HCA: Hermit Crab Association

My hermit Ivory is suddenly in very bad condition as of a few hours ago, and i have been trying to revive her for hours- she might not make it though. in the reviving process, she got raw honey all in her claws and feelers so she was all stuck together. i used saltwater and give her a bath to unstick her. it worked- she is mostly unstuck except she got her little eyes kinda stuck. the problem is that some saltwater got into her eyes and now they are very light brown, almost like amber, and look completely wrong and clear, and she seems to be in pain- rocking back and forth. does saltwater hurt their eyes?? if so, how is there nothing on the internet about it that i can find?

update: her eyes went completely transparent and she went limp. it has been a lot of hours of trying different things (i wouldnt have messed with her just in case it would make it worse, but i think she would have died if i didnt- although she might be dead right now) i have her isolated and am hoping it will be a surface molt, if i havent accidentally killed her. i have never had issues like this and i am panicking. she has fresh shells that i cleaned out, about four inches of substrate in a travel case they came in, and some little shells of food, salt water, and a sponge of distilled water and a mineral block. i suppose all i can do now is leave her isolated, wait, and hope that i havent killed her and she is gonna make it. any advice is welcome- i am relatively new to this and not confident in bad situations yet.

humidity and temp are about how they should be assuming my thermometer and hygrometers are right. i use sand as a substrate (specific hermit crab sand) and they have a ten gallon- soon to be a 20 gal but i am saving up for that. all my other crabs are acting relatively normal. im not sure what i am doing wrong in general because they are not very active and don't eat much but i am hoping that when i get the 20 gal and some more toys for them they liven up a bit. they are all pretty small- just the size they typically are when you get them from the store.

Hi, I haven't had much experience with injured or sick crabs so I would wait for someone more experienced to comment on that. However, I do want to raise a few points on your care that I think can be improved.
1) Hermit crab sand should NOT be used as it clumps together and just is not suitable as substrate. Please use a mixture of play sand and eco earth with the depth being a minimum of 6 inches
2) I would not recommend using distilled water as it has no minerals that the crabs might need. Use tap water and add a dechlorinator instead. Also, take out the sponge as it will just be a site for bacterial growth
3) Not sure what a mineral block is...? Probably don't need it though
https://www.hermitcrabassociation.com/p ... 0&t=119273
^^ check out this link for a comprehensive care guide.
Hope Ivory gets well soon!! Stay strong:)

Don't touch her anymore at this point, she was either going to surface molt or die, and if it is was a molt they have to be left alone or it messes it all up. It is all on her now.

Thanks yall. I have left her alone since I posted. I dont think she is going to make it. and the mineral block is to make up for the lack of stuff in distilled water- they eat on it and it gives them some extra minerals and such. do you use spring water for yours? and if you are mixing the oceanic salt in for their saltwater would you use distilled for that or spring?

You can use regular tap water and use a dechlorinator for the fresh water
on this site many people use seachem prime

then for salt water you can use tap water with declhorinator and ocean salt mix for salt water
on this site many people use the seachem prime and instant ocean

Dont touch her. Place her under a hut and leave her until she molts or a smell a fishy smell.


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I really thought she was a goner but didn't want to take chances so I have kept her in her isolation station and left her completely alone. Just now I saw another crab's legs peeking out from the (extremely overly large but lightweight) shell she is in, and was super confused but then I realized she must have surface molted in the large shell because unless they grew wings there is no way another crab got in there. I don't know how she is moving so much already but I am kinda new to real experience with the molting thing, I have mostly just read a ton online. I definitely wouldn't have touched her originally because that is a no no but she had gotten dug up by i assume another crab and had a shell on top of her, and it was squashing her fragile little body. Her leg got injured enough during that that it later came off. I didn't want the other crabs to hurt her again so I moved her into isolation. Touching her more after that was definitely a huge mistake on my part but since she wasn't burying herself or showing signs of molting my panicked self just really wanted to get her into a shell. Thank yall for the advice- I have started my search for better substrate for them amongst other things and will be improving their crabitat shortly. Hoping she makes it- still kinda iffy I think.

You think she molted in the large shell she was in...and now she’s moving around in isolation? Did you see her exoskeleton?

How is she doing today?


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Please keep the HCA updated. We are here for you if you need any help.


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Yes thank you all! I was waiting to be sure before I responded but she has eaten the majority of her exoskeleton and is moving around now! She looks a little fragile and won't change into a new shell but i think she is gonna be all right

Oh that’s great news, yay!


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Keep her in isolation and keep your hands off of her and out of her tank! Only open the tank to add a few suitable shells (if you have them) and to refresh her food and water. Resist the urge to help her in any way. It sounds like you dodged a bullet with her, now she just needs time to regain her strength and destress.

Some superfoods you can offer her (organic when possible): blackstrap molasses, honey, peanut butter, bananas, and some eggshell with a little of the egg left in it. I "bake" the egg shells in the microwave until they are really brittle and then crush them up using a molcajete or a rolling pin.

Don't try to hand feed her! Just offer small amounts of each food in separate small dishes. I use clamshells, milk or 2L soda bottle lids as tiny offering plates. If she wants them she will find them.

thanks for the advice! i have her isolated still and have a couple shells with sponges of fresh water and food. i have been sprinkling ground up cuttlebone on top of her food and she has a whole piece in there with her too.