Why lose legs?

[rkicker]

Why did my daughter's hermit crab lose the legs on her right side? What could have caused this. I did not do anything different in her care for the several months we have had her. It appeared that she had had a stroke prior to losing these legs. The legs on the right side did not move or respond to my touch, but the the legs on the left side certainly responded. Anything I can do to make certain that our new little blue legged girl doesn't ever have this problem? The other hermit crab who had been living with my daughter's hermit crab never lost his legs.

[Nnnnnnnn]

Could you answer the questions at the top of the emergency forum?

Could you post pics of the crab it's self, too?

[StephBaby]

Has the crab molted since you had her? What im thinking is PPS. Answerin the emergency questions would help finding an answer

[Jennybecca]

Rkicker here is a link. Please answer these questions. In order for us to adequately understand what is going on, we need more specific information. There could be a number of things here, but we need to be able to narrow it down. I see that you recently lost one crab we would like to help you prevent this again.
http://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/ph ... 02#p411841

Thanks

[Rocky]

What species are they? I noticed you said blue legged, so I can't imagine they're PPs. If you're unsure, you could post some pictures and we could identify them for you
Crabs will drop limbs for a few reasons, one is because of stress. Either something in your tank or from PPS (post purchase syndrome) either way it's not a good sign. It's a sign that the stress has progressed enough for them to start dropping limbs, they sometimes go limp after that if nothing is done to help them.
The other reason is injuries, but usually that's injuries isolated on one limb. ie. if a crab gets in a fight and injures a leg, he might drop it if it hurts to much. Thats not a huge deal, since he dropped it to help himself, and he'll just regrow it once he molts.
If you could carefully answer the help template, we can see if there might be anything that could be harming him. Sometimes it's something as small as having febreze or cleaning supplies near the tank, and sometimes it's as complicated as temperature and humidity issues.
We'll help as much as we can, I hope he pulls through

[rkicker]

Hi! I think it is important to ad that only the new hermit crab is a blue legged one. She is a very cute little crab. She is very outgoing and social. I am looking for another hermit crab or two to live with her. The hermit crab that died had orangeish red legs and chirped. The hermit crab who lost her legs is a medium gray color with a little orangeish red on her claw. None of these hermit crabs changed colors since we first brought them home from the pet shop. The crab who lost her legs is not eating and doesn't respond much. I put her on the food dish to help her get to the food better.

[Rocky]

Could you possibly post a picture of the blue legged crab? And please fill this out, it'll help alot with figuring out what might be making her drop legs
1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?

2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?

4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?

7. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?

8. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?

9. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?

10. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?

11. How often do you clean the tank and how?

12. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?

13. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?

14. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?

[wodesorel]

I'm so sorry you lost Bella, rkicker.


There's another thread started over in Emergency where the Template Questions have been answered. I'm going to ask that everyone who wants to help out in figuring what happened to Bella head over to that thread since there's more information there.

Crab's legs on right side not moving