Missing lots of legs, what would you do?

[SaPen]

So my tank has dried out way too much, I always struggle with keeping the substrate moist, but I've been afraid to pour water on because I have a bunch of crabs down and previously water logged my tank this way and killed a few very important to me crabs. Two days ago a crab surfaced and was missing all but two limbs...a leg and her big claw (on opposite sides so she is able to move a bit). She drank a bunch of fresh water, submerged herself and came back up. I made up some fresh food and put her near it but she didn't seem interested and I'm not sure she ate anything. I sprayed down the surface of the substrate (I bought one of those pump sprayers to make misting easier) but of course it's still pretty dry further down. She's buried herself again but only just under the surface, I can see her position up against the glass.

I'm not sure what I should do. I really want to go digging, do a deep clean, get new moist substrate in there and see if there are any other injured but still living crabs that need help. I have a spare ten gallon and can run up and get another heat lamp so I do have a place to put any injured crabs. I'm just wondering if you think it's safe for me to do this, move the injured and molting crabs? Is there any sort of special way I need to handle them?

[Rebecca C]

I'm so sorry for what you are going through. I'll try to help.

What kind of substrate are you using? Also, what is the temperature of the tank?
I'm wondering if maybe the bulb you are using in the lamp may be too strong for your setup.

As far as the dryness of the substrate/tank goes, you do not need to pour water into the tank to keep it moist, you can use the sprayer that you bought and mist all over in the tank. You do not need to drench it, but keep misting in the same spot for a few seconds, before moving to another spot. It simulates rain, I doubt it would pose any harm to buried crabs. This should keep it moist enough for them.

Do you have any idea why she might have come up missing all of those other limbs? Is there enough space for each crab, or any aggressive crabs?

I would not go digging for any of them, unless the crabs have been down there for at least 6 months in these dry conditions, and you think they may be dead.

I would recommend misting the tank well and do that at least once a day for a couple weeks and see if anymore show up, also listen to see if you hear any digging noises. How long have most of them been down?

[SaPen]

Well here's the thing, I don't know how long they've been down, well at least one of them. I left them at home with my parents while I went to college so I only saw them on breaks. I graduated in May so I've been home since then. In that time I've seen three crabs and I only have four. So two up and two down. Apollo is up and healthy. Not sure who my injured one is...I thought Rhea but she might not be big enough I really need to compare to tell between Rhea and Eurybia. Of the other two I've seen one this summer (Zephyr I believe, it was a little one) for only a couple of days before he went back down and the other has been down since before May so might be deceased or might be doing a long molt. It's been at least a month before Zephyr was up.

Last time I did a deep clean (decided to do one since it had been so long since I'd seen some of the crabs I wanted to know if they were alive) I found my tank was flooded deeper down and there was one living crab in mid molt down there, at least two had died. Luckily the molter was pretty much done, just needed to harden up. I'm glad his little pocket stayed intact and he didn't rot like the others. The flood is the reason I haven't bought any new crabs, I don't want to get more until I find a way to stabilize the tank conditions. I think the sprayer (a recent purchase) is going to be a big help, but I really need to start from scratch I think, the substrate was already too dry for me to be able to completely moisten is to the bottom with the sprayer without the risk of flooding. I'm really, really paranoid about flooding now.


As for everything else, I use sand and EE in the 5:1 ratio. Temp stays just around 80 degrees, it's very steady. Humidity's actually good now too since I've bought the sprayer. The bulb is infrared, 100W. I think the tank just dried out from neglect while I was at school (parents weren't going to spray it, water bowls were often nearly empty from evaporation when I came home) and I haven't been able to get it completely moist again.

Apollo is my newest crab and came up a few days before the injured crab. It's possible he had something to do with it but I'm not sure if he's normally aggressive. Honestly I don't see my crabs interact often. I just have the four crabs in a 40 gallon tank, Apollo is the only PP. It could have been the dry conditions causing a bad molt or causing her little underground pocket to collapse on her mid molt and cause damage. She was VERY sandy when she came up but I assume it took a while to dig up with just the two limbs so that may have been the reason.

I've gotten the second tank all set up now, I'm just debating whether or not to go ahead and move my injured girl before she starts molting (assuming that's what she's doing).

[Rebecca C]

I wonder what could have happened to that poor girl.
There could have even possibly been a fight that took place, above ground, while you were away.
Hopefully with the new tank, she will recover. If the conditions of the new tank are where they need to be, I don't think it is necessary for you to wait to put her in it.

[SaPen]

So I did the deep clean last night, it actually wasn't as dry as I was expecting down there though there were areas where it was too dry. I have three living crabs, one of which I didn't know I owned, a little PP, which means I started with 5. So two died, though I only found one body and it looked LONG dead. I can't tell which EE I have though, the dead one was not near a shell. I did find Rhea's shell empty below ground though it was far from the body. I'm thinking it was probably her unless she dug up naked. I put the two healthy PPs into the newly renovated tank and kept the injured E in the hospital tank. She seems to be getting around pretty well, she munched on grapes. Do you think she should go into the main tank or stay in the hospital tank? My only worry with her in the main tank is the salt water bowl as it's very deep. There's a ladder to get out but I'm not sure how easily she'll be able to climb it. She was in the hospital tank with the other two for 4 hours last night as I cleaned out the main tank. I was worried about them going after her but they seemed to do fine.

[Rebecca C]

I'm so sorry for your losses.

I wouldn't think that the other two would attack her, as I wouldn't imagine that the crabs could really tell that another was missing most of their limbs. I think she would have to have a different smell to her, like molting hormones, for them to go after her.

I do think that maybe you should keep her isolated for right now though. I would bet that she might try to molt soon enough, and especially if you are concerned with her not being able to get out of the salt water bowl in the main tank. I think she should be fine with that; I've seen them do some really crazy things and get themselves out of some seemingly impossible situations, for crabs, but I am one that does not like to take chances.

[SaPen]

Thank you Rebecca. I am going to keep her in the hospital tank, since I moved the other two into the main tank she hasn't really moved so I'm afraid she might surface molt or pass away. She's just sat in the same spot, mostly in her shell though she did poke out once that I saw yesterday.

[Rebecca C]

awe, poor thing. I will be keeping her in my prayers; I hope she pulls through for you, try to stay positive.

[SaPen]

Just wanted to update. The injured crab is doing really well. She's much more active now and eating like a pig. She seems to be enjoying her time in the hospital tank. I'll keep her in there until she molts, but it doesn't look like she's planning on going down any time soon. So I have high hopes for her, she seems perfectly normal except for the missing limbs of course.

[Ryry]

So good to hear!

[YYWW]

Just wanted to update. The injured crab is doing really well. She's much more active now and eating like a pig. She seems to be enjoying her time in the hospital tank. I'll keep her in there until she molts, but it doesn't look like she's planning on going down any time soon. So I have high hopes for her, she seems perfectly normal except for the missing limbs of course.

Sounds like she's loading up for MOLT MADNESS! Good thing, and good luck!


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[SaPen]

Yeah she decimates her food bowl every time I feed her, she's one hungry crab.

[lemonade2]

I had a big problem with my first tank when I had two molters go under, and the substrate dried to a hard consistency so I was worried that they wouldn't be able to dig out or that the caves would collapse on them. Luckily, I was able to dig them out when they were nice and hardened so not too much stress become of them, and they are happy as ever.

Now, every so often, I will just mix up my substrate and rehydrate it to sandcastle consistency just so they have something to work with. As soon as my two crabs are up from molting i'm going to moisturize their substrate again. Good luck with your crabbies!