Molt gone wrong. Stabilized, but would like advice.

[BrisHermies]

*Sigh* I read my hermit journal wrong, it's only been a month since I isolated him, not since he dug down. Got ahead of myself there, just a little. The wait is excruciating!

I assume that the "skinny jeans" means that he might be smaller when he comes up? That's a great way to put it. Good thing that I have so many shells collected.

Last night I fed dehydrated sweet potato for the first time, and my little guy Kermit came charging out of the big resin log for dinner. He is wearing the magpie shell that I got Eugene in, and Eugene buried down in a much smaller magpie. That made my eyes tear a little. Even though I'm happy that Kermit has grown, it makes me sad that Eugene has to go through this mess.

My posts do kind of read like the diary of a nutcase. Most of them came early in the morning after a sleepless night. (I seem to have a lot of those.) So pardon my insomnia-induced insanity.

For honesty's sake, I have to say that another group I joined during the merger was... less supportive. I saw a lot of people get nasty over problems a lot less serious than Eugene's. After the merger was done, I came back to this forum exclusively. Gladly, too. I was still just a little nervous to actually post. Call it "once bitten, twice shy," I guess. But now I remember why I love the HCA so much. Everybody is so helpful.

[nepenthes]

No pardons necessary. Sorry you had a bad experience elsewhere. I'm new here.. I don't even own any crabbies yet. This place definitely has been a nice place to ask for help and information so far.

And yes, skinny jeans is a reference to their limbs growing back and looking skinny. At least, that's what I've read. It takes a few molts for the legs to be "normal" sized. I wish you luck with the wait. I'd love to see pictures of when the little guy finally emerges

[BrisHermies]

He's alive! He's alive! He's alive!



I know its not a great picture, but he's moving around underneath the substrate! I promise a better pic when I actually catch him up. The water dishes have been slowly filling with sand, so I knew he was moving around, but I had trouble believing it. Banana dance smiley! Never thought I'd have cause to use that one!

He has a big cave down there, and he dug about four inches away from where he started. I can't tell what shape his limbs are in, but I broke out the baby food I got for him just in case.

[nepenthes]

Congrats! Boy, maybe hermit crabs aren't the animals for me. My nerves are already shot from reading all the suspense posts from the majority of owners. Glad things seem to be going well for you. Keep the updates coming

[wodesorel]

[KellyCrabbieLove]

Yay!!!

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[BrisHermies]

Eugene came up and is buzzing around the iso tank. I felt comfortable enough for a quick photo shoot, and he's coming along much better than I had hoped.



As you can see, his big pincher is very undersized, but still there!



The pic is a little dark, because I didn't want to use the flash in his face. But you can see that his rear walking leg on the far right side in the pic is much larger and a different color than the rest.



Finally, in this one you can really see the contrast between his one remaining leg and his new ones. The leg that he didn't lose is the sickly blue color that he was after his previous molts with me. His new ones are a bright vibrant orange, as you can see from the pic. I'm worried that he might lose the leg and little pincher; but if he can survive losing everything else, maybe he'll be okay...

I was really expecting it to take two or three molts to get all of his limbs back, but am thrilled to see him doing so well. Thank you for all of the advice and support! I'll keep the thread updated as he keeps recovering, and hopefully until he goes back to the rest of my colony.

[Crabinski]

Woo-Hoo, Eugene! We knew you could do it !

[me n my hermikids]

He is so cute! Congratulations!

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[BrisHermies]

Eugene's doing fabulous, but he's bored out of his little mind. I guess he's lonely, because he's used to a 30 gallon to roam in and the rest of my colony to keep him company.

He switched shells into a slightly larger magpie. (Apparently no one bothered to tell my hermits that they're supposed to like turbos.) But he threw all of the others into the water dishes and flipped his food dish over. (Its just a little clam shell.)

My boyfriend has fallen in love with the little survivor, and keeps saying that I should put in a climbing wall. I'm afraid that he'll snap a leg, as they are still kinda skinny; and his large pincher is still a bit smaller than his small one, so I doubt he's very fit to climb. I put in some ground level entertainment, fake vines and another hide, but it didn't seem to help. Maybe I'm just overprotective? Those skinny legs make his little eyes look so big and sad, but he's supposed to be convalescing dang it!

I know that the general rule is to end an isolation when the crab is back to being himself, but something in my gut is saying that I need him to molt one more time in iso. But that could be months! Don't know if I can stand those puppy eyes that long....

[BrisHermies]

Eugene is back in the main habitat. He is up and about all night long, climbing the tank toys like nothing ever happened. His big claw is a bit smaller than his little one, but it doesn't seem to bother him much. Thanks to everyone who posted or read, even just for moral support. It really helped.



Here he is climbing the new deer skull in the tank, happy to be back home. I'm hoping for another successful molt in a couple of months, so fingers still crossed. I'm so glad he pulled through!

[wodesorel]

Yay!

They look so funny with undersized claws. Give him maybe two molts and you'll never know anything was ever wrong.

[nepenthes]

Very awesome. I'm glad things turned out well for the both of you

[Crabinski]

Eugene looks so good...his color is excellent, eyes bright and, as you noted, the off-beat claws are not a factor for him. As @wodesorel said, in a molt or two the BP will be a true BP again. One of my first crabs, Oscar, came to me with no feeding claw so, until he molted and regrew that limb, he fed himself using his BP -- awkward, yes, but it didn't seem to bother him at all.

[BrisHermies]

I couldn't be happier with the outcome so far. My six month anniversary of crab ownership is coming up soon, and I'm FINALLY starting to feel like I might be doing alright at it. I've been a bundle of nerves so far, but I can finally relax a little. No one in my colony has been through more than Eugene, and things are starting to look up for him. I never thought I'd be writing a happy ending for his story when I started this thread, but these guys are tougher than I ever gave them credit for.

@nepenthes: Have you decided whether to get hermits or not yet? I hope I didn't discourage you. They really are amazing little animals. If its the health concerns like Eugene's that are putting you off, you may consider adoption instead. If they've been in captivity for a while and molted, they are probably at less risk for PPS. (Which I'm thinking is Eugene's issue.) Also, none of my other hermits have had any issues. I knew Eugene was really sick when I got him too, so I kind of knew what I was getting into.

@Crabinski: I am kind of proud of his color. All of my hermits that have regrown parts are really bright like that. I don't know if its the diet I give them or if they'll fade down to match again. I hadn't noticed his bright eyes. In his old pictures they were dull and gray, but look much better now. I'm so proud of my little scrapper!

@wodesorel: He does look kinda odd with his little pinchers. They make his eyeballs look so big! Two molts isn't that long for a full recovery, so that us very comforting. I was guessing a lot longer, but again I seem to have underestimated these awesome little critters.