HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hmmm...

I suppose one could check by watching the crabbie (do not pull it from it's shell to look) and when it comes out really far to reach something you can see the gills on the sides. It's hard though cuz the crabbies are small and the gills are too... so one of those HUGE magnifying glasses on a stand (the light may not be good for them? dunno) would be handy for this process. I've read on here that the gills will have blisters if they are damaged.

I'm under the impression that long term gill damage is not reversible? I'm not positive of that... Gill damage is something I've not researched yet and I'm not positive of all the details. I'm guessing that when they molt, since they regrow legs, they can fix the gills too though?!

Golly I hope someone comes along with more information here.

there's some thought that 'melafix' might help situations like these. It seemed to help with one of osippi's hermit crabs!

Kuulio, thanks for the help

Just be very cautious using it. It's exstremely strong and should only be used as a last resort, since we don't know for sure if it is more hurtful than helpful. I have heard of one sucessful case of using it, and more cases where a crab died after using it, but then agian the crab may have been past the point of help.

We simply don't know yet.

Lethargy, because they can't breath, and dropping limbs is often a sign of stress of some sort.

layne_d wrote:there's some thought that 'melafix' might help situations like these. It seemed to help with one of osippi's hermit crabs!

where do you get that?

I actually had a crab (Jupiter in my Avatar) who after a molt failed to regrow the exo over his gills on his right side. They were open and exposed, and even though this might not be the trouble you are speaking of, I feel it is relevant in that he still remained very active, with very obvious gill damage.
Below are two pictures where the damage is obvious, for those who haven't seen them/are interested. If you have any more questions for me about it, you can PM me or something. I think just saying "gill damage" is a little vague for this situation. I believe if Jupiter had survived this last fatal molt, he would have regrown his exo over his gills and been fine. He lived for months with his ailment.

Great pictures, sorry for your loss though. This goes to show, though, what most people think to be a crabs gills, is actually just a layer of protective exoskeleton. Those pictures should definitely be archived!