Leg lost

[emmac350]

I bought a crab 2 weeks ago who had one of his main climbing legs missing the very tip. I didn't think anything of it really as he was (in the container to come home) very active and social and he wasn't intimidated by me and wasn't aggressive either.

When I put him in my tank, he immediately hid under the driftwood I had and dug himself in. I was very patient and left him alone, but I just checked last night and found that he had dropped one of his good legs. None of my other crabs has bothered him and other than my checking last night and then this morning to remove the leg, nothing has happened to him. My temp is always within the 70-78 degrees F range and my humidity ranges from about 72 to 80. There's plenty of food and water in the cage, and I saw him move when I got rid of the leg so I know he's still alive.

My question is this - should I take him out of the tank and put him in an iso and risk having him get more stressed out by that? Or should I just leave him there since I know that he isn't being bothered?

[Carrie]

When he molts the other crabs will be after him then. They love fresh exo. I've had a few cases where I left the crab in the main tank and the others mobbed the exo by the time I woke up. The fresh exo has to be protected from the others!

If you dig him a new cave that matches the conditions that he created in the main tank and cover it w/ something flat (a water-dish) a rock, whatever--then he has a new molting nest. Trick is getting the conditions to match up. If it's done quickly I don't think it will cause too much stress...

Another solution: the bottle. Take a bottle that's the size of his molting nest in your main tank, cut the bottom off, and but the bottle into the substrate unti it reaches the bottom of the tank. Brace the sides w/ rocks or anything else heavy. It's important that the others can't get to him by knocking it over or digging under it. He's neatly sealed off from the rest of the gang this way, and can still get air thru the top of the bottle.

One thing I've noticed w/ my molters... the closer to the heat source they are... well, the survival rate goes down. I used to keep a UTH under where they liked to dig to molt but I moved it to the middle of the tank instead. Losing that leg might be a sign of stress b/c he's too hot under the sand (tho your conditions sound great for them!) I don't know what heat sources you have so it's hard to say.

Also, make sure he's in complete darkness for the molt. There's apparently a molting hormone that kicks in to trigger the molting process, which only activates in the dark. There's also a molting inhibiting hormone to stop the process until the crab can dig a "nest" under optimal conditions. If there's too much of the inhibiting hormone, eventually the crab won't be able to molt at all.

According to my current environment... every crab but one has dug under to molt. When I realized Arwen was digging her molting nest and being disturbed by the lil' guys wanting to dig in the substrate she moved... I went out and got a big slanting water-dish for reptiles that takes up 1/3 of the tank. I put water in it, on some natural sea sponges, to increase humidity. To make a long story short... everyone is under there right now.

Cristobal was the closest to molting when I left on my trip, and when I got home, he was dead. He was the crab closest to the UTH at the time. I'm thinking they actually need a little less heat when it comes time to molt, but more humidity. In nature digging under the sand/soil would mean seeking out both darkness and coolness, since normally the heat is from the sun above. They don't have UTH or anything so they wouldn't normally be digging TOWARD a heat source.

I also moved the UTH to the middle of the tank instead of having a "hot" and "cold" side.

Lost limbs, as you probably know, are due--for one thing--to stress. Too much heat or too little could be a factor. They're so sensitive to their environment that it's hard to tell.

A heat source is good for a molter b/c it increases the humidity in the tank... but I think it has to be kept about 10" from the molting nest.

Sounds like you know why they lose limbs already. Arwen had an injured leg and it fell off a few days later. They drop the injured limbs. But if a crab can't molt it seems that limbs start falling off.

What I'd do: put the crab in iso in complete darkness, redigging the cave to match the conditions he originally picked, and of the same size, covering it w/ a flat object to ensure darkness. You can also wrap a towel around where he is, too, to ensure darkness. If you do have a heat source for your iso tank, make sure it's not near where he has his new cave. Pour some water in there every so often to keep the humidity up, and make sure some soaks into the substrate where he is--but not enough to destroy the "nest."

I just switched to "plantation earth," or coconut fiber bedding. Not the piney "Jungle Earth." I made one end of the tank (under that big water dish) much deeper, mostly so that Arwen would fit under there completely. I dug her a beginning trench, and she buried herself under there in about half an hour. I had to wait on her to take them over to my parents' so Dad could watch them while I was out of town! I also dug a new cave for Cristobal (a little guy) under there.

I left the UTH under there but told Dad to have it on only at night. Cristobal was directly over it. When I came home he'd made it mostly thru his molt but was dead... and I don't think Dad kept that UTH regulated for most of my trip.

After watching the conditions for a few days I moved the UTH, as I said, and now the earth, which retains humidity wonderfully, is just a little wamer than room temp to the touch. Slightly warm.

And EVERYONE has dug under that huge water dish to molt. I had no idea everyone needed to molt, but apparently they've found ideal conditions so they've all made "nests"

I heard Arwen hit tank-bottom a few days ago, after I'd put the UTH further away.

I asked Carol of Crabworks (33 yrs w/ her crabs Jon and Kate) to describe her molting setup and she described it, so I've tried to make my conditions match hers, coconut fiber bedding and all. Thanks to that I don't have to pour water in there every single day, b/c that substrate stays a little damp all the time. I don't think it will clump and become moldy; it retains a loose consistency that's easy to dig in yet possible to shape into a "nest" when needed.

I can't actually put everyone in iso b/c everyone is molting! I don't know how long it's going to take.

Hanna is the only crab on the surface and she's restlessly roaming the tank most of the time, like she knows something's going on.

I hope some of this helps you! Sounds like you've made a wonderful crabitat based on yr descriptions of "home."

[emmac350]

Okay, so I have a new twist to this whole situation.

All 3 of my crabs are currently dug under. Benny, my smallest crab who just switched shells this past week, has dug himself under right by where the leg-loser (Z) is hiding under my driftwood. I was cleaning out the crabitat this morning, and I shifted the driftwood in order to get some of their little poops out from between it and the glass wall. They aren't in the same cave - Benny's back from Z's position. I know Z is alive as it doesn't stink like dead fish and he dug around a bit (at least, I think it was him - someone had to dig under and tunnel if it wasn't him...that whole "substrate's been loosened and is in a mound that looks like someone was moving it from just under the surface" tunnel look) two or three days ago. Benny's a good deal smaller than Z is and I think he's either already molted recently or is going to soon. He's shy and enjoys playing "find the crab" with me...and by "find the crab" I mean he hides from me and makes me freak out and think he's escaped.

Should I move Z in case Benny stresses him out and makes him drop more limbs or Benny cannibalizes him since he's already down one whole leg and another leg tip?

[Carrie]

I frequently just isolate the crab who seems to be the trouble-maker. Usually Arwen. That way I don't have to worry about moving a pre-molter. Hanna has been distracted by me a lot lately b/c she's still so hyper and all the others are digging. I'm in a similar situation here b/c so many are dug under that there's not a way to really create an iso tank. And as in the case of Josephine, who's already dug her nest... well, I'd rather move Hanna than move her. I honestly can't tell who to isolate at this point b/c they're all appearing and disappearing daily. Only Jo has the honest "nest" going on.

Since you know that Benny's OK... and Z isn't... Arwen kept making nests and abandoning them b/c of that "substrate syndrome." Everyone finds loose earth and immediately digs on under. She's so big that the little guys always broke thru into her nest and she'd give up and try to dig a new one.

Benny would prob go for Z later on if he's that close already.

Wait... reading again; says you don't know if Benny is molting or has already. You really ARE in my dilemma. I can't move anybody much b/c I can't tell who's going to molt seriously or just dig.

Benny is not as bad off as Z, tho, b/c Z is already losing limbs.

Is there room to isolate anybody using part of a pop bottle, even a 20 oz one? I would put that over Z and anchor it so that Benny can't get under it when he's digging. That way you don't have to move anybody at all. It's always best not to move a molter... if you can fit something in between them that neither can dig around, under, etc. The glass from a picture frame, even?

[emmac350]

The only problem with that (the pop bottle thing) is it would involve removing the driftwood that both have as the "roof" to their caves. I'm getting my iso ready (had to buy new sand, so I'm baking it at the moment) but I'm not sure who I'll put in. Rack (crab #3) is leaving Z alone - he is digging in another area of the tank, but comes up at night and then hides when I come home. Such antisocial crabs...anyways, that's my current dilemma. I may move Z, as Benny would probably get uber lonely on his own. He's usually all up close and personal with Rack, as they dig caves together in the cocohut and hide from my prying eyes.

I looked in the tank tonight without moving the driftwood, and I could see that both Z and Benny were separate (I could see Z's legs and antennae moving on his side of the driftwood, and I could see Benny on his side of the little sand wall between them) and alive, so I'm still unsure as to my next course of action.

I do have plenty of molting supplies, so I can give both the iso and 'tat the right food (CalciSand, dried baby shrimp, an egg white I microwave-cooked that they seem to like, etc.). I got another piece of driftwood so whoever gets moved will get the same exact cave as they have right now.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[emmac350]

Update: Z came out last night. His lost leg is on the same side as his already-broken one, unfortunately, but he managed to make it through the cage (over several broken conch shells for decoration, over the driftwood, and through the plastic plant) to the water bowls and back for sure (might've gone for food, but I can't quite tell). He went back to his little hiding hole under the driftwood by morning.

I think I'm going to move Benny to my iso to see if he does molt, because he didn't come up last night and he's smaller than Z is, so Z could definitely steal his exo if he wanted to.