Dying? :C

[chibi dracon]

Hi,
I currently have 2 crabs; one large and one smaller. They have been around for at least 3 or 4 years. a few days ago, the smaller one had stopped moving, so i thought he was dead. But he was still moving his legs a bit. I just decided to leave him alone. this morning he was in the same spot, just half hanging out of the shell. His coloring is pale, and a few un-hollow legs and parts of the the exoskeleton fell off. the tank smelled somewhat fishy eariler, but not now.. Could this be that he is dying, or maybe a very odd moult?
thanks!

[CrabbyJo]

Parts of the exoskeleton fell off? I've never heard of this. Can you possibly take a picture without disturbing the crab? usually when a crab molts the exo stays intact. If parts of the exo fell off, that would mean your crab - is disintegrating? This is alarming, and I wonder if he has had enough calcium, chitin, cellulose and protein in his diet all these years.
Before I go off on wild speculation, can you explain your tank conditions, foods you feed them, waters you offer, brands you use, substrate type, temps and humidity, etc?
usually we can't help with anything unless we've got some information to go off of to say "it could be this or that because of these things".

Keep in mind that a fishy smell can still occur (or an odd smell others have described as chemically, or like vinegar as well) when a crab is molting. it can become pretty strong, too, so don't decide the crab has passed.

So tell us:
Substrate:

Temp of the tank, temp of the substrate:

Humidity:

Foods offered:

Water conditioner used or explain if you don't use:

Salt water mix used:

Has anything unusual been near the tank lately that may have a strong odor, such as cleaners or scented candles, polish remover, etc?
An increase in vibrations that could cause the crabs distress?

if you answer these we can help you out a bit more.

In the mean time, don't disturb your sick crab.

[chibi dracon]

Substrate: gravel and the soft mulchy stuff for moulting

Temp of the tank, temp of the substrate: 75

Humidity: 70-80

Foods offered: crab food, cocnut, peanut butter, melon, lettuce

Water conditioner used or explain if you don't use: cleaned out every day, spritzing

Salt water mix used:none, we used to but not anymore

Has anything unusual been near the tank lately that may have a strong odor, such as cleaners or scented candles, polish remover, etc? no
An increase in vibrations that could cause the crabs distress? no

i cant really take a picture because hes back in the shell.....
thanks muchly !!

[CrabbyJo]

How is your little guy doing now? He's back in his shell, good, but was he really losing parts of his exo like you thought? Did he drop limbs? How is he?

First though I think I need to address some things you may want to think about. Most commercial crab food is dangerous for crabs. It contains preservatives that have been linked to molting abnormalities in crabs, so you may want to consider going to a natural diet for him.

Also, it does sound like his diet is lacking in some important nutrients. For calcium, you can pick up some broken cuttlebone at your pet store nice and cheap. This is sold for birds, but is calcium that your crabs will benefit from. Don't buy the packaged stuff, it's too expensive. You can also place eggshell in the tank (well rinsed), crushed or in pieces. You can also crush cuttlebone and sprinkle it on their food. Fresh shrimp is an excellent source of calcium, chitin, and protein, which your crab needs a lot of (protein chitin and calcium, I mean). Just boil it and chop it and serve it, exoskeleton still on. You can also purchase freeze dried shrimp at the pet store for those times when it's harder to pick up fresh shrimp. Make sure shrimp is the only ingredient and that there are no preservatives, especially Ethoxyquin or Copper Sulfate. Shrimp is only one suggestion, there are a lot of good food sources out there. Mealworms are also great for them (dead).
Your crabs need tannin and cellulose as well, found in cork bark (can be purchased at the pet store) and in other woods, as well as in the leaves of oak and maple trees. If you bring in leaves from outside, make sure they have never been exposed to any fertilizers (many contain insecticides) or insecticide sprays.
Your crabs will enjoy eating flower petals from the garden as well, as long as there has never been any insecticide used on them.
Seaweed is a must in their diet. Find sources and make sure they get a regular diet of it. There are online sources for organic hermit crab food.

You didn't mention if you use any water conditioners. Are you using tap water without a conditioner? If so, and you are on city water, it contains chlorine which is harmful to your crabs. It can burn their gills. A conditioner should be used that removes heavy metals, as crabs are very sensitive to copper, which is found in small amounts in almost every home's water as every house has at least some copper pipes. I use well water and still have to condition my water.
As for salt water, your crabs can survive without it, but they do need it. They also need many of the nutrients that are present in ocean salt water, which they can't get elsewhere. Stay away from "hermit crab salt water" as it does NOT contain the nutrients they need. You will notice once you get a good ocean mix and put it in the tank, your crabs will likely dip in it quite a bit until they get enough.

So your tank is 75 degrees, which is okay, but they really do need a temperature range. See if you can get it up to closer to 80 at one end while the other end remains closer to 75 or even less, which is okay. That way your crabs can move to the temperature they need and can regulate their bodies and digestion better. They are cold blooded creatures, so depend on their environment to regulate their body temperatures. In the wild they will dig down to get cooler, or bask in the sun to warm up. They need some options in our tanks so they can remain healthy.

I'm thinking maybe you mean coconut fiber when you say "soft mulchy stuff". If that's what you have, then that's great. How deep is it? Do they like to molt in it a lot? Do you keep it moist?
You said also that your substrate is 75 degrees as well as the air temp - did you take the substrate temperature with a probe thermometer? I ask because usually people will give two different numbers, and sometimes they completely over look that we asked about substrate temp.

Let us know how your little guy is doing, right now I don't know what you can do for him other than give him some peace and quiet, a nice hidey, and maybe section him off from the other crab so he won't be disturbed, with his own waters and food. Do get some ocean water though, that one you do need to rectify.

Good luck!

[babesbarn]

I learned alot on this post myself.

[ZuZu]

man, quite the essay crabbyjo has got, but very informative what do you mean by the exo is falling off ? as in flakes or as in the limbs are falling off? a very interesting mystery here... I hope it is not a new disease >[ that would give me one more thing to freak out about my crabs

[CrabbyJo]

I"m going to venture a guess that perhaps in their panic they thought the exo was flaking off but in reality it was something else. Would love to hear back to see how it all came out!