HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi, I just noticed something really worrying! I just noticed my smallest crab has very small and frail looking legs on one side, while the other side looks fine. Now maybe I'm just seeing things but I'd like to know your guys' thoughts.



Sorry, the first 2 pics are crappy quality since I had to zoom in. But the legs on the right look smaller and paler in comparison to the left legs, right? And for the last pic, is his other claw supposed to look like that?

Asdfghjkl; am I just worrying over nothing?

I doesn't look like anything too worrying, most likely a molt went a little wrong. He should be able to fix it on his own. And as for the big pincher it is normal for it to be much much bigger than the little one.


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And also- it's hard to tell from the pic but is your sub calcium sand?


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Ok I was just worried about how small his pincher was ^^; and no, it's play sand from Home Depot. I'm hoping to mix in EE when all 3 crabs are up.


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Also, how could I make molts be generally smoother and better for my hermies in the future?


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Make sure sub is 3x your largest crab or 6 inches (whichever is deeper) and wet to sandcastle consistency (you can use salt water to control bacteria.


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Right, and should I really spray the sand where molters are? And if I already have crushed cuttlebone and eggshell in my food mix, should I add another calcium bowl or something?

The leg could be regrowing- perhaps it was not there before? The smaller pincher is correct I provide several types of calcium sources at all times for my crabs. Coral, cuttlebone, eggshell, oystershell. No bowl is necessary- just throw a whole eggshell in there, a piece of coral- stick a cuttlebone upright in the sub, etc

Edit: I don't spray substrate- instead of mixing substrate- let the crabs do it for you- add 1" of moistened ecoearth to your playsand every 24 hours. They will mix it together. That will boost humidity

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GotButterflies wrote:Edit: I don't spray substrate- instead of mixing substrate- let the crabs do it for you- add 1" of moistened ecoearth to your playsand every 24 hours. They will mix it together. That will boost humidity

Thanks so much! Humidity in my tank isn't really a problem; it's always around 85-90%! That being said, should I just skip out on the EE?

Depends- does your substrate always stay sandcastle consistency?


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yep!


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Then you don't need it (unless you need to add to substrate height)


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ok ty!!


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Yw!


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