HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Nothing like this has ever happened to one of my crabs before and I'm in a full out panic mode. I'm not sure this crab is going to make it. It's one of two E's I got at a fair out of pity. They're in a 20g tall tank with 6" sand mixed with Eco earth, it's my iso tank. So I got them in May, one was smaller and missing a claw and they other one looked okay for the most part. I put them in the tank and within a couple days both burrowed down like is expected, and the larger one resurfaced after a month of so but very briefly. Well yesterday to my surprise the same one came up again. Not fully, it was still in its hole but fully exposed to the surface. I looked and saw that it looked like it wasn't wearing a shell but I couldn't see all of it in the hole so I though maybe it's just hanging out of the shell a bit. I had food out for it but I dropped a raisin in its hole just in case it was hungry in there. I didn't disturb it anymore. Today I checked again and I found she was still in the hole. I got kind of worried and stared at her for a bit and saw mites crawling all over her! Fast ones, not like the usual sluggish food mites. At least those little bugs looked like mites to me. That's when I panicked and prepared a saltwater and freshwater bath with stress coat in them. I was also preparing myself to pick up a naked crab so I grabbed a shell. She was naked to my horror and I felt so bad for stressing her out further, but I felt like I had to do something. I eased her into a shell but she stayed motionless for the most part and kept her abdomen curled. The shell I picked seemed a bit too large. She would move her eyes slightly sometimes so I knew she was alive. I gave her a bath until I couldn't see mites crawling on her. I set her on the food dish with a smaller shell next to her. I reached in her old hole and found her shell in there filled with sand. I rinsed it out but found a big hole in it so I didn't put it back in. Please help! What do I do? Is she doomed for certain death? I've never lost a crab like this before, I'm so scared. Her buddy hasn't turned up at all and I'm certain that one is gone, it had been missing a claw when I bought it. I'm not going to dig up the tank yet though.

Food mites can definitely be fast. They are small and white/tan and look like tiny sesame seeds.

They probably saw your molter as a meal.

If the crab has been reshelled, ISO it. Was any of the exo left? Has the crab hardened?



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I have food mites sometimes but these were much faster. I've just checked again now and she has left that shell and gone back into her hole. She seems to be moving her legs around more and just a bit more alert. I wasn't sure if I did the right thing but I slid her into a smaller shell and but her back in her hole. She seems like she's taking to it, and isn't being as lifeless as before. She is in my iso tank already. I could try to create another iso for her if that's what you mean, like a barebones type. I made a mixture of honey, bee pollen, Spirulina, and krill powder and left it in a small dish next to her hole. Also yes she had hardened and I didn't feel any exo bits in the hole she'd dug.

This may be helpful in ID'ng the insect.

http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... hp?t=92537

I would not place the crab back in the tank with the mites. ISO in the main tank in a tupperware container, then leave the crab alone to avoid stressing it out further.

You can place the healing foods in the tupperware.

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The mites had been crawling all over her eyes so I'm sure they were the bad kind, they're reddish colored too. Do you mean in a closed Tupperware container or just one flipped upside down on the sand?

Okay update: I've placed her in a very barebones container, with fresh and salt water in small dishes and a small hide made from a plastic cup wth a paper towel over it. The substrate is wet paper towels. The temp in my house is a constant 79-81, so heating isnt an issue. It's a glad container about 10"x10" so I know it's a bit small but it's the best container I have right now. I'm only going to do this until I see that all the mites are gone. I gave her one more quick bath after taking her out of the old iso as there were still some mites on her. I'm just going to leave her alone for now. I hope I didn't stress her out too much, at this rate I might die of stress instead.

Were the mites physically attached to the crabs joints, antennae, eyestalks, or any other body parts, like stuck on as if glued?

Do any of your other crabs have them attached to those places?

Food mites can range from white to tan.

Pics of the mites would be helpful if you can post some.

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They weren't attached but they were all over her eyes, crawling really fast around them. I've never seen any of my other crabs have mites on them like that, and they've never come in contact with this crab. They don't really seem like food mites, I was observing the mites in the bath water and they were darting around on the surface really fast. Not just floating like the normal food mites do. I can try to get a pic tomorrow if I see more.

Edit: All right good news! Well better news at least. I checked on her today and saw that she hadn't moved, so I offered some food on my fingertip up close to her. She actually started eating it to my surprise. I kept giving her more until she started pinching on my finger (trying to eat it I guess lol). So I grabbed a little shell and put some of the food in it. She started eating more of it and I'm soooo happy! I think she can make it! I also recorded a video of her eating. I didn't notice any mites on her today, but I'm not going to move her until she's in better health and I know for sure all the mites are gone.

The recent news sounds promising. If a crab starts to eat, I normally take it as a good sign that she/he is on the road to recovery. Keep us posted!

Cute vid by the way!

What a little survivor! I hope she continues to improve


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Update: She is doing great! I've moved her into the main tank now. At first she didn't move much other than hiding in her shell, so I kept placing food right next to her. She is much more active today and actually crawled across the tank. I'm watching her attempt to climb into the side of the salt water pool as I type this. One this I did notice though was that the tip of one leg seems to be limp. She moves it but she can't seem to bend it. Other than that she looks great, very responsive now. I know I must be very lucky for her to have survived. I've read a lot of the other stories and they always seem to end badly. Also I haven't seen a mite since those first baths!

That's great I'm glad it's turning around that must be scary i hope she fully recovers and all is well i wish you luck

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