HCA: Hermit Crab Association

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?

Eco Earth with slight sand mixture, 6-8 inches.

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?

Electric Guage, 99% Humditiy and 75f.

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

Heat Pads

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)?

Both, [ Ocean Prime and Instant Ocean ]

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

Primarily dried and freeze-dried food, and with specific pellets without copper sulfate ( not given regularly ) and dusted with either calcium or vitamin powder. Changed roughly every 24-48 hours.

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

August 2018

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?

Tukiyo molted roughly back in october and was down for a month. I believe she had a molting issue where only one of her legs partially formed.

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

20 Gallon Aquarium, Plastic Lid.

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

2 PP's, one large, and tukiyo is the medium

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

2-3 For both of them, Odin tends to only swap with one other shell back and forth, but Tukiyo tends to stay down ALOT, so I really don't see her in action.

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

None.

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

Spot clean daily

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

Nope

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

None

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.)?

N/A

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.

I've noticed there's been a rise of a bacterial bloom and I have gotten a new massive bag of eco earth so I did a substrate change to help get rid of the nasty water, and so I was forced to take Tukiyo out of where she's been hidden at- I took her and Odin out and I did a full substrate change of the tank; when I placed the two back in Tukiyo didn't really move, but was poking out of her shell- her feelers was only slightly moving and I decided to check on her later, roughly and hour or so later I came back and noticed she still didn't move, and mostly kept an eye out to make her Odin wasn't trying to get all on top of her or anything like that and I was expecting her to hit up the food bowl and bury again, and I already felt pretty bad for doing that. I placed her gently into the food bowl, and while she was looking out of her shell her antenee was moving VERY slowly and hardly moving, sorta staying semi-tucked backed up in the shell.

Another hour or so passes this morning and she still hasn't done anything so I got a closer eye on her- She's still firmly within her shell, but I noticed one of her legs is sorta sagging and wagging back and forth. It's not solid; I've placed her in the hide and have it covered up as I'm not sure if I caught her when she was literally molting. Keep in mind she molted back in October, but I do understand hermit crabs can have extremely random molts close to eachother; I seriously feel bad and I don't want to stress her more then I've likely already did, and at such a sensitive time, while I'm trying not to panic, I'm EXTREMELY worried and I don't want to loose her.

Any advice?

There's also the possibilty that she JUST got done molting/ eating her exoskeleton- it is pale in coloration.

Yeah, I'd just be worried she's somewhere in the bad molting phase where she has already gone into a stupor. I'd get her someplace safe and secured, preferably under darkness. Always assume a crab found underground may shed at any moment! It's very normal for them to not be reactive for a week or two when they hit the right point of the molting cycle, and they need to be both protected and left alone or it can cause deformities.

Thanks Wodesorel, yeah, I've got her covered up now in the hide so Odin can't potenially bother her- It's fine anyway since the big guy tends to stay tucked away in the corner of the tank and lay up against the heat pads. I can't help still feel bad for the unessecary pre-stress though. I dipped her in the water bowl to get the old nasty substrate out and let her to sit out, and see if I could get her to potenially eat something by putting it at her claws.



That's where I have her at. Seems dark enough in the skull where the lights aren't getting in.

Update! She molted not too long ago, from what I can see most of her exoskeleton is off and I see very freshly molted legs! Looks like jelly, haha.

Everything should hopefully be okay! Just got to wait for her to eat her exo

Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly!

Oh no. Terrible news- I just woke up and I quickly checked on the skull that I thought was seal proof; Tukiyo's out of her shell ( I assume since before Odin got in ) and she's just... twitching. She's not dead, but she's alive. I don't know what to do; any suggestions, anyone?

I did some quick thinking after typing this but tukiyo had already somehow lost her big claw which I either assumed she was being rough on herself from walking around or odin trying to take it off due to the molting scents. He didn't do anything to her exo but her big claw was damaged. I have no choice but to setup a seperate tiny exo for her until she's strong enough to go back in with odin, but that raises another problem; will Odin be alright? I don't want to leave him alone and see him get sick from being alone.

Also, I was able to safely guide tukiyo back into her shell.

Edit: Her big claw when I looked at it was definitionally damaged, and to be honest I didn't do a super close-up examination of the rest of her body, but since I was able to get her back inside her shell and she's staying in their I think she's ok.

Crabs always take advantage of molters and they must be separated for safety. Since it really sounds like she was ripped from her shell, there could be substational internal damage you aren't seeing.

Your other crab is fine by himself. It's not going be anything bad for him to be on his own, and he could kill her if he hasn't already.

If she makes it, her next molt has to be undisturbed. She's taken too much stress and injury to be able to make it through another bad molt. I'd recommend housing her separate until she finishes both this molt and her next so she has the best chance.

Good news! She's still alive and she's been starting to eat her exo.

Xenpurgisnachttt wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 12, 2020 11:01 am

Good news! She's still alive and she's been starting to eat her exo.

I realize this is 5 days or so later, but from my reading here and so many suggestions... if this were to happen to anyone; I'd recommend the soda bottle cut with the crab isolated in main tank where another crab would be unable to interfere further.

I'm surprised that nobody here recommended this initially. Hermit crabs can pretty easily get in and out of places that you might think are sealed... hence the sticky RE hermit crab escapes.

I've also had a bacterial bloom and I had to pull a molter after a month down. He was active so I dipped and he stocked up on food and saltwater then buried for a few weeks after which I think was just to destress at that point. Most of the exo was gone (not all) when I initially had to dig.

Hope things are going well. If you see this post an update. Updates are always appreciated here! Good luck.

The downside of the bottle method is that it's hard to get them the darkness they need in order to finish molting properly. It's also not foolproof either, and crabs have gotten inside to attack molters.

wodesorel wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 17, 2020 9:18 pm

The downside of the bottle method is that it's hard to get them the darkness they need in order to finish molting properly. It's also not foolproof either, and crabs have gotten inside to attack molters.

Interesting. Thanks for the heads up as this would have been my go to. Typically we'd reccomend the dark green bottles. Guess it could be darker and I def understand RE crabs getting where they want. Just seemed that the cut dark bottle down to the bottom of sub would have been my recommendation (based solely on all of you here).

Now that I'm thinking about this, my go to would just be isolation 10 gallon tank or even the critter keeper with the small UTH on the side, but without those available to me... I'd prob still do the cut bottle if was my only option. Was just throwing it out there as I've seen this recommended a lot, but was surprised to not see that here... wasn't sure if members have soured on that or something.

Definitely not a dig at all at the OP. I just wasn't sure how, from the picture posted, that would be considered OK/escape proof (well the most escape get in/get out proof I guess). Appreciate the reply. Enjoy tossing around thoughts on this forum as most here are open to civil conversation and constructive criticism.