Infected Claw

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:52 pm

Escape - here is the message I received from them:"Hi Nicole! You can pass this message on...good salt water bath with a couple drops of tea tree oil in a calendula decoction. Simmer calendula for 20 minutes, remove from heat, mix in sea salt...let cool completely. Strain out calendula, then add a few drops of tea tree oil. Give her a good bath in this. Set a tiny bowl of this out near the crab, but do not her bathe again. Too much bathing will reduce the immune system. Let her self select three waters, the medicinal water, straight up salt water and fresh water daily. If the shell rot hasn't moved into the main body or tail, she will just need time to drop the BP. The next BP might grow in a little malformed and bumpy if the old BP isn't coming off completely and cleanly, but if should self correct by the next molt. One always has to weigh the need to molt in seclusion with the need to bathe...and over bathing stress can interfere with the generation of hormones needed for a healthier skeleton. So if it were me, one final medicinal bath for this week, the setting out three bowls of waters near her, and if she has the energy to self select water she will, otherwise (hopefully) she puts all her energy into dropping the appendage and growing a new one. One thing I always remind myself, out in nature, their bodies are adapted to deal with these situations and regenerate for survival, and interrupting this process too much and treating them as domesticated pets, which they aren't, only impedes their ability to survive."I hope this helps! Going to save this thread in the archives once your crabby is doing better.

Escape · Post by **Escape** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 12:02 am

Thank you!! I will go and get some tea tree oil today. I think my mom may have some too. That would save me a trip out to the store that carries the stuff. When they say sea salt, do they mean the ocean salt that I use to make their salt water solution, or sea salt that you can buy at the store for cooking (not table salt, but the other, more expensive stuff)?She has changed attitude as of yesterday. Not as active, but I did still catch her walking around. Any foods that you could recommend specifically to help her with energy? I have been giving her a fresh protein source daily, spirulina, calcium, raw honey, Gardner's (I always give them some of this), a fruit (dried or fresh) a veggie (dried or fresh), a cellulose source, and worm castings. Am I missing anything, or is there anything that you can think of specifically that she may need?And as of Saturday, I did not notice any rot on the main body or tail. Just the walking leg and the big claw. I think some may be starting on the tip of another claw, but I am not certain. I'll keep my fingers crossed on this one. Thanks (everyone)!!

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:56 am

I definitely think they mean the aquarium salt (the stuff you're using already for the crabbies). I hope it helps your baby! I always have tea tree oil in our house too and dab it on my face for headaches, the stuff is awesome.My crabs love unsalted nuts (specifically pecans and peanuts) and they're a great source of protein and energy. That's the only other thing that I can think of that you didn't mention for diet. I might - for now - leave out the raw honey as it's so sticky and even though it has some antibacterial qualities, it could form a sticky layer and block the other medications from reaching the infected parts of his claws.

CrabbieLover1031:D · Post by **CrabbieLover1031:D** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 2:57 am

I have been following this convo, I just want to point out that it really should be Archived. I've learned a lot for it and am going ot bookmark it later.

Rachel Lillie · Post by **Rachel Lillie** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:25 am

I second archiving this thread, not only has it been very educational it has made me realize I should be keeping these recipies and ingredients on hand in case a situation arises.For energy consider offering mushed banana, I think mine prefer an actual banana but the babyfood works too. and keep us posted

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:30 am

Tea tree oil is interesting. I note it is available as a commercial product for fish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_tree_oilThough used with caution, I presume, since it is on the unsafe list of foods for crabs (also people and other pets).http://crabstreetjournal.com/x...faq/faq.php?faqid=76

Escape · Post by **Escape** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:48 am

I agree with the tea tree oil, and I was wondering why it would be used if it is on the avoidance list of food. My thought is that, like some medicines in humans, using small amounts can be beneficial. That leads me to my next question. I have been reading up on Clove (not clover) Oil. It seems to have some pretty strong properties (and used in concentrated amounts can anesthetize a crab). It is used for people as a tooth ache remedy, and for some skin conditions. It has some strong antibacterial properties too. It has been used on crustations and other aquatic life. I am NOT looking to anesthetize Cutie Pie, but that is what led me to this. What I want to know is if it is safe for crabs. It is not on either food list, but is sometimes used as a natural insect repellant. I will be honest. Last night, as a last ditch effort (before I read Nichole's post), I mixed up less than 1/2 tsb olive oil and a drop of clove oil. Last night, she refused to come out of her shell. That is not like her. She usually greets me, and walks onto (not off of) my hand. She was not herself and I was afraid I was going to loose her. This morning, the spread of brown has stopped. It looks better to me, but I admit that it could be wishful thinking. She is back to her old crabby self right now (she was perching on my thumb as I examined her) and I hope it continues. My mom did say that she has the tea tree oil, so I will keep that in my back pocket, but for now, I think I am going to do this (unless someone finds a reason why it is really bad for her - then I will stop immediately). My gut is just saying to do it. I think I will mix up the tea tree oil and marigold mix and have her drink it - unless that is overkill. I'd take a pic of her right now, but she had covered her claws in spirulina (I never spell that right and spell check is of no help), so she looks a little green right now. (edit: And I almost forgot. I do feed her proteins. I just didn't mention which ones. This weekend I gave them organ meat for the first time and they tore into it. Cutie Pie hovered over it for probably an hour and a half just picking away at it. I think they all enjoyed it since I found it spread all over all 4 tanks in the morning.)

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:49 am

http://www.drugs.com/npp/tea-tree-oil.html"Tea tree oil is toxic when ingested orally" http://www.scianswers.com/topi...e-bath-make-you-sick "A small number of people experience allergic contact dermatitis as a reaction to dermal contact with tea tree oil."*******For the sake of argument, I would raise a concern that there might be some consequence to introducing an antibiotic to the crabitat... http://www.scianswers.com/topi...e-bath ... ou-sick"If used in concentrations below 4% or particularly below 1%, tea tree oil may fail to kill bacteria and create an evolutionary pressure, which may result in them becoming less sensitive to tea tree oil and even some antibiotics in vitro."But they use it on fish, so I suppose its ok.********http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18298453The National Center for Biotechnology Information says that the active ingredient in Tea tree oil is effective against two difficult infections, but is not toxic to "human fibroblast cells."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibroblast"...A fibroblast is a type of cell that plays a critical role in wound healing. Fibroblasts are the most common cells of connective tissue in animals."

Escape · Post by **Escape** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 7:46 am

quote:For the sake of argument, I would raise a concern that there might be some consequence to introducing an antibiotic to the crabitat... I will say more on this later (helping my kid with school work right now), but I wanted to address this with my crab. Even if this is true, I have Cutie Pie in a small container (large enough for her to move and do what crabs do, but small enough for me to make it portable if I need to) that I have been cleaning out every 4 days or so. I place new sand and have fresh everything so that nothing nasty grows. I am calling it a clean ISO, as opposed to the regular ISOs that I allow to seed with bacteria and all that. She gets sand too - piled up on the side so she can dig if she wants to. So if some of the medication (or herbs) gets mixed into the sub, it will not cause any long lasting damage.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:00 pm

I trust the opinions of our two former Admins who gave me the information. Too, this is somewhat of an emergency case where you have to balance the odds to give the crabby a shot at healing completely. I would personally avoid clove oil for the crabs as I think it's a lot stronger-smelling and could be more of a repellant than anything.

CrabbieLover1031:D · Post by **CrabbieLover1031:D** » Mon Mar 19, 2012 3:07 pm

Awhile back, my sister's fish was obviously struggling, so I was researching how to humanely euthanize him. I found that clove oil is used to euthanize fish, and found this link stating that is does sedate fish and then eventually euthanizes them.http://www.oscarfishlover.com/...icles/euthanize-fish

Keg · Post by **Keg** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 3:42 pm

Here's a thought before we throw in the clove.http://www.savemybetta.com/blog/betta-w ... ...treated the same way you would handle fin rot: Get either mercoruchrome, gentian violet or methylene blue..."

Escape · Post by **Escape** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:31 am

As I said in a thread above, her treatment is over and she looks great (except for the missing pieces of claw and some permanent color change - at least until the next molt). I have some progression pics, but for the sake of bandwidth, I will just post links. I also changed the folders (in my photobucket albums), so any link I have used previously will not work. I am going to try to find them all so that the links will be fixed. Anyway, the progression is from the first compound picture I put on this thread to the pics taken this morning. Enjoy and watch how it gets better.(Oh, and Saturday the 17th was when I started the treatment on her.)http://img.photobucket.com/alb...0Crabs ... pie325.jpg

CrabbieLover1031:D · Post by **CrabbieLover1031:D** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:17 am

Wow, she looks great! I am SO happy she pulled through! This NEEDS to be archived.

texasreb · Post by **texasreb** » Sun Mar 25, 2012 10:48 am

Great save, literally.She looks good.