Limbless hermit crab

[Hermitkrab78]

Since you've come to the emergency forum, we know you want a fast answer to your question. In order for us to figure out the problem as quickly as possible, we ask that you answer the following questions as best you can. Some of them may seem odd, but they're all designed to give us the information we need to give you a good solution for your problem. The things in the [ brackets ] are there to make this post easier to read once submitted. Thanks!


1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it?
A mixture of sand and coconut fiber. It is 9 inches deep.

2. Do you have gauges in the tank to measure temperature and humidity? If so, where are they located and what temperature and humidity do they usually read?
Around 80 degrees for the temperature and the humidity is always around 75%.

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
A ultratherm heating pad.

4. What types of water are available (fresh or salt) and how is the water treated (what brands of dechlorinator or salt mix and what ratio is used to mix it)?
Both fresh and salt water are offered. I use dechlorinated bottled water for fresh. For salt I use Instant Ocean and to make it I use a gallon of drinking water and mix in 1/2 a cup of instant ocean.

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced?
I feed a variety of foods and each day I put in some type of animal protein like meal worms, River shrimp, ect., and two complete meals that I got off of estsy. They content a variety of different foods. Then depending on the day of the week they will get other foods the align with the hermit crab food pyramid I found on this website. The food is replaced daily.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known?
I got this crab on December 27 2023 and it is a Purpler Pincher.

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen?
Not sense I got him.

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing?
A 29 gallon tank with a screen lid that I have taped on the bottom to keep in humidty.

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they?
There is one other crab in the tank who is the a bit bigger then the crab in question. I have had him for four years. They are both large sized crabs.

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any?
10

11. Have there been any fumes or chemicals near the crabitat recently?
No

12. How often do you clean the tank and how?
To clean the tank I will move around the top of the substrate to look for poop to take out. I do this every week. THe food bowl is washed every night. The water is changed every three days unless it is notiably dirty then ill clean it earlier.

13. Are sponges used in the water dish? If so, how are they cleaned?
No

14. Has anything new been added to your crabitat recently?
I added egg crate, a coconut fiber wall, a cholla stick, and a hemp hammock. However, this was done just before I got my crab.

15. Is there any other information you would like to share that might be helpful (anything that is regularly part of your crab care, playtime, bathing, etc.)?
I

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail.
I recently bought a new crab so my other crab could have a tank mate. The original crab is named phosphorus and I have had him for over four years. When I put the new crab whose name is Pluto in the tank I did not see any issues or fighting happen between the two. I kept a close eye on them both and they seemed perfectly fine with each other. Yesterday and today I saw pluto sitting against the back wall where the heater is which is a common thing my other hermit crab does so I didn't think anything of it. Then when I went to take their food dish out today I discovered Pluto's limbs were all around him and he had none left. I set up a separate tank with a heat source and substrate for pluto so he would be away from phosphorus. I don't know what I should do from here.
.

[curlysister]

Oh dear, this does not sound good at all. What kind of conditions were the new crab in, before you got him? It may not be anything your existing crab did, it could be that the new one was in trouble before you got it.
There have been a couple of people who have tried to save a limbless crab, I'm honestly not sure if any were successful. If you search for a thread by MotorCrab, he had a crab who lost all it's limbs. He outlined what he did to feed it, etc.

[Hermitkrab78]

When I got him he seemed pretty shy but other than that he was fine. He did start to get more active as days went on and then all of a sudden this happened. I was wondering whether or not the existing crab was the issue because had a tank mate for about a year when I first got him and had no issues. I will check out that thread thank you for your help.

[wodesorel]

There's also a collection of topics towards the bottom of this post, including a link to my Sunshine who survived. It'll be touch and go for a few days until you can observe and see if he's eating and rallying eneregy, or if he's still going downhill. Unfortunately with newer crabs limb loss is almost always a sign of serious and fatal internal issues. It's only physical attacks (and one case of accidental scalding) where they can bounce back with TLC.
viewtopic.php?f=27&t=92528

[GotButterflies]

Good luck! I would also recommend that you try to get your humidity up to at least 80%.