New crabs are dying, refusing to eat, and pulling limbs off.

[LittleBandi]

Since you've come to the emergency forum, we know you want a fast answer to your question. In order for us to figure out the problem as quickly as possible, we ask that you answer the following questions as best you can. Some of them may seem odd, but they're all designed to give us the information we need to give you a good solution for your problem. The things in the [ brackets ] are there to make this post easier to read once submitted. Thanks!


1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Sand and coco fiber mix, more sand than coco fiber. was about 6 inches deep but after the deaths I reduced that to about 3.5 inches so I could monitor the crabs.


2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read? I have both and they are set with in the center of the tank. temps are in the mid 80's during the day and drop to the low to mid 70's at night. humidity is between 70 and 75%.


3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what? I use a UTH along the back wall


4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)? I use both salt and fresh water, and I use aging with prime as a treatment (2 week old water and prime added) I use Instant Ocean Brand for the sea water. it is mixed according to the package instructions.


5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? I'm feeding organic fruits, veggies, along with adding in portions like river shrimp, soft scrambled egg and cooked chicken (I use no salts or additives when making their cooked foods) I add in turmeric, strawberry powder and banana powder (freeze dried but powdered by me) and ether eggshells or calcium powder


6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? I rescued the crabs about 3 weeks ago, they look to be purple pinchers.


7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? not yet


8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? The tank is a 25 gal with a mesh sliding lid with a piece of acrylic covering the mesh


9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? started with 4, now down to 2 and they are tiny crabs, about a half inch opening on the turbo shells.


10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? I keep at least 2 to 3 per crab


11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently? no


12. How often do you clean the tank and how? I spot clean the tank, they haven't been in there long enough to much up the tank.


13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned? no


14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently? no


15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)? nothing


16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. Got 4 crabs given to me by a family. they didn't want to disclose the details but I took them sight unseen. They were smaller than I was told they were and all seemed ok-ish... but were not happy looking. I wanted to put them in to an Isolation set up to help with stress and I could monitor there health but was advised to not do that and put them into there normal set up (6+ inches of sub and plenty of places to hide, normal thriving crab set up.) after the first week I saw no crabs, no sign of any of the foods being nibbled on, and no marks in the sub leading to the food or water. a day later was when I smelled the smell of a dead crab. I searched around and found the poor thing and took it out. I noticed that nothing was different in the set up, and went about looking for the other crabs, they were all buried at the bottom of the tank so I left them incase of a molt. I kept changing the food daily and misting when humidity went low. checked water and changed that when needed still no activity for about a week. Then i noticed one of the crabs outside and there was a leg next to it, it then went back down into it's burrow. when I went to investigate, the smell hit me and crab #2 had passed away. I removed it, changed food, did my dailies in the tank. fast forward, still no eating of any foods offered, I lowered the sub amount to see if I could entice them to explore and do crabby things like eat, soak, ect... nothing.... besides the crab that dropped the leg dropped the pincher claw now. this evening that same crab was back out and I watched it pull off one of it's legs. I have been keeping land and hermit crabs for years (since I was 5 or 6 I'm almost 40 now) and have never run across this type of issue. I really need help from the pros. I just got back into hermit crabs after some time of not keeping them and I'm at a loss as to what to do and I'm on the verge of tears for my poor little crab mutilating it's self.

[LittleBandi]

Wanted to post an update on the crab that pulled it's legs off. it sadly passed away a few moments ago.

[Motörcrab]

I'm sorry to hear about your new guys not doing well. The loss of limbs can be from poor diet and environmental conditions (before you got them).

I am not sure where you were advised not to isolate these new guy/s. If you do not have room for a separate ISO I would place them into a Tupperware container in your existing enclosure. I would put enough sub in to cover the bottom. Place small water cups, milk jug caps will work. Some sort of small hide should be placed in the iso too.For their food I would do a mix of calcium, worm castings,, bee pollen, blood worms, greensand powdered very thin. Take a cotton swab dip that in honey, then roll that into the powder. Place that directly in front of your sick crab. With any luck they will be able to eat from the swab.

Our care guide for Post Purchase Syndrome should also help you out.

https://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB ... 27&t=92531

[curlysister]

I disagree with Motor, if you only have the two crabs in the tank. I would leave them as is, and not isolate them. If they need to dig down to molt, or want to dig down to de-stress, they should be able to.
I do agree with the food choices and advice to give some honey for quick energy!
I also agree that the deaths are not related to anything you are doing - they very well may have not had good conditions prior to your getting them, and in that case no matter what you do they just might not be able to be saved. Crabs drop limbs in a last-ditch effort to conserve energy.

[LittleBandi]

Thank you both. I have been offering honey and tiny pieces of grape on the end of a toothpick and I was able to get a touch of honey into the crab. there is only one crab left after the one yanking limbs passed away last night. I'm going to put the last crab into a smaller enclosure tonight. this is a tiny crab so it shouldn't need anything larger than 15 gal?

[wodesorel]

Keeping stress low is the most important thing right now, moving him can shock him further. They're just like other animals where changes in environment can set off existing health issues or lower the immune system to where something opportunistic takes over.

To me, it sounds like this prior family let them get too cold. Cold damage in hermits is insidious in that they may seem like they came out of it fine, but then succumb to the injuries a few weeks later. We see this happen a lot in crabs purchased during winter months. The dropping of limbs is sadly how they pass away, they attempt to conserve energy and/or isolate infection by ditching extra baggage. Limbs can regrow, so to them it's not worth hanging onto if they can survive and regrow it later.