sick or dying ?

[tokyojapan]

I love all animals that seem werid or strange, that's how I came across hermits . I have crabbing for about 5 years . about 2-3 weeks ago I bought 3 jumbos. The biggest adjusted in a day to the tank . the other 2 r acting strange . the one has a hole in its exo where the abdomen meets the exo. He shell is light weight . the other one has no holes and is in a too big black murex , the shell is sanded down and lighter than a normal one but still heavy . with both of the crabs they don't eat just move to hide or go in the water they haven't been seen interacting with others just sitting there . I put them next to or onto the food and the run away. They r slow moving and don't come out of there shells .can I put zoomed reptivite on there food to help the get there strength back ? I want to make a order on the HCP to get some worm castings to see if that'll help them . the temp in the tank is at 80 and at 80 or higher humidity . has any body have this happen to them and how can I help them I love them very much any advice would be helpful . thank u

[wodesorel]

I've never had a purchased Jumbo survive. They either die the first week, or during their first. The longest they lasted was 2 years, but they were sickly and shrunk with each molt.

The older a crab gets, the harder it is for them to molt. The collection process is brutal and they need to be able to molt to repair that damage. For a jumbo crab they often are not able to bounce back. Plus, we're talking about animal that has lived 20-50 years in the wild. Transitioning to captivity can be impossible for them.

Make sure your conditions are ideal, offer a wide variety of food, make sure they have as much space as possible - at least a 75 gallon tank - and they might recover. Sadly though most people report poor outcomes with huge wild-caught crabs.

[tokyojapan]

Could I use reptile vitamins such as zoomed' s reptivite and will the supplements and vitamins from the HCP improve there condition . Have any of u had situations like mine with jumbos any help would be great whether the crab was a jumbo or not.

[wodesorel]

The supplements from the HCP are recommended, if they are still eating. Most of the time they start to refuse food as they shut down.

I personally would not recommend the Reptivite - the levels of vitamins and minerals could potentially be harmful to a hermit crab. Those vitamins are designed for a reptile with a completely different set of needs, who is also much much heavier.