tip of his legs... not good...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:08 pm

I JUST notice it yesterday! >_<

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/zanary/hipie.gif

please give me advice on how to fix him..

This is Hipie...

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:19 pm

You know what is so wierd, is i have the same exact hermit crab, in the same exact shell. And one of his tips are off. Wierd. lol. Sorry just had to say that.

Happy Crabbing,
Jessica

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:31 pm

Do you have any idea when it happened? There is the possibility that it might be an old injury, as long as infection doesn't set in it should be alright and will heal with the next molt.

If you think it happened more recently I would keep the crab away from others in case it was the result of aggressive behavior until you can determine the actual cause. Salt water will help keep infection away until the injuries scab over, normally crabs are pretty good about keeping their feet clean if they feel sand stuck on them, but if you want to do something about it letting him walk around in salt water for a little bit will help. If the injuries are just on the tips of his legs the water wouldn't even need to be all that deep. After that you can dab a little honey on the tips of his legs since honey helps clean wounds. I am not recommending honey as a cure all, but it does help and provides the comfort that comes with doing something.

Since hermit crabs can be sensitive little creatures wouldn't feel right recommending a medicinal bath unless I was sure it was infected. All that I mentioned above is the most basic of treatment ideas. Someone better informed might have more to say, in fact you should probably wait to see what others have to say before following my advice.

So far the injury looks clean to me, though I can't see it all. Once it scabs over there's little to worry about. Until then you should keep an eye on him for any changes and post pictures once the exposed flesh starts to darken so people more knowledgeable than I can give you better advice.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:38 pm

Thank you... I got him from petco but I never took a clear look of any of my crabbies.... i'll put him in the salt water everyday to see what happend.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 10:50 pm

Maybe tonight put him in saltwater just deep enough so that it washes the injured tips of his legs clean, if it's just the tips of his legs then that's all he'll need. That way you don't upset the balance of his shell water that would happen by submerging him.

I just posted to give you some fast advice to help you feel better, once someone who knows more than I do posts you'll have a better idea of what to do. My advice is just based on what I have read and been told to do in similar situations, other people will have better things to say. I would wait for them before making any plans for long term treatment.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 11:52 pm

I can't see inside the tips well in the pic, but to me it looks like a common injury I have seen on a lot of my crabs.

I think those kinds of things, missing tips, broken off segments, happen in shipping all the time, just from being kind of banged around in transit. I have a feeling it's just scabs, and I'd bet it's more brown than black.

If you can get better pics of the tips great, otherwise I would watch it daily to see if they change appearance at all, and forgo the stressful salt water baths at this point. It seems to me to be the kind of thing that will be fixed in a molt. I hope that's the case.

Willow · Post by **Willow** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:52 am

I think all of my larger crabs were missing tips when I bought them. I've never even stopped to think about it, I just figured it happened in the wild or maybe in the harvesting process, and I never worried about it. They'll grow back in the next moult.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:00 am

He'll be alright. I once had a hermit crab who had its tips all gone. She survived quite a while.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:04 am

IM SO HEART BROKEN! Hipie is the active one, HE NEVER pitch me, he knows im caring about him.... he moves ALOT.. because hes very comfortable around me so I tried to take the best picture i can lol... I just can't believe something like that happened to him... or her...

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/ ... hipie3.gif

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/ ... hipie2.gif

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c230/ ... hipie1.jpg

3 of his legs is like that...

Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs · Post by **Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:05 am

Some hermies actually do break the very ends of their legs, but with most this is not the case. Most suppliers of hermit crabs will actually snip the ends of the legs off because of their sharp toenails. This is usually a request by the pet store company because they don't want any of their customers getting scratched and complaining. I think it is quite wrong and cruel myself, much like the entire painted shell process.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:15 am

Hipie is a very nice crabbie... he doesn't pitch me and he's not afraid of me at all... all crabbie tried to hold on to something to feel safe, therefore using their claw to "scratch" some object to hold on to is normal, I don't think they meant to harm human... I dunno why would they do such thing to hipie who doesn't even pitch... *sighs*

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:28 am

Just curious where the source of the info about clipping the legs is from? I just hear so much about supplier cruelty, especially about how they get them into shells they didn't start out in, but I still am just the kind of person who like to know the source of info, and if possilbe get more than one source saying the same thing before I can take it as fact. I'm still not sure how they really get them into painted shells, sometimes things just get spun into something different stories down the line, like the game telephone we used to play in the first grade.

Usually I see legs broken off in an ununiformed way, one or two shorter than the others, it appears to me to more of a natural (or may be accidental would be a better word) occurance by the looks of it.

ZanZan, you did a great job getting the photos of those leg tips! Please know I feel you have nothing to worry about, other than the poor thing is missing them, there is no infection at all that I can see in those tips. He'll get them back in his next molt.

Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs · Post by **Hermit_of_Hermit_Crabs** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:21 pm

I found out the leg clipping information from a rather knowledgable Petsmart employee. The guy has been keeping various types of fish for years and he was telling me a year or so ago about how they (Petsmart corporate) request for the crabs' legs to be clipped if their ends are extremely sharp.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:55 pm

i got mine at petco >_<..... they probably did the same thing to him..

troppo · Post by **troppo** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:57 pm

If that's true that hermie's legs/nails are clipped,that's pretty sickening

I haven't adopted or seen any crabs here that have had missing leg tips,etc. They are all intact.