HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My baby crab, krull, has a black hard thing on her big claw. It has been there for a long time and has not affeted her at all. What do u think it is?

How big is it? Hopefully it's not anything like mold or bacteria. If your tank is clean, you shouldn't have any problems. It'll probably go away once your crab molts.

it is about the size of the end of a bobbie pin.

put her in some regular dechlor water, then let her sit in a few drops of stress coat for a bit.

RUB-A-DUB-DUB -- HERMIES IN THE TUB!
It's true. Your land hermit crabs need to be bathed every week. Why, you ask? In the wild hermit crabs are frequently rained on and live in a very humid environment. We can't provide rain for them, so the next best thing is for us to bathe them. Bathing is absolutely necessary -- it keeps their modified (stiffened) gills moist. When your hermie is taken from his island home, you need to provide him with a method to keep his gills moist, as well.
Remember that your hermit crab cannot tolerate chlorine, so please be sure to dechlorinated the bath water. The temperature of the water should be tepid, that is, about the temperature of the surrounding room (not noticeably hot OR cold). For a really special (ultra healthy) hermie bath, put in a couple drops of Stress Coat® (click on the name to find out why). Most people bathe their hermit crabs in dishes, mixing bowls and plastic containers.

Take your sweet, unsuspecting hermit crab from his crabitat and slowly immerse him in the bath water. Set him at the bottom of the 'tub' upside-down. That way when he comes out of his shell, the water will rush in a flush out all the dirt clinging to his cephalothorax (head & body) and abdomen. If he does not come out, let him sit in the bottom of the tub for about three minutes and then remove him. Keep an eye on him, bathing crabs makes them VERY active and he may decide to quickly crawl out of the bath! Let him walk around (or frantically run, as the case may be in smaller crabs and Ecuadorians) for a couple minutes. Then remove him from the tub, drain the excess water from his shell and allow him to dry off. Some people have special 'playgrounds' for their crabs to exercise in while drying off. Their 'drying off area' can be a simple as a shoe box with a paper towel in it to absorb the excess moisture.

Place your dried-off hermie back in his crabitat and sit back and watch. They are incredibly active after their bath time and love to explore!

Bath time is also an excellent time for you to clean and re-order your crabitat. Use a kitchen strainer or fish net to strain the sand to remove all crab poopies, bits of exoskeleton and buried food. Shake the sand out of the empty shells and replace the food in the food dish. Put all their climbing toys back to where they were the week before, or arrange them differently for a new look. I strongly advocate that all crabitats be 'remodeled' occasionally to keep your crabs from becoming bored with their environment.

from Christa's Great www.hermit-crabs.com

Thanks I will give them a bath soon. But what kind of water,I know not tap but that is all I have. I dont have the stress coat or anything to dechlorinate the water. (how do I do this)

you shuold get a dechlorinator asap. If a crab has normal tap water it might die. As for the stress coat, it is not neccisary, but it is better especially for stressed out hermies.

*If* it does happen to be some type of fungus, you may notice your crab tends to pull away or flinch if you touch the affected area. Somehow this type of fungus is painful to them. Once they have a successful molt, the fungus is usually gone. I first noticed this on an E I had a few months ago. I panicked and called Christa. Sure enough, just like she said... once he molted, he emerged with his normal, beautiful leg tips - no spot.