Confused about lost claw advice

mmkkgg · Post by **mmkkgg** » 28 Sep 2005, 03:25

Help. I am so worried. We have had two Hermies about a month. They have been active and alot of fun. Two days ago, Herb , the smaller one lost his big purple claw. I don't know what stressed him. We live in a very dry climate and it is difficult to keep the humidity up but we have managed to keep it at least 70%.

Any way I am not sure what is the best thing to do. Every thing says feed him protein and calcium and leave him alone. Well he won't eat on his own. And he won' t dig. He seems to enjoy being hand fed and dropper fed water. But are we messing with him too much? Since he won't dig should we just cover him with moist moss. Should we stop feeding him?

Is it a good sign that he is still alive after two days?
He has been such a friendly little guy. I want him back all snoopy like he was!

Thank you.

Post by **Wai** » 28 Sep 2005, 13:11

Is Herb in a separate tank? If not, I'd strongly suggest that you separate him from the other hermie and put him in a warm, dark place with humidity of at least 70%. Make sure that there is a water dish beside him and some food. You can continue hand feeding him every now and then, but try not to handle him too much. He might be going for a moult and if he does, leave him alone. Good luck!

Julia_Crab · Post by **Julia_Crab** » 29 Sep 2005, 05:16

Get a TropicAire humidifier:

http://www.petdiscounters.com/customer/ ... t=0&page=1

Is your tank covered with a glass lid? If so, this device will most likely solve your humidity problems. You'll need an air pump to go with it, but don't get what they recommend on the box, get the strongest one you can afford. The box recommendations don't pump the humidity high enough.

mmkkgg · Post by **mmkkgg** » 29 Sep 2005, 13:16

Yes he has been in isolation. Unfortunately I think he has died. I am not certain, he won't move at all but he isn't flopping out of his shell like other dead ones I have seen. When will we know? When he smells? Is it still in the realm of possibility that he is molting?

I am miffed at petco because they know so little about the pets they sell. We have found this with a lot of types of pets.( Betta fish, guinea pigs) They probably shouldn't be selling these little hermies in a high mountain desert. ( cold and dry) We try to find out everything we can so we can be good pet parents but some of it we find out the hard way.

I am surprised at the intensity of my feeelings over losing little Herb. He had really captured our hearts in the short time we had him.

Now we have to concentrate on keeping his big brother Sid healthy and happy. We are very careful about temperature and humidity and now we know about salt water too. How often should we play with him? Is taking him out to romp once a day too stressful? Did we maul our poor Herb to death? He seemed to enjoy it.

Thank you.

Julia_Crab · Post by **Julia_Crab** » 29 Sep 2005, 23:53

Your crab isn't dead until he stinks in most cases. Give him some more time. They can look really dead when they're getting ready to shed their exoskeleton.