Crab "bubbles" and loses leg, then dies

[CrabbyJo]

okay I realize in retrospect that we bought an extremely stressed crab who was on his way out anyway. He was an Equadorian crab who was very sluggish. We were worried from the get go, but he did get up and move around. I was a bit concerned that he wasn't burrowing to try to destress himself, but we kind of left him be for a couple days, though my husband did pick him up a couple of times to set him on the food dish and to dip him in the water dishes a little. Our little fellah just sat there, and didn't try to go hide. on the second day, I found him on his back, with clear bubbles/foam on his face and his legs splayed out. I turned him back over onto his legs, and he sat there, again, not moving, and I feverishly searched the internet for some information on what these bubbles could mean.

I was disappointed to find that there is very little mention of the bubbling, but the few things I found (advice to others who had witnessed this with their crabs and were alarmed and were seeking help) mentioned clear bubbles can mean he is too hot, too dry (neither of those true in our cage, which is about 73 degrees and 70-80% humidity most of the time), or too stressed. A brownish color to the bubbles, or a brownish leaking fluid can mean injury, and there is a good chance your hermie won't recover.

Well, Larry lost a leg within the next hour, then he just stopped moving altogether. He was still alive, but wasn't making any effort to move around. Next morning Larry was unresponsive, so we're taking his little carcass back to the pet store.
They get a new shipment tomorrow. Wish I had more options, but the other closest pet store is 50 miles away.

Thought I'd post this to get this info spread out a bit more since I couldn't find much myself on the net about it.

hope it helps someone.

[ladybug15057]

I'm not sure where or who gave the advise you wrote above, but I would like to refer you to a couple links for reading. (which this has been proven to work, and until the adjusting iso time is over... you do not want the hermie to burrow, they need to stay above ground to help with the adjustment and be more encouraged to eat the foods they need to help them do so by)

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... storyid=22

And for your 'bubbles', please read:

http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... ?faqid=100

The leg loss on top of it... definitely a severely stressed hermie.

With an E hermie too (really any species) what brand of ocean water do you offer?

[CrabbyJo]

Thanks Ladybug, I actually had read the post your link led me to about the bubbling, and soaked up some info from it, though the bubbles on my hermie that passed were clear.
EDIT: I just realized I had accidentally NOT clicked the link about PPS, THANK YOU.

I have been reading more about the E hermies as I bought two more and they are both staying above ground but behaving fine. They seem to love the little tomato slices I leave them, either that or the tomato slice is drying out and appearing to be nibbled.
I gave them a bath when they got home, then let them be.

I am using Instant Ocean for their saltwater, and refresh it almost daily.

Our first crab, Barnaby, is a PP, and he spends his days burrowed into the coconut substrate. He always burrows down a little during the day, with his shell showing, so I expected the E crabs to do the same, but they don't. This is all so interesting!

I am very sure that the poor little guy that passed was stressed out of his mind, as we could barely coax him out of his shell to begin with, and he wouldn't come very far. At the time I had a regular light bulb over the cage to try to keep it warm enough, and he was sitting under that light the whole time, not moving to any of the shelter I had in the cage. The humidity was steady and always between 70 and 80%, so I thought he was fine. Now I realize the lamp may have been baking him as well as he sat there, not helping his situation at all.
Now I have a red heat lamp, 50 watt, and the two new E crabs I just got are hiding in the log on the sand substrate and doing well. I have half the 'tat with moist coconut/calci sand mixture and half with moist play sand.

I intend to post here in a section for newbies, I have so many questions!
I really love my new little buddies, and I want them to live a longtime.

[Jaci]

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. But I am glad that you posted this on here. It's not something that has been discussed on this site yet and it's great information for others who might be dealing with the same issue.

[CrabbyJo]

Yeah, even though we had him only a day and a half, we got attached pretty fast. it was sad to see him go.