ones. Rinse the dirty ones out well in dechlor water and allow to air dry. Once completely dry, microwave for one minute.

There is a smell sometimes during molts. It's usually described as chemical-like. Though a few times people have described it as fishy. A deceased crab will smell strongly of rotten fish.
Let us know how your crabbie does. I hope she pulls through.

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Sand and coconut fiber mix 6in give or take

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?
Between 70 and 80 on both usually around 75

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
Flat heater on one side

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)?
I have well water. I bought a ocean water mix that I added to a gallon of water per the instructions

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I feed them fresh foods of different variety that I purchased off of The Hermit Crab Patch

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
About a month / purple pincer

7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
10 gallon glass tank with a screen cover that I keep a towel over for the humidity until I can purchase a better top and light.

8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
2 crabs before moving Shelly to ISO they are not very big

9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
I keep 4 extra shells for them...2 Each

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

11. How often do you clean the tank and how?
I clean the pool every other day change the water everyday and clean out the food dish everyday. I haven't had them long and haven't really had to clean the whole thing, it's not stinky or anything

12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
Yes I haven't clean them other then a rinse in running well water

13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
I had some other saturate that had some sort the of petemoss in it that I found out was not good for them so I ordered the sand mix from The Hermit Crab Patch and changed it as soon as it arrived. It was less then 2 weeks they were in the dirt with the petemoss stuff...

14. 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.)?
They are new to us so we haven't really done all that, I was trying to allow them to distress. My kids had her out for a short while the night before but they were supervised and nothing seemed wrong. The next morning is when I saw the part of the leg, about 4 days ago hasn't moved since then, put in ISO tank with about 3in of saturate water food dark room last night and she's smelly...not overwhelming but enough to notice