How to Recognize When a Pet Hermit Crab is Sick
Hermit crabs are pretty resilient animals, but they may become sick at some point. You should observe your pet hermit crabs on a daily basis to recognize the first signs of sickness.
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Instructions
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Spend a few minutes each day checking on your hermit crabs. Make a note of which crabs are digging, burying themselves or climbing. Also, look for any crabs losing legs, running around without a shell or not retreating into their shells. Those are the main signs a hermit crab is sick.
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Observe any crabs that are losing legs. When adjusting to a new environment, it is normal for a crab to loss a leg or two. If at any time, one of your pet crabs begins losing legs quickly, he is probably sick.
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Check for mites, which appear as white or brown flecks on the crab. You can usually see them crawling on the crab. While not necessarily a sickness, mites are not good for your pet.
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Isolate any hermit crab that will not curl up in its shell. This crab is probably sick, and you don't want your other pets to get sick.
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Recognize that when hermit crabs become inactive, their habitat may not be suitable, which can cause them to become sick. Even in proper environments, your crab may become sick and inactive.
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Inspect your hermit crabs for mold or fungus. If you find any on your crab, you should isolate the crab and bathe it. You should also provide a new shell in case your pet wants to switch to a cleaner shell.
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Tips & Warnings
Most "sick" hermit crabs can be helped by simply adjusting the temperature and humidity in the tank.
Provide an isolation tank with plenty of substrate for the hermit crab to bury himself completely and ample food and water. You pet may be getting ready to molt and need the same care as a sick hermit crab.
A strong, fishy odor means that your hermit crab has died. While a molting crab may be still and have a slight odor, a strong smells indicates that the crab has passed away.
There is much debate on whether to bathe hermit crabs by submerging them in water for just under three minutes or not. If your crab is consistently sick or losing legs, the baths may be stressing him out. Switch to a more natural bath system in the tank.
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Comments
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yonna
Oct 26, 2009
My children brought home 8 hermit crabs from their trip to Gulf Shores ALabama with their dad, and I am trying to figure how to take care of the poor little things, as we live 4 hrs. away from the beach and I can't take make the trip right now, I put them in a sand filled aquarium with declorinated aquarium salt water in a shallow dish as well as declorinated tap water also in a shallow dish along with store bought crab food and I also chopped up an apple and put that in there. The tank does have condensation on the inside of it, but just in case, I do alternate the lid off/on of the aquarium since I have not gotten the instrument that measures humidity yet. I also turn the light bulb(in the aquarium) on for a little while each day. But they are still not thriving and a few have passed away. I change the water and food daily also. I mist them daily and I ocassionally put them in the ... -
HermitPaws
Sep 10, 2009
What a great Article!!! 5*
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jjkrja
Jul 31, 2009
We have a sick crab. He was not moving much this morning. He was half out of his shell and very easy to remove from his shell. He is moving slightly but not much. I have misted him and the cage. I am going to isolate him from the others and put him in a smaller cage with moistened mulch and new shells. Is there any thing more I can do?
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Daethian
Nov 17, 2008
Hey just wanted to say this is a very helpful article and covers the common issues with hermit crabs. I own The Crab Street Journal website and we are focused on educating the public about proper hermit crab care. There is another ailment that is rare but happens and can be fatal. This is black spots that appear on the exoskeleton, often after a molt. This is can be a bacterial infection. We provide directions on a medicinal bath that can help in this situation. I'll have to do an article on when I get some free time but in the meantime it can be found on our website. Thanks again for helping us spread the word on proper crabby care!! :)
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Daethian
Nov 17, 2008
Hey just wanted to say this is a very helpful article and covers the common issues with hermit crabs. I own The Crab Street Journal website and we are focused on educating the public about proper hermit crab care. There is another ailment that is rare but happens and can be fatal. This is black spots that appear on the exoskeleton, often after a molt. This is can be a bacterial infection. We provide directions on a medicinal bath that can help in this situation. I'll have to do an article on when I get some free time but in the meantime it can be found on our website. Thanks again for helping us spread the word on proper crabby care!! :)
