Sick, moulting or stressed???

[StarJohn]

Hi
My 4yr old son could not pass the local petstore without dragging me in to see "the hermies" , so for Christmas last month Santa brought him 2. I had assumed the guy at the store knew what he was talking about and $170 later I had a plastic 'Krabooz' enclosure with all the accessories - food, salt, bowls, climbing stuff etc etc. within 48 hrs I realised none of this stuff was suitable for giving our hermies a healthy and safe home! I spent the next week researching on good and informed hermit crab sites and sourced all the items I needed to set up a decent crabitat. Finally last week I was able to set it up and move our hermies in. 'John' buried himself immediately and has been about 3-4 inches down for a week now. He seemed healthy, happy and active prior to this so I am not really worried. 'Star' on the other hand was very inactive from the beginning. Upon going into the new crabitat she withdrew into her shell on the surface and hadn't moved in 2 days. I picked her up for a peak and found 2 legs in the sand ( they were empty inside) and she seemed smaller and was retracted so far back in her shell I could hardly see her, she also looked pale in colour and had some stringy stuff hanging out if her shell. I thought she was dying and replaced her where I found her and put a cocohut over her. I left her alone for several more days and today (a week later) I peeked in the hut and she was in there walking around and looking at me. I picked her up she came out to say hello. She has lost a back leg off each side but doesn't seem to be affecting her movement. She also appears paler in colour than before and smoother / glossier looking. I have replaced the hut over her and she is staying in there. Is it possible she could have moulted that quickly? Could she be sick? Is there anything more I should be doing for her? I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer! Here is my questionnaire:


What is the volume of your main tank?
22 gallon - 83 litre

How many hermit crabs do you currently have? How big are they?
2 (medium size?? Walnut size)

How long have you had the hermit crab(s) that you are concerned about?
3 1/2 wks

What substrate or combination of substrates are you using? How deep is it?
A mix of 50% cleaned play sand - no metal filings showing when I test with a magnet and 50% coco fibre. 6 inches in depth

What do you feed your hermit crabs?
Food purchased from Nautilusly (as advised on this website) as well as wide assortment of fresh foods, tropical fruits, seeds, meat, coconut,rice bubbles, boiled egg shell, honey, dried shrimp, dried seaweed

Do you use distilled, bottled, tap or other types of water?
Bottled

If you are using a dechlorinator, what brand is it? Does it state to remove all heavy metals, chlorine and chloramines?
N/A

What brand of sea salt are you using to supply your hermit crabs with salt water?
Not sure of the brand- I purchase it from Nautilusly as per the crab food. I had assumed as they were recommended on this site that it would be a good salt. It comes in little unmarked bags

What heat source are you using and where is it positioned?
I have a UTH which I plan to mount to one side of the tank but I have not needed to use it yet as it is summer and the tank temp is staying between 78 - 82 degrees Fahrenheit (25-27 Celsius)

Have you calibrated your thermometer(s) and hygrometer so that you can interpret accurate readings?
Yes

What is the air temperature range and humidity inside the tank?
78 - 82 degrees Fahrenheit (25-27 Celsius) and 80-90% humidity

What is the highest temperature that the substrate near the heat source reaches?[
N/A

Do you have any photos of your tank or hermit crab(s) of concern? If yes, please attach them to your post.
Yes but I can't work out how to attach them here

[Ginger]

Hi StarJohn,

From the description of your findings, I would say that Star has moulted. The empty legs may have been part of her exoskeleton, her new exo would have not hardened yet, thus her smaller size, and a change in colour and/or texture is often seen after moults.

I don't think she could have moulted in 1 week due to her size, she may have been slowly surface moulting in the pet store and your good conditions may have triggered the rest... It's hard to say.

If I were you, I would just continue what you are doing - checking on her about once per week, make sure the tank is in a quiet area, AND if John comes up, I would keep a very close eye on them to make sure there will be no cannibalism. You may think that she is not moving from the hidey, but it is amazing what they do during the day! I took a high motion speed video over one day of the tank, and they explored everywhere, but at the end of the day they returned to their starting position - you would think they had never moved... So who knows!

[appps]

When they are kept in bad conditions and stressed they will drop limbs. We bought our crabs then went back a few days later for something and the remaining crabs had all dropped legs off.

Sounds to me like she was very stressed at the pet shop and then in that first week till you got the tank set up and so dropped legs.

They will regrow after the next moult. I would not touch or pick her up at all to give her the least amount of stress while she recovers.

[StarJohn]

Thank you all for the advice! I didn't know a single person who knew anything at all about hermit crabs - so this forum is a great comfort! I will leave Star be for a while and hopefully she will be ok

[emmac350]

To help her along with regrowing her legs, make sure she has a source of protein (meat) and calcium (eggshells, that calci-sand the pet store probably sold you, crushed oyster shells, etc.) in the tank daily.

Her pale color can be improved by feeding her lots of bright or dark foods (dark green leafy veggies, bright peppers, pink seafood, safe leaves or tree bark, worm castings, etc.). The coloring compounds in those will help her to be darker on her next molt.

[appps]

To add to Emma's calcium food list mine love eating one of those cuttlefish you can buy for pet birds.

[StarJohn]

Thanks Emmac350 & appps! I will ensure she has those foods. She is still in the hut but is moving around a lot in there. The food bowls are on the other side of the tank. Do you think I should bring them close to her hut entrance?