I adopted two Hermies two days ago

ShanellenJess · Post by **ShanellenJess** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:40 am

I am new to this site so I hope I'm doing this right, I just I just bought two new hermit crabs two days ago and I noticed that one of the crabs has two injured pinchers. The small pincher does not look usable and the big one bottom part (the little part that actually moves), looks so worn down like is couldn't be used. Is there anything I can do? I'm scared he has no way of eating or drinking.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 7:49 am

Sounds to me like the crab in question had a really tough time and somewhere between being harvested and being sold at the pet store it was either roughly handled or was attacked by another crab.The only thing you can do is leave the crab be both crabs need to be left alone for at least four weeks to give them a fighting chance since both are very stressed from the journey they need this time to rest, de-stress and molt if need be.During this time you can still change out the food and water and try to keep the temp and humidity at or around 80 for both values this will help to keep the crabs more comfortable.What foods are you feeding at present?If your using commercial foods look on the ingredients lists and see if ethoxyquin, copper sulfate, ferrous sulfate, bha or bht are present if any of them are there then the food needs to be tossed immediately.If you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

ShanellenJess · Post by **ShanellenJess** » Thu Jan 08, 2015 6:25 pm

Well my little Jess (the injured pinch crab) is very active despite his injury, and he hangs out in both water dish and food dish a lot! I have been feeding them a hermit crab food I got from Walmart which Won't be the only thing I stick to because I will eventually get them new good but also i read that they can eat tetra gold fish flakes so I put some if that in their food dish and it seems like they really like it. Also the first day I brought them home they ate a little banana. Both crabs have been spending a lot of time in that food dish . Their humidity is always around 80. Their temp at 70/73. And they have both salt water and fresh water for then to use. Oh and coconut fiber substrate. I've been leaving them be so they can get used to there new home. So thank you If there is anything else I should do please let me know. I will have many new questions coming I. The future! Thank you for your advice.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 4:13 am

The tetra fish food needs to be tossed because all fish foods contain ethoxyquin as a preservative it makes them toxic for hermitcrab consumption.The temps your reporting are below the minimum for tropical animals hermitcrabs even the hardy Purple Pincher needs to be kept at a temperature no lower than 75 degrees anything lower is considered sub-tropical and can result in molt complications, feeding and drinking issues due to the crab's body slowing down in response to the colder temps and eventually the crab will succumb to this which is called Hyper Sleep once the crab goes into this stage of lethargy its nearly impossible to bring it back out again.What are you using for heat? Heat lamp? Heat pad? Nothing?What size is the tank your using?Are you using a lid if so what type? Screen? Glass? Plastic?If you need any more help please don't hesitate to ask as that is what we are here for.No problems your very welcome for the help its why I'm here.