Crab Leg Fell Off

[crabdad13]

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, ~6-6.5 inches

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?
Yes, near top of the tank. H: ~77-80%, T: ~75°

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
No.

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)?
Both, Prime dechlorinator and instant ocean sea salt. I use the dechlorinator ratio and I use 1.5 tsp sea salt per 1 cup of water.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
Mainly vegetables like lettuce, bell pepper, cucumber, bean sprouts. Then i add a small portion of either fruit or meat (for fruits it’s typically raspberries or blue berries).

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I’ve had mine for a few weeks, the one in concern is Ecuadorian.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Yes it just molted, part of my current concern.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
It’s a 20 gallon tank with a mostly glass, partially plastic lid.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
4, two medium sized and two small crabs.

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
I would say upwards of 3-4 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?
Once a week I take everything out, scrub it, soak it, and rinse it. I also add water to the sand to keep it sand castle texture.

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.)?
I used to bathe them before i could maintain proper humidity, but that hasn’t been for a while. One of the smaller crabs, a PP, went from his original shell to a shell that was too big for him. He recently went back to his original, but too small shell. So I bathed him in some warm water and put his newer shell options in so he could find a better fit.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
After I took the small PP for a bath, I knew my small Ecuadorian had mooted before but couldn’t find a match (when i didn’t have a lot of shell variation). I decided to refill the warm water and let him do his thing. By the end of it he was crawling back to his old shell (at this point i assumed he wasn’t ready and I’d just give him time). But my emergency is one of his legs was in the bottom of the bath. I don’t know if it just “casually” fell off (if that’s even possible) or if it someone how pinched or pulled off. I’m worried that if i take him out of the water, something might dry out and kill him.

.

[IrisW]

4 crabs in a 20 gallon is too many, we have to adhere to the 10 gallon per crab rule when using small tanks.

As well as for their diet, it should be 50% protein. I would be offering more things such as dried fish and dried insects they can be found on Etsy. Staples like leaf litter, worm castings, greensand should be left out for them to forage 24/7.

Please stop bathing them, if only stresses them out.

As well as adding water to the sand, it just risks a flood. I add both my playsand and eco earth as dry as possible, it will hold its shape. You can do the pen test to check, stick a pen down to the bottom of the substrate and it should hold its shape and not pool with water. It’s normal for the top inch to be dry, they keep water in their shells to use to build their molt caves. Humidity will also work it’s way into the substrate over time if the lid is sealed.

I would also try to keep the temperature and humidity right on the 80-80 mark, Ecuadorians are more finnicky than Purple Pinchers.

What kinds of shells are you offering for both species of crabs? Crabs drop limbs due to stress or in a last resort to escape shell jacking.

[curlysister]

4 crabs in a 20 gallon is too many, we have to adhere to the 10 gallon per crab rule when using small tanks.

As well as for their diet, it should be 50% protein. I would be offering more things such as dried fish and dried insects they can be found on Etsy. Staples like leaf litter, worm castings, greensand should be left out for them to forage 24/7.

Please stop bathing them, if only stresses them out.

As well as adding water to the sand, it just risks a flood. I add both my playsand and eco earth as dry as possible, it will hold its shape. You can do the pen test to check, stick a pen down to the bottom of the substrate and it should hold its shape and not pool with water. It’s normal for the top inch to be dry, they keep water in their shells to use to build their molt caves. Humidity will also work it’s way into the substrate over time if the lid is sealed.

I would also try to keep the temperature and humidity right on the 80-80 mark, Ecuadorians are more finnicky than Purple Pinchers.

What kinds of shells are you offering for both species of crabs? Crabs drop limbs due to stress or in a last resort to escape shell jacking.

HCA doesn't subscribe to that 'rule' - it depends on the size of the crabs.
Green sand, worm castings, and leaf litter aren't necessary, they can be fed if a person wants but they aren't needed.

The water to make substrate moist needs to come from somewhere - if you put substrate in dry, it won't become moist unless water is added somehow.

[curlysister]

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Sand, ~6-6.5 inches
Curly - E's do like deeper substrate. It should be at least 3 times as deep as your largest crab.

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?
Yes, near top of the tank. H: ~77-80%, T: ~75°
Curly - If you haven't checked the care sheet for E's, here it is:
https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... 20&t=92454


3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
No.

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)?
Both, Prime dechlorinator and instant ocean sea salt. I use the dechlorinator ratio and I use 1.5 tsp sea salt per 1 cup of water.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
Mainly vegetables like lettuce, bell pepper, cucumber, bean sprouts. Then i add a small portion of either fruit or meat (for fruits it’s typically raspberries or blue berries).
Curly - If you haven't already checked out the care sheets, take a look at the 'nutrition' sheet. A varied diet including protein and calcium is needed. You can feed everything you are now feeding, and then some!

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I’ve had mine for a few weeks, the one in concern is Ecuadorian.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Yes it just molted, part of my current concern.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
It’s a 20 gallon tank with a mostly glass, partially plastic lid.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
4, two medium sized and two small crabs.

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
I would say upwards of 3-4 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?
Once a week I take everything out, scrub it, soak it, and rinse it. I also add water to the sand to keep it sand castle texture.
Curly - You probably don't need to scrub the decor items, just the food and water dishes that often.

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.)?
I used to bathe them before i could maintain proper humidity, but that hasn’t been for a while. One of the smaller crabs, a PP, went from his original shell to a shell that was too big for him. He recently went back to his original, but too small shell. So I bathed him in some warm water and put his newer shell options in so he could find a better fit.
Curly - You don't need to bathe them, it will just stress them out. They carry a mix of salt and fresh water in their shells, and bathing them can throw that off.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
After I took the small PP for a bath, I knew my small Ecuadorian had mooted before but couldn’t find a match (when i didn’t have a lot of shell variation). I decided to refill the warm water and let him do his thing. By the end of it he was crawling back to his old shell (at this point i assumed he wasn’t ready and I’d just give him time). But my emergency is one of his legs was in the bottom of the bath. I don’t know if it just “casually” fell off (if that’s even possible) or if it someone how pinched or pulled off. I’m worried that if i take him out of the water, something might dry out and kill him.
Curly - When you say that he molted, was he above ground and shed his old exo? Or was he underground? Or did he drop his shell? Where is he now - still in the water?

[IrisW]

I follow LHCOS guidelines so I’m the outlier here, but it’s no harm in providing more space and foraging opportunities. They are taken from the wild and I think we should do our best to replicate that the best we can. I also have had no issues with my substrate holding shape, the water has no where to evaporate if we are pouring it directly in.

[crabdad13]

4 crabs in a 20 gallon is too many, we have to adhere to the 10 gallon per crab rule when using small tanks.

As well as for their diet, it should be 50% protein. I would be offering more things such as dried fish and dried insects they can be found on Etsy. Staples like leaf litter, worm castings, greensand should be left out for them to forage 24/7.

Please stop bathing them, if only stresses them out.

As well as adding water to the sand, it just risks a flood. I add both my playsand and eco earth as dry as possible, it will hold its shape. You can do the pen test to check, stick a pen down to the bottom of the substrate and it should hold its shape and not pool with water. It’s normal for the top inch to be dry, they keep water in their shells to use to build their molt caves. Humidity will also work it’s way into the substrate over time if the lid is sealed.

I would also try to keep the temperature and humidity right on the 80-80 mark, Ecuadorians are more finnicky than Purple Pinchers.

What kinds of shells are you offering for both species of crabs? Crabs drop limbs due to stress or in a last resort to escape shell jacking.

Thank you so much for the advice. I’ll try to maintain the humidity closely but as for the shells I offer them turbos and the spiky variants.

[crabdad13]

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
Sand, ~6-6.5 inches
Curly - E's do like deeper substrate. It should be at least 3 times as deep as your largest crab.

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?
Yes, near top of the tank. H: ~77-80%, T: ~75°
Curly - If you haven't checked the care sheet for E's, here it is:
https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... 20&t=92454


3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
No.

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)?
Both, Prime dechlorinator and instant ocean sea salt. I use the dechlorinator ratio and I use 1.5 tsp sea salt per 1 cup of water.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
Mainly vegetables like lettuce, bell pepper, cucumber, bean sprouts. Then i add a small portion of either fruit or meat (for fruits it’s typically raspberries or blue berries).
Curly - If you haven't already checked out the care sheets, take a look at the 'nutrition' sheet. A varied diet including protein and calcium is needed. You can feed everything you are now feeding, and then some!

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I’ve had mine for a few weeks, the one in concern is Ecuadorian.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Yes it just molted, part of my current concern.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
It’s a 20 gallon tank with a mostly glass, partially plastic lid.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
4, two medium sized and two small crabs.

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
I would say upwards of 3-4 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?
Once a week I take everything out, scrub it, soak it, and rinse it. I also add water to the sand to keep it sand castle texture.
Curly - You probably don't need to scrub the decor items, just the food and water dishes that often.

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.)?
I used to bathe them before i could maintain proper humidity, but that hasn’t been for a while. One of the smaller crabs, a PP, went from his original shell to a shell that was too big for him. He recently went back to his original, but too small shell. So I bathed him in some warm water and put his newer shell options in so he could find a better fit.
Curly - You don't need to bathe them, it will just stress them out. They carry a mix of salt and fresh water in their shells, and bathing them can throw that off.

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
After I took the small PP for a bath, I knew my small Ecuadorian had mooted before but couldn’t find a match (when i didn’t have a lot of shell variation). I decided to refill the warm water and let him do his thing. By the end of it he was crawling back to his old shell (at this point i assumed he wasn’t ready and I’d just give him time). But my emergency is one of his legs was in the bottom of the bath. I don’t know if it just “casually” fell off (if that’s even possible) or if it someone how pinched or pulled off. I’m worried that if i take him out of the water, something might dry out and kill him.
Curly - When you say that he molted, was he above ground and shed his old exo? Or was he underground? Or did he drop his shell? Where is he now - still in the water?

When I checked on him, his newer shell that he ditched was on the surface, and I saw him in his old shell sitting atop a log I keep in the enclosure. He did find a better fit she’ll that doesn’t seem to be as big on him as the previous.

[crabdad13]

I follow LHCOS guidelines so I’m the outlier here, but it’s no harm in providing more space and foraging opportunities. They are taken from the wild and I think we should do our best to replicate that the best we can. I also have had no issues with my substrate holding shape, the water has no where to evaporate if we are pouring it directly in.

Thank you again for the help, I totally agree. I got my crabs from a festival and i definitely want them to have a better life than before. My lid doesn’t have a total seal so I find that during morning/dusk the humidity will change slightly because of the sunlight.

[curlysister]

I follow LHCOS guidelines so I’m the outlier here, but it’s no harm in providing more space and foraging opportunities. They are taken from the wild and I think we should do our best to replicate that the best we can. I also have had no issues with my substrate holding shape, the water has no where to evaporate if we are pouring it directly in.

This is HCA and we follow our guidelines of course. The 'harm' in rules like 'ten gallons per crab' is that it provides information that is not accurate. Sure, if a person has extra money and space and the ability to have a bigger tank, they can do so - but many people don't have that, and it is not realistic that everyone has a huge tank. Our tanks really aren't replicating where they come from, from space to food to climbing, etc.
As for substrate - if your sub is moist enough to hold it's shape, the moisture had to come from somewhere. If the sand and eco earth both go into the tank dry, then they will stay dry unless moisture is added. If you have pools that spill or have bubblers in them, that will put moisture into the sub. Some will come from the evaporation from the pools, but it may not be enough. Many of us have some airflow in the tank, in which case the moisture will evaporate out of the tank. In this case, we have to add water to the sub (in small amounts, keeping an eye on the consistency of the sub) to keep it play sand consistency.

[curlysister]

When I checked on him, his newer shell that he ditched was on the surface, and I saw him in his old shell sitting atop a log I keep in the enclosure. He did find a better fit she’ll that doesn’t seem to be as big on him as the previous.

So perhaps he didn't molt (disappear underground for an extended period of time) or surface molt (shed his exo on the surface), but he did change shells. Is he moving around normally? Crabs can re-grow their legs during their next molt.

[crabdad13]

So perhaps he didn't molt (disappear underground for an extended period of time) or surface molt (shed his exo on the surface), but he did change shells. Is he moving around normally? Crabs can re-grow their legs during their next molt.

Sorry for the confusion, but that was a separate crab. The one that went back to his old shell and then a new one is fine. But my Ecuadorian has been in his original shell and he lost his leg. I don’t know if it’s normal for this but all three PPs stay on the surface and the Ecuadorian is always burying himself.

[curlysister]

Crabs will drop a limb for a number of reasons, but it really isn't "normal" to do so. They can re-grow the limb during the next molt. It is normal for crabs to be on the surface for lengthy periods of time, and it is also normal for them to bury themselves.