When I am selecting a crab I will ask permission
to pick up and handle the hermit crabs. Slowly and gently pick
up any available crabs from the tank and fluidly lower them onto
your palm, stretched flat. It is important that you keep your
hand flat as most hermit crabs see you as a giant and are afraid
you will drop them! Considering the ease with which they fall
I think that they are justified in this fear. You need to be ready
at all times to catch them in case they tumble off your hand.
Watch each crab as it meanders across your palm.
Sometimes it takes a while for a crab to loose its initial fear
of you and peek out from the safety of its shell. Try to keep
your hand still and talk soothingly to your crab, always remembering
to place your empty hand alongside the other at the edge the crab
is crawling towards.
Examine each crab closely for factors of ill health,
such as:
- Does the tank have a strong, fishy smell...(something
like two day old fish sitting in the sun)
- Are there any flies, pests or mites
on the hermit crab or inside the enclosure?
- Are there fungus or mould spots
on the hermit crab?
- Has the crab lost more than one limb?
- Is the crab overly inactive?
- Does the crab seem aggressive?
- Is the shell too large or too small for the crab?
- If this is not your first crab will it be a good match for
your other wards?
- Do you have suitable-sized shells for your new ward
- Does it have both chelipeds(grasping claws)?
- Do you want a small crab, suitable for handling by smaller
children, or do you want a larger crab?
Crabs are Dead or Moulting
A strong fishy smell could mean that the hermit
crab has passed on or is in the middle of a moult. It is best
to avoid crabs which are moulting when purchasing a new pet as
such crabs as it usually ends in heartache because of the stress
on an already weakened crab. If possible, ask the pet store to
make an isolation unit within the tank, perhaps a 1/2Gallon/2Litre
Small Pals Living World Deluxe tank filled with sand/coral sand/fine
river pebbles or T-Rex CalciSand® that is slightly moistened
and with the lid closed so that the other hermit crabs cannot
bother the moulter. For more information, visit my moulting
page
Flies, Pests and Larvae
Sometimes you may find bad conditions in Pet Stores,
mainly incorrect bedding such as woodshavings, coconut bark, kitty
litter, aquarium gravel, cedar shavings and the like. Hermit Crabs
can only survive if there is adequate humidity and sanitary conditions.
Some pests are attracted to the bedding and because it is difficult
to see the pests clearly, this type of substrate can be a haven
for them. Hermit Crabs are stressed easily, and the presence of
mites and other paraistes such as fly larvae and even mould/bacteria
can be enough to severely stress the hermit crab to fatality.
Some species of flies will lay their larvae on weak hermit crabs,
with the larvae eating through the flesh and slowly feasting on
your helpless hermit crab. Moulting hermit crabs seem to be targeted,
perhaps because of the almost sweet smell that some newly moulted
hermit crabs can have. Some people describe it as a silicone glue
smell, others as a sweeter smell. This is the hardening of the
new tissues with the help of chitin and other chemicals, and in
their vulnurable, inactive state they can do little to ward off
the parasitic attackers. It is important to use some type of fly
screen gauze over the ventilated parts of your tank if flies become
a problem.
Mould/Mold, Fungus
and Bacteria
As with improper bedding/substrate, mould and bacteria
can build up in crabariums that are over humid without sufficient
airflow, or crabitats that are not cleaned at least monthly. If
you see mould or fungus spots on the hermit crabs, it is important
NOT to take them home and introduce them to your colony UNLESS
you spend time treating the infected hermit crabs. Mould and Fungus
can spread in the right conditions, and lead to contamination
between your helpless pets.
To treat mould and fungus spots or infection, gently
bathe the hermit crab in approximately one half (1/2) of a teaspoon
of aquarium salt(Instant Ocean or Doc Fishwell are the best or
Pure Sea Salt - never table salt) to a quart/Litre of dechlorinated
water. To this saline solution, it may be recommended to a drop
of StressCoat by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (or other brand if available).
It has been proven that a dip in a salt water or saline solution
can deter the growth of mould or fungus on several types of fish
[reference]
and the presence of the aloe vera in the Stress Coat will help
to act as 'nature's bandage' in this case, and help to reverse
any damage done by the salt water at this strength. Normal solution
is half as strong, only 1/4 of a teaspoon of Instant Ocean/Doc
Fishwell type Aquarium Salt per quart/Litre. This may not cure
the problem but it will treat it if performed on an ongoing basis.
It is another reason to keep a salt pond with the above saline
solution within the tank, since it can help prevent such maladies.
Inactivity or stiffness
It is important to make sure
that the hermit crab you buy is active and healthy, otherwise
an inexperienced person may buy a dead hermit crab, which has
happened on occasion. Pet Stores may suggest that the hermit crab
is inactive or sleeping due to land hermit crabs being nocturnal
creatures, but most hermit crabs will stir unless they are in
a comatose state or in one of the stages of moulting. Remember
to wait at least a minute to determine this and then watch the
crab after you lower it back to the tank. If the hermit crab is
stiff or does not react to being brushed inside the cheliped (grasping
claw) with a piece of paper or hair, AND/OR being placed on a
flat surface with any people present standing away so that there
is no movement or shadows, AND/OR there is no antennae (feeler)
movement at all, I would leave the hermit crab for a while and
look at the other hermit crabs. Activity and friendliness are
usually signs of health and vigour.
Aggressive Behaviour
If you are new to land
hermit crabs as pets, or do not have the set-up to create an isolation
section to your crabitat, it is probbaly best to ry to avoid crabs
that bully or attack the other crabs. Aggression is rare but it
can bring turmoil to a happy crabarium. I have had the very disturbing
misfortune to come home from a day of teaching to find a hermit
crab torn apart by a new tank mate either for the shell or during
displays of aggression to assert pecking order/territoriality.
It takes forever for them to settle down and 'play nice' and may
only end if the aggressor is attacked while in a vulnerable condition
(eg. during a moult). If you do adopt an aggressive hermit, make
sure you separate it from the rest of its tank mates for a time
and give it access to as many shells as possible before adding
to the crabitat. If you cannot separate them, make sure to create
a hiding space or dividing wall and keep a close eye on them.
A lot of the time hermit crabs that are aggressive were the victim
of aggressive attacks themselves, and they may be very anxious,
scared hermit crabs. Once they feel secure within their new environment,
you will usually find that the hermit crab will change shells
or spend a lot of time hiding out in the hide spots, especially
the VERY wonderful Hagen
Ornamentalls Rock Cave that hermit crabs flock to.
Shell Fit and Selection
It is important that you have a choice of shells
for your new wards around the same size as they are already in.
Some crabs spend months in the same shell and refuse to budge,
despite the fact they sorely need to. Try and buy some shells
to go with the hermit crab at the same time, or as soon as possible,
especially if there is a lack of suitable shells in the pet store's
tank. If you don't have a good range of shells, try and choose
a shell that is in a well fitting shell. Look for signs such as:
can the hermit crab retract deep within the shell when needed;
does the cheliped and walking leg block the entrance if another
hermit crab tried to pull him/her from the shell; is the shell
chipped or cracked in a place that could cause a leak of shell
water and dehydrate the crab; does the hermit crab have trouble
carrying the shell on its back, or hanging loosely within. If
you can provide a home with shells for these misfortunate hermit
crabs, I am sure they will be very thankful to you for your generosity,
but if you cannot, it can mean that the hermit crab will stay
in such inappropriate shells until you can, which is not fair
on them and may cause fatality in the long or short term.
Amputees and Multiple Limb Loss
Autotomy is the name of the process whereby hermit
crabs will 'drop' a claw or limb when overly stressed or to avoid
being drawn out of their seashell. You will know about autotomy
if you have every cooked an edible crab such as Blue Crab or Mud/Sand
Crab and it hadn't been euthanased first. If you place a live
crab such as Blue Crab or Spanner Crab into a pot of boiling water,
it will often 'drop' a claw, meaning that the claw is no longer
connected and will detatch from its body. Crabs have evolved over
millions of years to develop this ability of autotomy in order
to escape from clashes with other crabs and when stuck in reefs/nets
and the like. They are able to regenerate lost limbs during the
moulting cycle, often taking many moults before the limb is back
to its original size and shape. If your hermit crab is healthy
and provided with a sufficient diet and environment, you may notice
a blob of gel start to form on the amputation site. These are
often called Gel Nubs, Buds or Limbs. At the beginning they are
very clear and small, often 1/10th the size of the limb they will
some day replace. After a few weeks or months you will notice
the gel limb slowly grow, and then after some time, darken.
Usually the darkening of a gel limb heralds the
next stage of regeneration, which is usually in conjunction with
a moult spurred by the need to regenerate the limb. A hermit crab
that has lost a limb, particularly a cheliped, may moult several
times within a year, as frequent as every month or so. It is important
that they always have access to ideal moulting environments when
needed, so an in-tank isolation unit such as the one pictured
may be one solution. Many just keep the hermit crab in a self-contained
isolation unit, often a 10 Gallon/40 Litre fish tank with lid
and under tank heater, water bowl and food bowl, handy for such
occasions. If you have multiple crabs with the same problem, you
may not be as fortunate as I have been, having multiple moulters
within the same isolation units. You may need to divide up the
iso tank using plexiglass or re-inforced walls/dividers.
If your hermit crab survives the moult, you will
notice that the recovered hermit crab will have a small limb that
looks very much the same as the other limbs, perhaps a lighter
colour and thinner than the others. Since your crab has moulted
all over, and not just the gel limb, you may not even notice any
difference to the limb post-moult. After the crab has recovered
from the moult, the exoskeleton will develop and harden and your
crab will soon be back to the able bodied status it once was.
Sometimes the stress of regeneration may be too much for a hermit
crab, especially if the standards of care prior to adoptions were
low. It is important to add calcium and nutrients to the diet,
in the form of either: RepCal calcium powder supplement; Cuttlebone
grating; Crushed Oyster Shell; boiled and crumbled egg shells.
Sometimes limb loss can be a sign of severe stress,
ill health or the presence of pests or bacteria. If the majority
of hermit crabs in the hermit crab enclosure show these signs,
I would avoid buying them unless you are experiened enough to
nurse them back to health. It can be very heartbreaking to rescue
hermit crabs from such conditions, only to have them die because
the odds were stacked against them. ALWAYS quarantine new hermit
crabs before introducing them to your crabitat and ask for help
if you need it by sending an email to hermieshelper@crabstreetjournal.com
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