Sick/Injured Crab Recovery Status & Care Tips

[Jedediah]

Wohoo! Look how the gel leg grew:
http://foto.arcor-online.net/palb/alben ... 376432.jpg
And he has grown two more, so now he has two gel legs on one and one on the other side. Here you can see the second gel leg
http://foto.arcor-online.net/palb/alben ... 343166.jpg

He's still eating anything I offer him (the Epicurean Hermit Crab Food was a big hit!) and comes out to drink when I offer him water.

[Guest]

I just rescued a wee crabby (Kingsley) from PETCO (horrible conditions), he was very active but minus 2 legs. He's hiding inside his hut, should I try to feed him tomorrow if he doesn't come out for food? Should I disturb him to put the water dish next to him? Right now I'm just leaving him alone to destress. T=78, Humidity = 72. Keeping my fingers crossed!

*edit* I put food & water right outside the hut. Poor critter!

*update* 9/18 8:00am: He's dug in somewhere because I lost him in the literal sense. I'll take that as a good sign that he's destressing and trying to molt himself new limbs.

[Guest]

Just put the food and water close to where he is hiding so he doesn't have to venture out far.

[Guest]

I'm a newbie and just bought my 4 crabs from a pet store on the beach here 7 days ago. Jeeves is the largest of the smalls and is doing excellently. Ahab is also doing his crabby thing and thriving. Ishmael is the smallest, about 3/4 of an inch inside of a one inch shell. He is missing all of his legs on the left so he gimps around on three legs and a claw. Wooster has been failing for days now. He doesn't move at all, not even at night. He lost a leg yesterday and I've been afraid to touch him since. I put him in the ISO tank and don't really know what else to do. (I've read and set up my tanks exactly to specifications that the pros here advise people to do.) I believe Wooster has PPS syndrome. The question is, should I let him die a natural death and give him a decent burial or should I take him back to the petstore so they can replace him? My only fear is that the pet store will throw his little body away in the trash and I don't want that. Sorry this is so long. I appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks!

[Guest]

Abateau, I feel for u! I just lost one to PPS yesterday and have a new one I'm nursing. I would do all you can to make him comfortable until you are 100% sure he is really gone (not molting). Try to provide a nice quiet dark place for him to hide in. Also call and make sure the petstore has a return/exchange policy for hermit crabs. I bet if you bring him in for evidence they will let u keep his body (maybe not his shell, I don't know). Bring a friend/family member for moral support. I see u already filled out the help request form under crab care. Good luck!

[Jedediah]

Jason has molted during the last night. His exo is hanging out of his shell and I don't know what he looks like, but I hope for the best.
Edit:
He has eaten about half of the exo and he has at least two new legs and a tiny feeder pincher

Another Edit:
Here's the first picture after the molt:
http://foto.arcor-online.net/palb/alben ... 626633.jpg

[Jedediah]

Here's Jason with regrown legs and pinchers, he's out of his ISO now because he can walk around very well with just two legs missing and he was so bored

[Guest]

Hee! Yay Jason! He does look ready to go exploring in that picture.

[OIF_VET]

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:16 am Post subject: UPDATE: Naked Crab Reply with quote Edit/Delete this post Delete this post Report this post to Moderator/Admin. View IP address of poster
Quote:
I put the naked E in ISO inside the main tank and have kept it dark. Within minutes of being put in ISO, he went back into his shell and has stayed in it.


Since putting the E in ISO on Tuesday, he has since stayed in his shell. He has been active and has even been eating - peanut butter, some commercial food, and strawberries with honey. Very Happy Since I believe it was a shell fight that started the whole thing, I am going to keep him in ISO until my Naples order for shells comes in.


Gersus' Update

[Guest]

Thanks, OIF! Didn't see the sticky for it!

[Guest]

the hermies i think are doing better, since I posted my emergency post, I have made their Crabitat more humid. I heard them walking around yesterday night... and I can't see one, he is probably further inside the little cave i have there, or has burried himself.

Is that good.. I mean that they were moving?

I hope they get OK, cause if they don't i'll be really, really sad

[troppo]

Updates on Freddie.(crab that was attacked and torn out of shell,injured)

22 May Monday
Bubbling,chirping and naked. Put back into shell twice. Large injured area on bp.
23 May Tuesday
Very quiet,will come partly out of shell,no eating or antennae activity though.Won't eat off a toothpick. Watermelon with honey directly in front of him.
That evening he surface molted. Dropped his bp.
24 May Wednesday
He's inside shell freshly molted,but he looks very weak. He's still covered with a cocohut in darkness. Is barely moving. Hasn't begun eating his exo yet. I think it's touch and go at moment,although everything possible is being done for him.
25 May Thursday
Freddie seems to be picking up a bit when i had a quick peek in the cocohut this morning. He's moving his legs around more,but I don't think his exo has been touched yet.
26 May Friday
No change at all with Freddie,no exo eaten either.
27 May Saturday
has become active and started to eat exo:)
28 May Sunday
Still good,Freddie's eaten even more exo,half way through. Am keeping tat conditions at about 23-26 celcius/74-78F(it's winter),75-80% humidity,tat dark and quiet. Will be putting in food & water dishes in a few days.
29 May Monday
Still good.
30 May Tuesday
Struggling to eat the harder parts of his exo,as he only has his lp left.
I had trouble crushing his exo myself,think I'll have to use pliers or a hammer to do this.
So i scraped a cuttlebone with a shell and placed the scrapings in front of him. He's still bright & well.
9 June Friday
Freddies regaining strength and is able to stand up and not lose his balance,plus he's walking around(tentatively). He's still resting alot.
I'm hand feeding him every night a mixture of crushed cuttlebone,mushed up shrimp and honey all mixed together,and he's loving it. He comes out of his shell and scoffs down the mixture that I hold near him from a toothpick.
22 June Thursday
Freddies doing really well,he's walking around and is going to food dishes by himself to eat and drink,so now he's back in one of the normal tats with 3 small crabs to keep him company. He is being fed alot of calcium and protein foods to help with his next molt.

[Guest]

Still no movement from Pong. He's been still for about a week now. He barely moves inside the shell when I pick him up. I'm still trying to leave him alone and aee how he does. At least he's not dead.

[Guest]

6/9/06
Shy crab was found laying lifless on the sand in his favorite spot I'm not sure if he is dead or alive because I don't smell anything different in the tank. I took the tophalf of a bottle with the lid off and put it around him and pushed the bottle down into the sand so the other crabs don't get at him. I hope that he is just molting.

6/11/06
Shy crab died.

[Guest]

Hi everyone, my name's Claudia and I'm 13. I'm new here, I just stumbled accross this site when I was searching for some info.

I'm in a huge dilemma.

One of my crabs, Mo, had molted, but I didn't realise that I was supposed to put him in isolation. Another crab, Helmet, stole his shell. Now I've bathed him and tried to put him into a new shell, but he wouldn't go in, so I've just covered him with it in the hopes that it will keep him warm. I've left him next to his exoskeleton, and he's in isolation now. I have a reptile heat rock in his tank, so that should keep him warm, and it's fairly humid in there. Should I leave water near him too? I really don't want him to die

Can anybody help me or give me any advice?

Thankyou.

I'm not sure about the other stuff, but my advice is to tank out the heating rock, I think I heard that they can hurt your crabs. good luck!