Omg, what is happening?!?!

[crabbycasey]

Ok, so I found out a friend bought 2 hermies recently and she still had them in critter cages. Like myself when I starters out, she had no idea the type of care they needed so I took all my extras to her and we created a nice crabitat for them just this morning. She sent me a video just now asking me “is this a baby?”. I was confused until I saw what she saw...there is a tiny pincher coming out from inside the shell!!! Is this another crab or could he have an extra pincher back there like some sort of genetic mutation?! Is this a thing? I’m thinking tiny crab was in shell first when big guy backed into it and they’ve been living in there together ever since. I brought her lots of shells to fit the big guy and going to take small shells over tonight, but I am dying to know (so is she) what is happening and any advice on how to handle?!?!

Thank you HCA!!


Do you see the tiny pincher coming out?!

I can’t wait for y’all replies!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[wodesorel]

They do have set of cleaning pinchers back in there! It's totally normal, but freaky the first time you see them.

[crabbycasey]

Are you serious, lol?! I have 5 PP and have never seen that...now I’ve only had them since Sept, but that is so cool to know! Thank you sooooo much, now I can chill out, lol. I was scrambling to get over there and bring her baby turbo shells. Phew


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CrabbyLover77]

They do have set of cleaning pinchers back in there! It's totally normal, but freaky the first time you see them.

That's so cool! I've been crabbing for appx 10 yrs and have never seen them. Awesome!

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[Motörcrab]

These grooming legs are freaky no matter how many times you see then! Out of the 30-40 crabs we have we may see then grooming with these twice a year.

We call them their "creepy alien arms" since they remind us of the tongue face things on the xenomormps in the Alien movies!

[crabbycasey]

Omg, yes! I’m telling you when she sent me that video I just knew there was another crab in there with him . Lol, so great looking...the angle at which it comes out is part of how weird it looks! Creepy.

An update while I’ve got you, the new tank we made for her hermies has them very happy and finally doing crab things! The one in the painted shell (with the alien arm) has already dug down to de-stress and her other one that was in a shell way too big for him, has switched to a nicely suited Turbo shell overnight and is loving his new saltwater pool apparently! My friend and her 2 children got to watch the shell change (and got it on video) and they absolutely loved it! She is already preparing for another tank upgrade, lol.


Just a quick shout out to my beloved HCA real quick! Y’all have ultimately now saved 8 crabs and given them better lives...my 5, my sisters 1 and my friends 2. HCA taught me and I was able to help the others (sis and friend still had their hermies in critter carriers with hardly anything in there)! Hopefully the chain will continue and we can help more hermies have better lives in captivity and spread the word on proper care. Thank you to all that have helped me and thank you HCA for having all of this wonderful info so easily accessible!! I’m sure the hermies thank you too!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jonathon1989]

Wow. Always learning something new about the crabbies.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Motörcrab]

Just a quick shout out to my beloved HCA real quick! Y’all have ultimately now saved 8 crabs and given them better lives...my 5, my sisters 1 and my friends 2. HCA taught me and I was able to help the others (sis and friend still had their hermies in critter carriers with hardly anything in there)! Hopefully the chain will continue and we can help more hermies have better lives in captivity and spread the word on proper care. Thank you to all that have helped me and thank you HCA for having all of this wonderful info so easily accessible!! I’m sure the hermies thank you too!!

That's great to hear! It's a slow process of getting the proper care out to people, but we are ALL helping in some way shape or form. The more people that learn and share the correct info, even if it's guiding them to the HCA helps the cause! A majority of stores that sell hermit crabs don't offer proper care techniques. Most eople are misinformed before they even have crabs and stumble across places like the HCA! Myself included!

[crabbycasey]

That's great to hear! It's a slow process of getting the proper care out to people, but we are ALL helping in some way shape or form. The more people that learn and share the correct info, even if it's guiding them to the HCA helps the cause! A majority of stores that sell hermit crabs don't offer proper care techniques. Most eople are misinformed before they even have crabs and stumble across places like the HCA! Myself included!

That’s exactly how it happened for me...and my sister...and my friend! Blows my mind that these stores selling them don’t have the proper care info! I will continue with my efforts as a “Hermie Hero” (what my sister is calling me now, lol)...the HCA is the real hero though! What is the saying...? Not all heros wear capes! Lol. Can’t begin to imagine how many hermies the HCA has helped/saved/rehomed, it’s wonderful!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk