A hermit crab crisis!
June 9, 2005 
As some of you may know, I have had as pets a good-sized colony of land hermit crabs that I find fascinating to watch and care for.
When I went to put some fresh drinking water into the tank last night, I noticed a long, red thing at the bottom of water bowl. It was a hermit crab leg from my jumbo (read: size of a softball) Strawberry hermit crab Paul!
Now, losing a leg isn’t a good sign for anyone really, but hermit crabs can regenerate limbs (and eyes and antennae) when they molt. So, while I was surprised, I wasn’t too worried. Sometimes hermit crabs can lose a limb if they get into a fight or experience some kind of stress. I removed the leg from the tank.
Tonight, though, the situation went from bad to worse.
I looked into the tank and found a giant red claw sitting on the sand. Paul was a few inches from it, looking quite upset (as one would be after losing an appendage). I jumped into crisis mode and immediately removed Paul from the tank and bathed him in dechlorinated water and a few drops of Stress CoatTM. Besides seeming a bit shaken up, he was able to walk sans a leg and large claw.
From what I can figure, he either got into a fight with the other large strawberry hermit crab that is fairly new to the tank, or he is suffering some sort of stress because of him.
I set up what crabbers know as an isolation tank — a high-humidity 10 gallon tank with deep sand away from the main crabitat — and placed Paul inside. Now, I’ll just have to wait and see if he’ll be okay.
Obviously, losing two limbs (out of 6) is stressful for him. But, honestly, it is pretty stressful for me, as well. This is the largest hermit crab I’ve ever owned and these are two really large appendages that fell off.
I’ll provide some updates (photographic and otherwise) as things progress. Hopefully, the isolation tank will allow Paul to rest and regain his strength in order to regenerate his claw and leg when he molts. Until then, keep your fingers crossed for Paul…
UPDATE (6/11): This is very upsetting — I returned home to find Paul dead. Goodbye, giant crab.
June 10th, 2005 at 3:11 PM
Stress is often the cause for dropping limbs.
How long have you had Paul and what’s the temp and humidity in your tank? I maintain my straw tank in the 78-81 range for both temp and humidity. When did you get the new straw? I haven’t had any agression between my straws, from the picture it looks like the limb was dropped.
I wouldn’t recommend bathing Paul or your other straws anymore. From my own observations and what I have read, Straws don’t like bath time. They maintain a very delicate salt water balance in their shells and when you bathe them in stresscoat and dechlor it throws the balance off.
You want to be sure that you have a salt water pool in ISO and your regular tank that’s deep enough for the straws to fully submerge. The salt water needs to be for salt water aquariums, Oceanic and Instant Ocean are both good brands.
Make sure to provide Paul with plenty of fresh foods (protien and calcium) Epicurean Hermit is a great source of info on diet.
Straws are so delicate. From talking to other straw owners we have observed that if a straw is going to pass it’s usually before its third month of captivity. Second molts in captivity also seem to be difficult for straws.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
June 10th, 2005 at 7:24 PM
Around finals last April I lost an arm.
No, really.
June 11th, 2005 at 12:55 AM
Robin, thanks for the indepth answer. I’ve always kept my tank at 80/80 for temperature and humidity.
I really don’t think it was aggression from the new one, either. I have only once seen two crabs fight and that one was just a shell fight, which doesn’t count.
I didn’t know about not bathing Straws. I always have salt water available and even did that bubbler pool idea for the crabs. They seem to like it.
Unfortunately, I just checked and Paul has passed away. I assume this was all stress related, but I don’t know what the stress was coming from. Its too bad, I was really excited about having such a large hermit crab as a pet, too.
June 11th, 2005 at 9:19 PM
I used to have hermit crabs when I was younger and once when I was holding one of them and cleaning its cage, his claw came off and I was horrified. I thought I ripped it off somehow by mistake. It wasn’t until later that I learnt that they can grow back.
But now with Robin’s comments, it seems it was probably something I did after all.
June 11th, 2005 at 9:20 PM
aww I just read your comment that Paul passed away, sorry!
June 13th, 2005 at 1:19 AM
Oh, what a bummer. I popped over to see how he was doing. So sorry to hear about Paul.
Try again.
I don’t think it was anything that you did.
I bathed mine the first month, but they hated it. So I stopped. They love the bubblers don’t they.
February 10th, 2007 at 8:16 AM
i purchase a straw a month ago.after i got home i realized he had two legs missing,so far he seems to be doing o.k. he is real active so i hope he will be alright.
August 24th, 2007 at 2:47 PM
Hello,
I have a 30 crabitat with an assortment of hermit crabs. The largest crab that I have is a strawberry the size of a baseball. He is very active and dosile. I have had him for about 8 months now. I have 19 total crabs. 4 of them are strawberries. I have a smaller strawberry crab that went through a tough moult recently. some of his legs came out crooked and he recently lost his small pincher. I believe I am the cause of this malformation. He looked odd one day, and when I picked him up,I thought he was dead. When I lightly grabbed his body to see if he had let go of his shell, his old skin pulled away from his freshly molting body. I feel that if he had shed it on his own, that he would not have had the misshapen legs and the weak pincher. He is still doing fine tough. He gets around the tank with no problems and eats like he should. I am hoping that his next moult will fix his current condition. I guess we will see. Any way, sorry for your loss. By the way, where did you get your jumbo strawberry from?
Take care,
David
February 20th, 2008 at 3:10 PM
I have a tiny crab. I’ve had her since before christmas. She was always very active. She seemed to have difficulty walking around yesterday so I examined her closly and found that she was missing two legs. These missing legs are on the same side of her body and so she has difficulty supporting herself. I’m afraid that she will not be able to eat or drink. Can you give me some advice as to what I can do? Thank You