HCA: Hermit Crab Association

So, Tank has been under for about 2 months (ever since the move to the new 75 gallon 'tat).... He finally came out today, and seems to be moving and eating just fine (he finished off the better part of 1/4 of an apple )

But when I picked him up to inspect his bright new pincher, I noticed that it has a largish brown, wrinkled area at the tip.



Has anyone else had this happen? Is this just a molting mishap, or some larger problem that needs to be addressed?

Thanks!

Hmmm....it doesn't look like the kind of bacterial infection that I am familiar with, non the less, it doesn't look like a scab to me either....

Bacterial infections can be contagious. You may want to consider isolation and a medicinal bath treatment. Is this a new crab? Any other crabs have any signs of this?

What it looks more like to me is medal contamination. Do you have anything metal in the tank?

I'll let others weigh in here too.

I have had some of my crabs come up like that, go down for another molt a while later, and come up fine. I have no metal in my tank, so it couldn't be that. It never spread in my tank. I did treat it with honey that I slathered on top and it seemed to work for me... Hope this helps!

Hmm.... No, no metal at all. And Tank is actually one of the first hermies that I got. I've had him for about a year now. And the only other hermies that are up at the moment are Jack and Zeeb. Neither one of them have any sign of anything like this.

Thanks for all the suggestions, though... I'd love any input I can get!

that looks like classic bacterial infection to me. do you have some medicina bath you can make up for him? i've used it on all my guys who get infections, and it works pretty well.

Caroline

You could order some at The Addiction Store, but like I said after treating it with honey it went away after another molt....

What sort of 'medicinal bath'? Is there a brand name?

The medicinal bath is acquired through the Hermit Crab Addiction Store, but I think that some treatments of raw, organic honey and saltwater may work, too.

Just add a little dab of the honey (an anti-bacterial) and some saltwater every once in a while. That will help heal it up.

Thanks SO much! I'll try the honey and saltwater first, and order the medicinal bath just in case it gets worse!

And to compliment your little herm, he sure does have sharp toe nails now! Look at that black one... ouch! Please keep us updated!

Haha Thanks! Yep! VERY sharp.... He got me a couple of times when I got him outta the 'tat!


So I soaked his BP in some Instant Ocean salt water that I had made double strength then rubbed honey all over it. It was hilarious because he kept sneaking bites of the honey the whole time!

He seems to be fine, but I'll definitely keep updating this post to report any improvements or otherwise.

just out of curiosity did you separate him from the rest of the crabbies and clean the tank or what did you do? just wondering

Actually, no..... There is about 15 gallons of sand in the bottom of my 'tat, and I have all but 3 of my hermies under. So, since neither one of the other 2 that are up at the moment have issues and I don't know exactly where the others are buried, I figured it should be fine.

Should I really go digging and clean out all of that sand?! What did you others who have dealt with this do?

Thanks!

I didn't clean the tank or anything at all, I just applied honey and it never spread and had no issues with it

yeah I was just curious in case I ran in to a problem in the future...knock on wood...