HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Skiz surfaced today from her first molt, but not without some scars. She was down for about 2 monthes (Dec-Feb). I have had her since last Sempt. Her big purple pincher is scared and totally useless. She cannot even go in her shell completely, because it is so lame. Her claws are also like twisted closed. It looks like she got an infection. I think she will probably drop the claw. She also appears to be lighter shade than she was before. Other than that, she appears completely normal. She is still outgoing and was reintroducing herself to her E friend. She attacked the food dish soon after giving them new food. What can I do to make sure she makes it besides providing the basics? I already offer a healthy diet of hca food, fresh organic vegetables, honey, spirulin.Here are some pics and I have attached a pic as well:http://s515.photobucket.com/al...9010/Skiz%20pincher/

That can occur if the substrate is too damp. The BP is used for climbing, defense against others and for blocking the shell opening when the crab retreats. She should be able to manage without it but if it poses a problem she may drop it and/or molt sooner than she would otherwise.If you're offering protein, fruit, veggies, calcium, cellulose, fats and oils then the diet is fine. Raw/organic honey is a good offering for it's nutritional and antibacterial properties.I don't expect it to but let us know if what you think is an infection spreads any further than where it is presently.

It's possible she got a little caught in the exo when she was trying to shed. Keep her on a good diet, and she may be able to molt relatively quickly. It sounds like she's able to eat and get around, and her energy level sounds good, so it sounds like she's in pretty good shape!

Gracie is the tank on a grated stand or can you slide it off what it's on for a bit to peek at the bottom. Sometimes you can see standing water that way, either droplets in an abandoned pocket window or showing as black spots.Does she not have function in either claw?

You can also dab a little salt water directly on the area of scarring if she lets you. I don't think her claw looks infected, exactly, more like exo damage from a bad molt. Is there any oozing or black spots showing? If you see her spending large amount of time in the salt water dish, that can be an indication of infection too as she could be soaking it but otherwise she should be OK.I don't see any other damage to her? You mentioned that the other claws were twisted closed?

There was no droplets under the tank. I shifted through the sand directly under the water bowls. It was damper than the other side, but nothing to be alarmed about. I did at circle chips of ee after she dug down, so she could have moved after I added the chips and got the damage then. It possible she might have been caught in her exo also. Her feeder claw is pefectly normal. I did notice she was barely moving her big pincher today, but hardly enough to grab anything besides food. She found the moss pit, her favorite spot, so that is a good sign.

Her scar is brown color and there is no oozing at all. I haven't seen her soaking in salt or freshwater at all. Its hard to tell looking at the pictures, but the top part of the pincher is like squeezed in and the end of her pincher is twisted up at a weird angle. Here is Skiz's claw http://s515.photobucket.com/albums/t353 ... 180202.jpg and a normal claw http://s515.photobucket.com/albums/t353 ... 260264.jpg

The BP sticks out the most out of all the claws and is the most vulnerable post-molt when it's still so very soft and protruding. Even a small substrate rub can cause significant damage to soft exo. My Pumpkin came up from his last molt with some significant BP scarring and recently I noticed the BP doesn't close as it should either. No crab is immune, but fortunately since its primary use is defense and climbing the crabs often aren't too bothered by it.