HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Just as we were finishing setting up our new 29gal tank about a month ago, Spider decided it was a perfect time to molt one last time in his old tank. So for the past month, the others have lived in the new spacious tank while Spider has been in the 10gal molting (aka we've had a glorified sandbox in our bedroom). This morning he finally was up, perched on the edge of the salt water dish! Hairy legs, sharp black toenails, the whole nine yards. Excited to finally have all my crabs in one place (and to finally be able to decommission the 10gal (unless we end up needing an iso someday), I moved him into the new tank with the others (after a quick dip in the freshwater to make him smell more like home and less like molt). I was late for work at that point, so off I went.

Came home from work, and Spider was happy as can be in the new tank... but on closer inspection, he seems to have come back from his molt missing a leg! One of the middle ones (the longest leg that is closest to the shell opening). Before his molt, none were missing. I'm not positive he was missing it this morning, but I don't see any evidence that it came off today while I was gone-- the other crabs who are above ground haven't strayed from their coconut hut all day, so no one's been picking on him.

Was he actually not done with his molt, and I interrupted him by moving him? Should I put him back in the old tank? Should I leave him in the new tank? New tank has better heating, better humitity, and more sub, but the old tank has the benefit of privacy (and whatever molting cave he was using, if he wants to go back to it).

Any advice is appreciated I'm posting this here rather than in the emergency section because he doesn't seem bothered by his missing leg... but I'd like to do what's best for him!

Hairy legs, sharp black tips..he's done molting.

So...a few things are a possibility:
a) either you missed the fact that he didn't have a leg prior, and he needs more protein & calcium in his diet to regrow it.
b) he lost it during the molt due to lack of something missing in diet (food pyramid: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92554)
c) he lost it today re-establishing dominance.

Either way, follow the food pyramid and he will be fine in a couple of molts!

GotButterflies wrote:Hairy legs, sharp black tips..he's done molting.

So...a few things are a possibility:
a) either you missed the fact that he didn't have a leg prior, and he needs more protein & calcium in his diet to regrow it.
b) he lost it during the molt due to lack of something missing in diet (food pyramid: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92554)
c) he lost it today re-establishing dominance.

Either way, follow the food pyramid and he will be fine in a couple of molts!

Sounds good! Yeah, he went down to molt just as my boyfriend and I got a ton better about the food pyramid and tank conditions. Kicking ourselves now, but striving to be better in every way we can!

Like GB said, good diet mow is thr best way to go.

Raw honey is considered a healing food, and organic coconut oil and natural organic peanut butter are fatty & can help to ensure he's on the right track to post-moult energy recovery.

Keep an eye on him, but there's a good chance he'll be okay.

Don't beat yourself up about it - you know about it now Congratulations on the molt!

They can run into trouble with molting for no discernable reason. It could be a freak accident and something went wrong and his exo got stuck or didn't come off right. This can also happen if they get startled during the actual shed by a loud noise or vibration that makes them yank back into their shell. They will often choose to drop the damaged leg rather than carry around something that will hinder them for the next several months. It also takes multiple molts for damage to be repaired, but a missing leg will be regrown in one molt and usually become a normal size on the second, for some weird reason.

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He will be ok- I had I little guy come up missing his BP, he went down for another molt and now has a new mani BP! It's awesome how resilient these animals are.


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Just a quick update to say he seems to be doing just fine now! We had a brief scare yesterday when he decided to go naked (and cling to the side of one of their hides... it was like a crabby rendition of spiderman or something), but he's back to being properly shelled now and has even tried on quite a few shells today (knock on wood, I think he's picked one he likes!). I got to watch him switch once, and it looks like shell switching with a missing leg is somewhat difficult, so I think his naked adventure was just because he was being slower than usual at a shell switch and got spooked by another crab walking by mid-process.

Lots of good protein and calcium (along with other nutrients-- following the food pyramid!) out, and he's definitely been chowing down

Glad to hear!


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