HCA: Hermit Crab Association

congrats! that is soooooo exciting! can't wait to see pics of the little fighter!

Okay, so I thought about it and went back to get her food and take pictures. I didn't like the thought of her going without energy since she just regenerated all those legs!

Here she is.




I made a false-cave and filled it with water and goodies, including cuttlebone, honey cuttlebone, and HCP Mineral Blend. I also on an afterthought added Opilio and King crab exo from Wolf. (After all, she needs exo to eat and those would be perfect!)



For easy access I'm using the lid to one of my good baking dishes. :whistle: Don't tell anyone!




And just for the full brunt of how bad this is, I looked up her old claw photo. Before and after:

That is wonderful news!

Here's an interesting question. Are the spot patterns on her claw the same before and after, even though the claw fully regenerated? I've been trying to figure it out, but think I would need to enlarge the pictures more, plus the spots on her new claw are faint in places. I always use the spot patterns for identification and really wonder if they are unique to the crab, even after damage.

Do you think that craw will grow larger than the previous claw? I'm so glad she made it and it seems like you're an excellent crab vet!

wow! stunning how tiny the crabbie looks now! that's crazy

WOW! Such great news! Congrats momma
Great pics. She lost a lot of size So glad she pulled through

You're such a amazing crabby mother. I'm so happy for you. Hearing about this has made my day.

i LOVE this story! Such great news.

I checked on her this morning and she has dug under by herself. :roll: Ah well, all I can do now is wait for her to come back up!

And thank you all for the kind words, but I didn't do anything other than give her food. This is all on her! I've had new crabs in the past that looked healthy and just up and died. The largest crab I ever owned got through his first molt and was half-way through eating his exo when he dropped dead. And then there's this little girl who was torn to pieces and managed to live. Crabs are unique and amazing and all we can do is throw food and water at them and marvel at their abilities.

And both my mother and hubby are a little freaked out by how fast she was able to regenerate. She went from a half-leg and a bum claw two Sunday's ago, to gel limbs on every missing joint last Sunday, to brand new claws and legs this Sunday. 14 days from crippled to whole. (If only humans could figure how they do it someday and could make it work for us. )

eloise13 wrote:You're such a amazing crabby mother. I'm so happy for you. Hearing about this has made my day.

Same here! Wonderful job! I'm so glad she pulled through!

More pictures

Alma wrote:More pictures

Wish I could!

We're all going to have to wait until she comes up on her own. It's turned into a normal molt since she reburied herself, so now all I can do is wait for her... I'm thinking she should be down for a week or two at most, but who knows?

Wow, she's moulting now. Yeah!!!!!

This is such an amazing story! I'm so glad everything worked out.

What a fighter!

Just noticed this- I'm so happy she made it!