HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Exposed gills ... I don't know what had destroyed the aft right-hand section of this C.brevimanus' shield or carapace. It could be due to a fight, but it seems that such condition does not bother this hermit crab.




Has anybody encountered such condition ? on what species ?

wow, i have never seen anything remotely like that. it looks like the result of some sort of trauma (likely a fight) because of how uneven the break is (it almost looks in places as though it has been chipped away. it makes me wonder how exactly it could happen, though, because the trauma doesn't seem to have crushed the gills (as would be the case, i think, if a much larger crab got his pincher around the are). how long has he been like this, do you know? are you keeping him isolated from other crabs?

annopia

annopia wrote:wow, i have never seen anything remotely like that. it looks like the result of some sort of trauma (likely a fight) because of how uneven the break is (it almost looks in places as though it has been chipped away. it makes me wonder how exactly it could happen, though, because the trauma doesn't seem to have crushed the gills (as would be the case, i think, if a much larger crab got his pincher around the are). how long has he been like this, do you know? are you keeping him isolated from other crabs?

annopia

He's just arrived on Saturday. So far I haven't quarantine him. And in my place I haven't seen that other hermit crabs initiate fight with him. He lives in a cramped green turban shell, and I'm going to buy a bigger one for him.

Wow, that looks like a serious injury. The injury, plus the lack of pointy nails on his legs probably point to the need for a molt. I would feed him the best diet that you can and hope that he molts soon to repair the damage.

if it is trauma related (and not something wrong with the production of his exoskeleton) he could correct it with his next molt, could he not? personally, i would isolate him, but its a matter of opinion. its a really fascinating case, i have never seen anything like it. if he changes shells for you, you could look and see if there is anything sharp in there that could possibly cause something like that, chipping away at the exo.

annopia

Oh man! Looking at the photos makes me hurt. Poor little dude. I hope he heals up. Keep us updated.

Interesting to look at, though. Don't see that every day.

wolfnipplechips wrote:Oh man! Looking at the photos makes me hurt. Poor little dude. I hope he heals up. Keep us updated.

Interesting to look at, though. Don't see that every day.

I felt the same way, it makes my heart ache I hope things work out!

Oh my gosh. I'm sorry about ur crab. I wish i could give u some advice but i wouldn't even know where to look.

wowie! poor little guy! D: It made me cringe, but I'm glad the hermie seems fine. I hope he corrects it during his next molt

Thanks for sharing.
It's really impressive, Hermit crabs are really resistants!
I hope he will survive, and i hope all will be better after his next molt.

I hope that your little guy is going to be ok.

OMG! That looks horribly painful!!! and like chicken lo mein

annopia wrote:if it is trauma related (and not something wrong with the production of his exoskeleton) he could correct it with his next molt, could he not? personally, i would isolate him, but its a matter of opinion. its a really fascinating case, i have never seen anything like it. if he changes shells for you, you could look and see if there is anything sharp in there that could possibly cause something like that, chipping away at the exo.

annopia

I'm also thinking that it's trauma-related, either due to a fight, or may be some unwanted case when he shedded his past exo. I put him in quarantine ... until today he hasn't chosen any new shells I offer yet. I remember, I also occassionally got indos with small hole(s) in his shield like this ( it looked like that the shield has "windows" on the top or on the side - perhaps that part is quite delicate ). I don't know what the cause was, but it seems that it doesn't bother the hermit crabs & they could re-generate new perfect exoskeleton after molting.

Mokulele_Hawai'i wrote: I'm also thinking that it's trauma-related, either due to a fight, or may be some unwanted case when he shedded his past exo. I put him in quarantine ... until today he hasn't chosen any new shells I offer yet. I remember, I also occassionally got indos with small hole(s) in his shield like this ( it looked like that the shield has "windows" on the top or on the side - perhaps that part is quite delicate ). I don't know what the cause was, but it seems that it doesn't bother the hermit crabs & they could re-generate new perfect exoskeleton after molting.

interesting, i have never seen holes in the shield...bacterial infections, but not holes. perhaps this particular crab was from an area with particularly low resources (shells, food, etc) that brought about more extreme aggression. we see hermit crabs attack and knock each other around in captivity, where resources are plentiful, but when an animal is fighting to survive, it will go to extremes. there could be a two-fold reason why we haven't seen anything like this before: 1) while in our care, they have everything the need, and while they will fight, they will not fight desperately; 2) the area this crab was from was particularly stressed for resources (even if you have gotten crabs from this area before, something could have happened to the supply of shells or food).

that's just a theory, though.

annopia

maybe he was attacked by a bird before you got him?