finished molt and missing legs?!?!

[crabnanimous]

This is my first time posting here so I hope this is in the right category. Im having a hermit crab emergency!

1. What kind of substrate is used in your tank and how deep is it? Quickrete Playsand 5-6 inches

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? humidity gauge is placed in center of tank above a hide away humidity is 80% and above lowest is 70%, no temp. gauge

3. Is a heat source used in the tank? If so, what?
no
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)? fresh dechlorinated zoomed, occasional botled salt water from petco

5. What kinds of food do you feed and how often is it replaced? All organic tofu,carrots,peas,beets,kale,coconut,fish,honey fed at night taken out in the morning or 24 hours.

6. How long have you had the crab and what species is it, if known? ecuadorian around 5 months

7. Has your crab molted, and how long ago did it happen? He just molted and hardened but didnt come up yet

8. What type of housing are the crabs kept in, what size is it and what kind of lid is on the housing? 20 gal. glass aquarium metal mesh lid with fabric on top to keep humidity in

9. How many crabs are in the tank and about how large are they? 10. 1 large 1 medium 8 smalls

10. How many extra shells are usually kept in the tank, if any? no extras right now

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

12. How often do you clean the tank and how? when sand smells bad or taking food out

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? no

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 know its a lot of crabs in a small place, we have a 40 gal. breeder tank that we normally use but we are in the process of cleaning it right now

16. Please describe the emergency situation in detail. Accidentally dug up a crab. It looks like he finished molting but as I looked at him hes missing three legs! He has both pinchers and one leg on the left I think it has to be the temp. in the tank but how should I take care of him now that hes on the surface? Im on my way to the pet store to pick up a heater for their tank

[StarWarsHermitCrab]

It sounds like he was attacked during a molt. Could you put that 40 gallon tank
back together soon? the attacked hermit crab is going to need that smaller
tank to himself.

[StarWarsHermitCrab]

Oh, I almost forgot. Please get a heat source and temperature gauge.
The temperature needs to be between 75F to 85F.

Hermit crabs need both fresh water and salt water. I recommend instant ocean.
You're also going to need a dechlorinator.

You need to get some shells, here is the shell list so you can find shells that
your hermit crabs like.http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 24&t=92552

I'm sorry about your attacked hermit crab. The only things you can do for him
is to isolate him from the other crabs, provide proper conditions,
and hope he gets better.

[crabnanimous]

I added the heater and temp gauge its at 75 degrees. I was looking at his pieces of exo? it looks more like he dropped them because some of the legs are not hollow? Dont worry about shells we have a ton of shells but if we put them in the tiny tank theyre in right now there would be less room than there already is! Is the zoomed dechlorinator bad stuff? I would use the instant ocean but dont you have to mix that in larger quantities?

[CallaLily]

The zoomed hermit crab SW isn't necessarily harmful but it is lacking in many elements that are found in seawater. These elements are vital to healthy molts. Brands sold for saltwater aquariums, like Instant Ocean, are designed to mimic seawater. Those are what you'll want and they'll need both fresh and salt water available at all times. Avoid any salt mixes sold specifically for hermit crabs and those sold for freshwater aquariums.

Do the limbs seem like they were stuck in his exo or did he drop them after molting?

With Es, the temp should be 80-90F. They also need a lot of space and lots of deep substrate, so getting that 40 back together soon would be great. Extra shells are very important too so please put some in. Without them there will be shell fights. I also recommend varying protein sources more and be sure to provide calcium sources too.

This may help you with how to mix smaller batches of SW.

All of the major salt brands are measured the same, depending on how much you need:

1 gallon of water to ½ cup of salt mix
½ gallon (which is 2 quarts) of water to ¼ cup salt mix
1 Pint (which is 2 cups) of water to 1 Tablespoon (which is 3 teaspoons) salt mix
1 cup of water to ½ Tablespoon (which is 1 and ½ teaspoon) of salt mix

http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 25&t=92553

[crabnanimous]

When I found him all his pieces were with him but there were legs that still had "meat"? in them (I dont know what to call it) and the legs look like they were dropped before his molt because they are hard and also with his previous colors he seems to be acting normal, he eats and walks around like he doesn't really care. The main tank will be ready tommorow so I can keep him in iso.

[crabnanimous]

GRAPHIC DESCIPTIONS
So as I was putting the rest of the crabs in the big tank to ISO Cray Cray (the hermit with three missing legs) I dug up two crabs I suspected were either molting or dead and as I found them they smelled and were obviously dead. It looks like they molted, hardened, lost limbs and died. Ive had many more successful molts than bad ones. Ive had four crabs in total die this way I figured since our original crabs were fine and well our conditions were fine? These crabs were far apart from each other and they were the only two underground. To be specific when i scooped them up they broke in half from the abdomen and crumbled in fleshy chunks while the abdomen was black and hollowed out? The abdomen was also fused to the shell the conditions are the same as the ones listed above. I dont want anymore of my crabs to die. someone please help?!

[CallaLily]

Other then what I posted above, I'm not seeing anything that stands out as a possible cause. Were these their first molts with you?

Was your substrate still sand castle consistency throughout? It wouldn't hurt to deepen it some more with one of your crabs being a large.

[crabnanimous]

One of them already had a successful molt with us the other was a crab we bought on Easter last month, he didnt molt with us before. On the issue of sand I bought two more 50lb bags and some moss so the sand situation should be cleared up. Cray Cray (the hermit missing three legs) is still active, walking and eating. Today his antennae seem droopy but hes still active He has honey, tofu, peas, corn, carrots, beets and Im thinking of putting some fish in his tank today

[soilentgringa]

Hi! I am so sorry you are going through all of this. I think one thing that particularly stands out to me is the protein sources. How often are you feeding them fish? If you are able to offer a bit of boiled egg in the shell or pick up some freeze dried mealworms, krill, shrimp, crickets, or maybe pinch of some uncooked seasoned meat before cooking and offer it, that would be helpful.
I think a lot of times we think of our crabs as needing fruits, veggies, and grains as part of a healthy diet (pretty sure some of our crabs eat better than we do! ) but the protein and calcium/chitin sources are super important.

[crabnanimous]

Going to be honest here but I definitely have been slacking off in the fish department I usually give them way more tofu than fish but I will make fish available in their tank 5 days a week? would that be enough? In regaurds to salt water I accidentally got sea salt for fresh water aquariums so I returned it and found some instant ocean! I also got some new dechlorinator its called Kordon AmQuel but it seems it doesnt remove heavy metals just amonia,chlorine and chloramines so Im going to look for Kordon RidMetals all it does is get rid of heavy metals. Would that be a good idea? also Cray Cray the hermit has been walking a little more tonight. He hasnt lost any additional limbs since I uncovered him so I take it as a good sign but still not getting my hopes up.

[CallaLily]

It's good that you're upping how often they get the fish, but keep in mind variety is important too. Switch it up some with other protein sources. Unseasoned meats, poultry, eggs, seafood, nuts. You can also pick up freeze dried or frozen things from the fish and reptile section of most pet stores like mealworms, crickets, bloodworms, silversides, beefheart, krill. Just double check ingredients. Same with calcium sources, fruits, veggies, etc. Mix it up some.

[crabnanimous]

So Cray Cray is still alive. His antennae seem more perky as of yesterday. I found him today in a mini pit as if hes trying to dig down however I'm worried that he doesn't seem to be eating. Today I'm finally going to put some saltwater for them and yesterday I got them some Meal worms. The hermits in the big tank loved them. Im putting in the two bags of sand today so they should be extra happy. I had a question about the moss though. I bought a bag of organic moss from the home depot but I wasnt sure if I was supposed to bake it to kill any bugs or bactirea but to be on the safe side I baked it anyways, I baked it at 350 degrees for about a half hour but as I wet the moss it smelt very burnt Is there a better way to add moss to the tank?

[Asheka]

Please ignore this post.

[CallaLily]

I personally don't bake moss. I just soak it really well and wring it out before I put it in the moss pit.

Im glad to hear your crab is doing better.