This is a common myth. The crab uses its big purple or brown claw as a trap-door to its shell home, and without it is more vulnerable to predators. However in captivity, it has no predators to be concerned with except its cage-mates. Thus, there is no real reason why a crab who loses its large claw should die. I have had at least five hermit crabs lose large claws and regenerate them. I have also had some crabs lose BOTH claws and still manage to feed themselves and thus stimulate themselves to molt and regenerate the missing claws.
Continue to give your claw-less crab optimum care -- he will grow a new "limb bud" and a new claw before you know it! The same applies to the crab's legs -- a missing leg or antennae will be regenerated! Myth 4. Using a shell dish causes calcium to be added to the drinking water. The latest literature available on the subject suggests that a negligible amount of calcium get into the crabs' drinking water this way -- not nearly enough to make a difference in the crabs' general nutrition.
The same water would have to sit in the same dish for days and days before it would absorb anything even vaguely approaching a beneficial calcium level.
Do your crab a favor and give him or her a chunk of cuttlebone in the crabitat, or add some ground cuttlebone to their food.
They will ingest much more important calcium that way. Don't put the cuttlebone into the drinking water -- it will only get slimy and foul the water. Not familiar with that product. Is it the jug that you mix with fw? Plus IO has been trusted for years. I only know of one chain that carries your product. For the same price IO makes 50 gallons to your 9! Definitely still need to use a dechlorinator with bottled water.
It'll be way cheaper using these items in the long run! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. Poor Hermes passed away today, likely not too long before I arrived home. By the time I had checked on him, he had lost the entirety of his walking legs. My tank also had begun to smell. By this point I knew he had passed, and my suspicion was confirmed when I had smelled the Hermit Crab himself.
It was a heart wrenching experience to coax its cadaver out. As childish as it sounds, I did indeed cry for the loss of my friend. I feel somewhat responsible. In total, I counted 4 legs and 1 pincher detached from the crab. The only remaining limb, minus its cleaners and what not, was its small pincher. In a way, it makes me happy. I was worried that he would suffer for several days, as I tried desperately to keep him alive.
I have not the slightest clue what encouraged him to shed so many of his legs: the other crabs seem active. Will I purchase another? Not yet-- I'm going to focus my efforts on the remaining 4 and once they seem to be in a stable state of affairs, I will consider adding new friends for them.
What I plan to do, thus far: Increase the overall depth of the substrate Buy a new thermometer, likely from Walmart as suggested. I've already tossed the first sponge. Though I have several more in reserve. Make the switch to instant ocean once Top Fin runs out. Instant Ocean is apparently cheaper and highly praised by all of you. As for the corpse of the Hermit crab, I did moniter it for several hours praying for any signs of life. After which I attempted to coax a response with a spray of salt water.
Its body has been disposed of and its shell boiled. Your hermit crab might lose a claw for a variety of reasons, such as having an environment that's too dry. A crab can lose a claw due to the effects of light poisoning, such as from paint fumes or chemicals. If you have more than one crab in a single habitat, one might have pulled off the other's claw during a fight. A single crab could lose a claw getting it caught on something. If your hermit crab loses a claw, don't despair.
Add a bowl with a wet sponge in the corner of the habitat to increase the humidity and help keep your hermit crab healthy. Mist him daily with water. Continue to maintain a normal cycle of 12 hours light and 12 hours dark. It is not critical to provide UVB in the isolation unit. If you already have a UVB light set up on the main tank and will be keeping the isolation unit inside the main tank that is fine.
How will you know your hermit crab is ready to return to the colony? Are all the limbs regenerated? At the very least your hermit crab needs both claws. This means they will be able to protect themselves inside their shell, as well as feed themselves and climb to escape other crabs if needed.
Is the hermit crab active and eating and drinking normally again? If yes to all of the above it is time to return to the main tank. When you do return the hermit crab to the colony do it when you can be around to monitor the tank for a few hours. It is rare that a molter will be attacked by tank mates. When this does occur it is a result of incorrect substrate eco earth only or not deep enough or a poor diet. The molter needs to be gently moved to isolation and cared for using the above recommendations.
Soft crabs should be moved with a clean spoon or something similar so that you do not transfer bacteria or other germs to the soft exoskeleton. A molting crab will be quite weak for a couple days. If the exoskeleton was not eaten, it should be ground up and put in a dish with the victim in addition to the food suggestions above. If the exoskeleton was eaten, provide another source of calcium in the food dish.
The molt sac is also full of water. Normally the crab would only eat their exo while under but after an attack it is important to get them to eat anything. Give the crab a chance to eat on their own before attempting to hand feed.
If the molter was wounded and has visible damage to the exo you can treat the spot with our Medicinal Wash for Hermit Crabs if you catch it early. Damage to the exo can cause the outer layers to fuse with the soft under layer.
This can lead to difficulties shedding properly during the next molt. This is a very rare time when you may want to move the crab to an isolation unit when you observe pre molt symptoms. This will allow you to monitor the molt process.
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