Limb going black after molt attack

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:07 pm

Gringo was attacked just after he molted and his back leg was torn off. There is still about 1/3 of it there, but it looks a dark color with big black areas where it was broken. The rest of him looks fine, but that leg looks really painful. I have had him in iso since it happened (maybe 4 days?) and today I picked him up for the first time since it happened to see how he was because he hasnt been moving much. He has had a few drinks, because ive seen the tracks, but I dont think he was eating. I examined his bad leg while feeding him some honey (it was really good to see him eating the honey). Why doesnt he just drop the limb?
I hope he is ok, and its not some bad infection. If it is an infection, it hasnt spread past that leg. But shouldnt the leg drop? I cant apply honey to the leg, because he goes in his shell.
Any advice? Do you think he will be ok?

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:29 pm

Hi Krusty

We don't have medicinal bath available in Oz as far as I know.
Maybe to help Gringo(it sounds like scabbing rather than infection), you could have a bowl of double-strength salt water available for him to soak in as well (and his fresh water too)?
Have seen something similar a fair while ago with a crabs leg being a dark colour. A few weeks later the crab dropped the leg and the inside of it was black, that explained why the exo on the leg was a odd shade of grey. Perhaps Gringo's leg has already died and it's just a matter of time before he drops it.
Gringo should be fine, Aussie crabs are pretty tough and you're doing a great job.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 9:39 pm

Hi troppo,
I do have both salt and fresh water in the iso, but maybe I should try giving him a bath in the salt water anyway in case he doesnt do it himself? I will wait until tomorrow so he isnt too stressed. Eating the honey today should help him a bit and give him some energy. He nipped me a couple of times when I fed him, thats got to be a good sign of strength I guess. Poor little guy, he is such a gentle little crab, I hope he recovers from this.

mrbonzai211 · Post by **mrbonzai211** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 1:44 pm

Wow man, I'm so sorry about your crab. I would go with the extra salt, salt bath, but I wouldn't completely dip the crab because it might expose him to too much salt and mess up his balance internally and in his shell water too. Just try to get his legs in, or as much as you can of it without submerging the shell. He will probably lose the leg soon so all you can do now is keep him comfortable and infection free. I would also think about lowering the humidity a few points to help fend off infection (but not to anything dangerous). Good luck and keep us posted!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Mar 08, 2007 5:34 pm

Im at uni horribly early, so I havent had time to do anything with Gringo as yet. I changed his food and water (both salt and fresh) but I didnt go looking for him. I just let him sleep (at least one of us had that luxury!). When I get home tonght (yep, long day!) I will check on him again and see how he is. He has survived the worst of it, so I think he will pull through. Tough little trooper.