Claw Injury?

[IrisW]

https://www.reddit.com/r/hermitcrabs/co ... ame=iossmf

[curlysister]

Is that your crab?

[IrisW]

Yes, I hope the information is visible in comments on the link

[curlysister]

You might want to post the info here, so we can answer here.

[wodesorel]

How positive are you that he did actually molt? Between how black and ragged that wound looks, the ashiness of the exo that's showing, and that he's still missing those two limbs on that side, I'm thinking that he hasn't managed to molt yet. I'm not doubting that he may have disappeared for a bit, but at the very least the wound should be more clean, his exo should be shiny, and he should have two new skinny little red legs to replace the missing ones if he did manage to molt.

I don't think this is shell rot, this really looks like a physical injury. I've had them before in my own crabs, some in the same location with a very similar appearance. The interior normally white/pink flesh will harden and blacken to cut off infections. It then goes one of two ways - some crabs will drop the claw and regrow it from scratch, and this really is sort of the best outcome as it takes more resources but leads to a fully functional and normal looking claw within two or three molts. Some are stubborn and attempt to heal the injury instead and this can take a couple of years before it becomes fully usable and even then it may never look normal again, it'll sort of have an undersized "thumb". With the attempt to heal it, it may be an open wound through a few molts but it shouldn't look funky after a molt, it'll just look irritated, if it that makes any sense?

I've always isolated claw injuries until it was healed over or regrown to the point of offering protection again. Crabs are opportunistic, if they see a weakness and an opening they will go after the shell or an easy meal. Major large claw injuries like this leave them too vulnerable. Isolation also guarantees an undisturbed molt which is vital when injured, and allows them to stock up on food without any competition which can help them heal quicker.

[IrisW]

How positive are you that he did actually molt? Between how black and ragged that wound looks, the ashiness of the exo that's showing, and that he's still missing those two limbs on that side, I'm thinking that he hasn't managed to molt yet. I'm not doubting that he may have disappeared for a bit, but at the very least the wound should be more clean, his exo should be shiny, and he should have two new skinny little red legs to replace the missing ones if he did manage to molt.

I don't think this is shell rot, this really looks like a physical injury. I've had them before in my own crabs, some in the same location with a very similar appearance. The interior normally white/pink flesh will harden and blacken to cut off infections. It then goes one of two ways - some crabs will drop the claw and regrow it from scratch, and this really is sort of the best outcome as it takes more resources but leads to a fully functional and normal looking claw within two or three molts. Some are stubborn and attempt to heal the injury instead and this can take a couple of years before it becomes fully usable and even then it may never look normal again, it'll sort of have an undersized "thumb". With the attempt to heal it, it may be an open wound through a few molts but it shouldn't look funky after a molt, it'll just look irritated, if it that makes any sense?

I've always isolated claw injuries until it was healed over or regrown to the point of offering protection again. Crabs are opportunistic, if they see a weakness and an opening they will go after the shell or an easy meal. Major large claw injuries like this leave them too vulnerable. Isolation also guarantees an undisturbed molt which is vital when injured, and allows them to stock up on food without any competition which can help them heal quicker.

I’m sure he molted as he is a much different colour, he was almost brown when I first got him very pale. I’ll keep him in iso until after he molts again and I’m just waiting on melafix to arrive to treat him in case it is bacterial.

[wodesorel]

Melafix isn't a great idea for crabs because it's tea tree oil, which is an insecticide and could potentially cause gill damage.

[IrisW]

Melafix isn't a great idea for crabs because it's tea tree oil, which is an insecticide and could potentially cause gill damage.

Ok is there anything else I could do or just wait it out?