HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Just as we were talking about being very close to crabpacity for our tanks a local add for crabs popped up.

Four purples and one strawberry. I drove a little over an hour after work yesterday and picked up the Straw and one of the Purples. The others were molting.

I feel bad for the straw. He has a deformed leg from molting and shortly after I got him situated into the tank Beelz decided to go after his shell. Luckily I was there to break up the grapple. After the chaos I dipped all the empty shells in saltwater and Beelz decided to change into one of them.

These two bring our rescue/adoption count up to 15 since December 28th. 20 in total in the past year.



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Cuties

Aww! He is still a sweetheart! It should go back to normal after another molt, right? Or are straws different?


Rod♡Salty♡Bob♡Squirt♡Crabina♡Who
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers <-♡-«

RiNiKy506 wrote:Aww! He is still a sweetheart! It should go back to normal after another molt, right? Or are straws different?


Rod♡Salty♡Bob♡Squirt♡Crabina♡Who
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers <-♡-«

Exactly the same as all other crabs. Will fix itself.

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aussieJJDude wrote:Exactly the same as all other crabs. Will fix itself.

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I wasn’t sure if they were different being a different species. Thank you.


Rod♡Salty♡Bob♡Squirt♡Crabina♡Who
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers <-♡-«

So far Wendigo's (Wendy for short) leg doesn't seem to bother him/her as far as I can tell. Wendys been climbing up the netting, bark and cholla like everyone else. When I was talking to his owner he got 3 straws from the place I got mine, not sure when he got his 3 in relation to mine. He had them shipped where I opted to pick mine up. I'm not sure how much of a factor that would be with his condition now. Wendy was the only one he had left. The tank was around 70 F about 10 F cooler than what is recommended for straws. The substrate was also dry, but there was a humidifier inside the to tank to boost the humidity and very shallow pools where only their legs gould get wet. I really hope this guy will be ok because unfortunately I know he may be ok now but the damage may come out in the next several molts. We will do our best for him and ask questions when needed of course. Fingers crossed!

Hopefully you guys got him in time and he will be able to recover. We will keep sending good crabby vibes to you and your wife. I admire you and your wife for all you’ve done for your crabbies, such amazing people to have such dedication.


Rod♡Salty♡Bob♡Squirt♡Crabina♡Who
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers <-♡-«

You never know, sometimes they come out of the worst conditions and seem to do fine. 2 of my adoptees were being housed together in a TINY wire cage with no substrate at all when I picked them up. They're tough critters. Sending good thoughts!

When my wife rescued Mike last year he was in a critter cage with no substrate at all too. When we put him in the tank with the other crabs he seemed to be a bit overwhelmed, deep substrate, stuff to climb on, lots of different foods, places to hide, heat, humidity and other crabs around. Since then he has molted and and changed shells and is just a typical crab now.

Wendy doesn't seem to let the funky leg bother him. He climbs all over the place like the other crabs. Even climbs upside down on things! I believe he molted just before I got him. He's a bit lighter in color than my other straws but hopefully he will brighten up in the coming molts.

I tend to worry about the straws a bit more because everything I read makes them see a lot more sensitive to tank conditions compared to other species. So far so good with them. Since I got the six at the end of July I lost one about 3 weeks later. I believe that was due to PPS because he seemed to have a majority of the warning signs. All the other ones have molted at least once, some twice so far.

Wendigo doesn't let the bum leg stop him!

What a sweetie! I’m so happy for them!


Rod♡Salty♡Bob♡Squirt♡Crabina♡Who
»-♡-> Our Purple Pinchers <-♡-«

I just realized I never gave any updated about Wendigo. Better late than never. She had two successful molts with us so far this year. After her first molt her bum leg repaired itself. She must be a happy lady because she is the female that successfully released zoea into the saltwater with the help of the father Mephestipholes.

Here are two current pictures of her. She definitely looks a lot better compared to almost 11 months ago!


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Woohoo! She is so lovely!

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Love those big beautiful eyes!

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She’s a beauty! So glad she got things turned around now with you guys! That’s awesome! I worry for my straw coming from bad conditions as well. He’s the escapee who lived in a basement for 6 weeks (not mine either!) I am so glad he was found but that 6 weeks could’ve done anything to him. Still waiting on molt, tho! He already looks a lot better than when I got him! I’ll post a pic of the first night compared to now. I’m so glad Wendy is thriving!!
Now

1st night home



Dave the Wondercrab~Pat~Maggie~ Billy~Pop~Corn~Ten~Sam~MissTeri~Tim~Gene~ Barry~Mr S~Princess + 5 Es + Mr EnDoh =my crabby clan!

That is awesome you got him out of bad conditions. I have been in talks with two other people that received straws from not so great conditions. One had issues shedding it's exo and the other lost a big pincher. I know both of them take excellent care of their crabs and monitor their conditions closely. If crazy how some can do so well and others don't. I guess the only thing we can really do as a community is share what information we know or discover and compare notes. It will help us be better caregivers and help find better ways of careing for them.