lost leg not sure if he can eat
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- Zygote
- Posts: 57
- Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 10:39
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 7
- Total gallons: 55
- Total tanks: 1
lost leg not sure if he can eat
I have a hermit crab who didn't have a leg when I got it. The leg that was missing was the one next to his little claw. His shell is small for him. He walks weird and he isn't moving around very much.He moves in his coconut hut but I put in food and water but he just stays in the coconut hut. (I put food in the coconut hut for him and I gave him a piece of popcorn but he didn't eat it) I trying hand feeding him but I think I just kinda scared him. How will he get water and food? Any suggestion for something to do because I just got him a few days ago.
- ladybug15057
- Coenobita
- Posts: 3098
- Joined: 03 Mar 2008, 04:12
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 82
- Total gallons: 305
- Total tanks: 7
- Location: Southwestern Pa., U.S.
Re: lost leg not sure if he can eat
Chances are what you are seeing are signs of Post Purchase Stress. They have been through so much since they were taken from their home. There is an article that will help your hermie to adjust during this critical time period.
http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... toryid=165
Very important to try to follow the article above to relieve the stress he is experiencing.
A leg does not effect the way the hermie can feed himself as they use the large pincher to break hunks of food off, to use their smaller pincher to break smaller pieces to pass onto their mouth parts for eating.
At this time he should be offered high quality nutritional food to help him adjust with a properly mixed ocean water source too with his fresh water pond.
http://crabstreetjournal.com/xoops/modu ... toryid=165
Very important to try to follow the article above to relieve the stress he is experiencing.
A leg does not effect the way the hermie can feed himself as they use the large pincher to break hunks of food off, to use their smaller pincher to break smaller pieces to pass onto their mouth parts for eating.
At this time he should be offered high quality nutritional food to help him adjust with a properly mixed ocean water source too with his fresh water pond.
Marie (aka ladybug15057)
If you are contacted privately (via pm or e-mail) and enticed to join another forum, please contact a Crab Crew member. This is an unethical practice.
If you are contacted privately (via pm or e-mail) and enticed to join another forum, please contact a Crab Crew member. This is an unethical practice.
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- Zygote
- Posts: 57
- Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 10:39
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 7
- Total gallons: 55
- Total tanks: 1
Re: lost leg not sure if he can eat
Thank you for your help. I actually bought two at the time. We got them when we going to my grand parent's house. We had to stay because of a bad storm. I kept the crabs in a wire cage because i was not expecting to stay. They had moss, a cocohut, food, and water. We do not have a ISO tank so i put them in the tank while they were in another cage and after a while I let them out I put rusty(the crab missing the leg) in the coconut hut so no one would bother him. he is pretty small so a put in shell a water dish and food dish in there. The other new crab names nibs is doing just fine. he was climbing around at night with my other crabs. Then when I was checking on my crabs I found nibs with one of my other crabs who has the same shell. (The other guy is bigger then him) Nibs is coping well. Today we are moving to a 55 gallon tank instead of my old 40 gallon tank. the tank will be longer and when he gets ready to molt he can chose from EE, sand EE mixed together, and sand.(i'm gonna place a cup around him so the other crabs around him don't get him . Yesterday he had some seaweed and today Im gonna give him some mineral supplement and crushed oyster shell supplement tonight and I did not know what the humidity and temp was.
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- Zygote
- Posts: 57
- Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 10:39
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 7
- Total gallons: 55
- Total tanks: 1
Re: lost leg not sure if he can eat
I forgot to say because Rusty isn't changing shells yet. I am going to spray salt water in some shells and that will make him think other shells were previously worn letting them know it is a good shell. I going to do this to get my painted shell hermit crab out and into another good shell.
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- Coenobita
- Posts: 1849
- Joined: 21 Jan 2009, 13:31
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 7
- Total gallons: 85
- Total tanks: 4
- Location: Alaska
Re: lost leg not sure if he can eat
Welcome to HCP, Cometstream.
And welcome to the world of Hermit Crab Addiction.
I hope Rusty is doing well, he probably just needs to be left alone for a while, and he'll "come out of his shell" so to speak. You can't be sure how he lost the leg, but if he was stressed enough to drop it, hopefully he will recover and become a healthy, active crab.
Are you feeding some freshly cooked meats and fresh fruits and vegetables? It sounds like you have some basics in the supplements (don't use if they have ethoxyquin or copper sulfate as ingredients, those are slow toxins for your crabs) but it's important to give them a really varied diet with plenty of fresh protein, chitin, and the oils and juices are important too, if you haven't considered that. I like to steam a whole shrimp, shell and all, then chop it up and freeze the bits, so there is always some to add to the tank once or twice a week. Any meat I'm cooking for dinner I'll snip a little piece or two off before I season any of it, microwave for 10 or 15 seconds, and it's cooked enough to serve to the crabs. That way they are getting those fresh oils and fresh protein. Much better than dried!
To help Rusty and Nibs find the shells even more attractive, give them a boil for a few minutes first, that removes old "smells" from them and they think they are "new" shells. It's good to do that every couple of weeks - and the crabs always have something to do, thinking they have to explore all the "new" shells!
Got pics? we love pictures! whenever you're ready to share, I know decorating a 55 gallon can be so much fun, and work! whew! lol.
And welcome to the world of Hermit Crab Addiction.
I hope Rusty is doing well, he probably just needs to be left alone for a while, and he'll "come out of his shell" so to speak. You can't be sure how he lost the leg, but if he was stressed enough to drop it, hopefully he will recover and become a healthy, active crab.
Are you feeding some freshly cooked meats and fresh fruits and vegetables? It sounds like you have some basics in the supplements (don't use if they have ethoxyquin or copper sulfate as ingredients, those are slow toxins for your crabs) but it's important to give them a really varied diet with plenty of fresh protein, chitin, and the oils and juices are important too, if you haven't considered that. I like to steam a whole shrimp, shell and all, then chop it up and freeze the bits, so there is always some to add to the tank once or twice a week. Any meat I'm cooking for dinner I'll snip a little piece or two off before I season any of it, microwave for 10 or 15 seconds, and it's cooked enough to serve to the crabs. That way they are getting those fresh oils and fresh protein. Much better than dried!
To help Rusty and Nibs find the shells even more attractive, give them a boil for a few minutes first, that removes old "smells" from them and they think they are "new" shells. It's good to do that every couple of weeks - and the crabs always have something to do, thinking they have to explore all the "new" shells!
Got pics? we love pictures! whenever you're ready to share, I know decorating a 55 gallon can be so much fun, and work! whew! lol.
6 hermit crabs - 3 PPs and 3 Equadorians
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please feel free to share information from this website, but please be sure to give credit and a link back to the information. Failure to give credit is plagiarism. Don't take credit for someone else's information.
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- Zygote
- Posts: 57
- Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 10:39
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 7
- Total gallons: 55
- Total tanks: 1
Re: lost leg not sure if he can eat
I will ask my parents about the food. I have a youtube account and will be sure to give you guys the link to my videos of my crabs which have yet to be made. One thing that I can't include in my crabitat is a hemp moss pit net thing. My mom injured her thumb so she can't make it. She did make me a hemp net ladder.
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- Zygote
- Posts: 57
- Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 10:39
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 7
- Total gallons: 55
- Total tanks: 1
Re: lost leg not sure if he can eat
The new tank will actually be finished tomorrow
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- Zygote
- Posts: 57
- Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 10:39
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 7
- Total gallons: 55
- Total tanks: 1
Re: lost leg not sure if he can eat
I was able to finish it tonight Crackers was the first to get to the top of the hemp net he is on there while I am typing it Balto was the first on top of the log like thing that gets pretty high. When he was coming down he came down on the high side and my mom thought he would fall it has slot of edges so he can climb down and I have these perch like things that crabs climbed up. Wolf was climbing around and he just grabbed the suction cup
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- Zygote
- Posts: 57
- Joined: 15 Aug 2010, 10:39
- Gender: Female
- Hermit crabs: 7
- Total gallons: 55
- Total tanks: 1
Re: lost leg not sure if he can eat
The stress was too much for rusty. I renamed him wags because he waged this little leg of his.
He is now in that big shell in the sky nibs is okay. I miss him.
He is now in that big shell in the sky nibs is okay. I miss him.
- Wai
- Administrator
- Posts: 2893
- Joined: 01 Nov 2004, 14:12
- Gender: Male
- Hermit crabs: 2
- Total gallons: 45
- Total tanks: 1
- Location: Victoria, Australia
- Contact: