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PLZZZ Help from fellow hermit crab owners needed bad2007-11-24 2:01:54

You see, I just got my little hermies today! :) and I had just put them in their tank like one hour ago. I hadn't touched them at all, y'know, to let them get used to the environment. I like 10 minutes ago it lost one of its legs!:( I need to know: is that normal? Do they grow back? should i just get another one? Plz, from people who know alot about hermit crabs!

Answers:

The crab is stressed. What they go through before you get them is horrifying. All hermit crabs are wild caught. If your crab had a colorful shell it was also forced into it by having it's original shell stollen (by people) while it was trying on the new one. There is a high loss of crabs, and the loss of legs is a sign of greater risk.

Now that I've depressed you let me let you know that death is by no means a definate. What it does mean is that you must be especially careful to provide the best care possible for that crab. I have had 2 crabs loose legs immediately after I got them. The smaller crab survived, the jumbo died. In any case you need to understand that crab death that soon after you got it is not likely to be your fault. If the crab survives it will regrow the leg. How many molts it takes will depend on the size of the crab.

http://www.hermit-crabs.com provides a good reference on care of healthy and not healty crabs. I have personally had my 10 crabs for 3 years without any injury or death, but I lost 5 before getting to this stable situation.

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I had a few hermit crabs for my son years ago.I know one lost its leg and I am sure it grew back..I think they do it for a defense mechanism

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i dont know how it lost its leg but i have had a hermit crab for like a year and they are fun but there legs shouldn't fall off if it is still alive let it go and maybe it will grow back but if it doesn't and it is still living then don't worry about it. it has a lot of other legs.

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Thats a sign of stress. It won't die, unless it loses more than one leg in a few hours, in which it probably will O_O. Try to take especially good care of it by making sure its environment is nice and friendly. Make sure the tank isn't too hot or too cold, the drinking water doesn't have chlorine, and give it some sort of place to 'hide.'

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Yes that is normal..It will grow back :