Anyone Ever Have A Crab Foam and Live? Please Help.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:03 am

I am so upset. I woke up this a.m. and peeked in at the crab tank and saw my largest crab, Salty, with bubbles/foam all over her mouth and gills. The last time I had that happen the crab died within a day, but he was a new crab. I picked up Salty and she also had a musty smell. She molted a couple of months ago, no other problems ever that I know about.I've had Salty for over three years, humidity currently 85% and temp 74. No new changes to the tank except for the moss pit in the shower caddy added with the last deep clean. I had my new adoptee in the tank for about a month, too, but she was in another home for three years and she's down in ISO molting right now anyway. There were no chemical exposures either.I thought foaming/bubbling was an attempt to lubricate gills, but the humidity is great and has been. I'm at a loss as to why this happened. I cleaned out the tank, dumped the old moss, cleaned the food and water dishes, etc. but I kept Salty in the main tank for now since I'm not sure if ISOing would make a difference. I thought about a salt water bath but not sure if that would help or hurt.Any comments, suggestions, help is appreciated. I'm so upset right now.

Crabby Abby · Post by **Crabby Abby** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:28 am

Nicole I'm so sorry to hear that. I don't know anything more about foaming than you know yourself. Does she visit the water dishes at all? A bath might be more than she can handle but when Jedediah had Jason the legless crab she squirted a mix of 1 part salt/1 part fresh water into his shell to keep him hydrated. That's something I would try if Salty were mine.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 5:57 am

Salty keeps grooming and grooming herself. The bubbling stopped for now but I'm just wondering what happened. Was she just trying to clean some substance off with the bubbling? For the life of me I can't figure this out. I haven't even handled any of the crabs recently. Now I'm worried about all of them if this is an environmental problem, or worse yet an illness.I moved her to ISO just to be on the safe side. She's moving around OK in there. I'll hold off on the squirting for now unless she starts getting worse. I've never took notice to her avoiding the water dishes and I don't know why she would, although anything's possible. This is harder on me than PPS, to have an established crab start having problems.

KittyCaller · Post by **KittyCaller** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 7:13 am

I found this thread in the archives (Half way down) but I don't think that it's what's responsible. Your temp isn't high enough. I'd suspect gill damage, except that I don't see how that's possible. I thought that I read a thread a while back about a crab who blew bubbles once, and then stopped. The reason why was never clear. Unfortunately, I don't think it got archived or anything or if I'm confusing it with something. I'll try to find some more info.

NewCrabber · Post by **NewCrabber** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 8:20 am

I'm sorry this has happened. I understand how upset you must be. In thinking about the situation I'm at a loss as well. If gill damage were even a remote possibility I might suggest a dip in SC or probably an herbal bath, but with the care and conditions being what they are, it doesn't seem likey that is the cause of the bubbling. Hopefully, it's just one of those unexplained things that will pass without causing harm. An after thought -- Is it at all possible there may have been even a small amount of soap residue on a food or water dish she's been in recently? What has she eaten in the past few days?Please keep us posted.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Mon Jan 01, 2007 2:50 pm

Thanks all! Will keep you posted. She's walking around in her ISO right now and *seems* to be hanging in there. I'm almost positive there was no soap residue in the dishes, plus unfortunately seeing the same bubbling/foaming on my jumbo leads me to believe this was the same thing. It looks exactly like clear/white soap bubbles but it kind of oozes out of the area of the mouth and the area of the gills. I didn't introduce any new foods lately either. I'm crossing my claws for the next couple of days at least.

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 8:55 am

She's hanging in there. I hate to jinx myself by making declarations one way or the other, but there's been no more bubbling/foaming and she's eating a lot today. Beginning to think there was some sort of injury involved; Crabby Abby had suggested it to me and Salty was spending so much time grooming and grooming the area around her mouth for nearly two days, on and off. Possibly a cut or some damage from a sharp edge/fall? I wish I knew. Thanks for your concern.

KittyCaller · Post by **KittyCaller** » Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:30 am

An injury makes sense. I'm glad she seems to be doing okay today though. I think eating's a good sign.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jan 04, 2007 9:12 am

Hey Nicole,Even though I've only had one crab bubble, and he died shortly afterward, I have read on another web site that not all bubbling is from gill damage. Sometimes they DO bubble to clean themselves better. Hoping this is all that it was for your crabby!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 2:32 am

Hey NIcole. I was just wondering how Salty is doing?

Nicole · Post by **Nicole** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 5:09 am

Hey, she's still doing well. Back in the main tank and acting normally as far as I can tell (wish I could watch the crabs all day some times!). I still want to know what happened that morning so that I can prevent it, though.Thanks for all the concern and well-wishes; I was certain Salty was a goner and hopefully now she's pulled through this, whatever it was.