New owner need had an accident

[Kamicrabs]

My sister(13) just got 3 crabs. She was holding one while she was showing them to my kids tonight when one pinched her and she dropped him!! I know I know its not good, but she feels really bad and didn't mean to at all. His shell is not completely broke and he is still alive. He was hiding in the hermie hut when we picked him up and he is doing the same thing now after we dropped him. The opening to the shell is ok there is just a hole in the side. I know he needs a new shell but what do we need to do!!

Thanks,

[HERMEZ]

Offer him new shells and leave him be- he is freaking out right now- accidents happen we all have dropped a crab- I have never lost any from that. Not to say that you cant cause you certainly can..next time even though it hurts lay the hand flat and dont move. The more you move the more they hang on. I had a wee crab bring me to tears the lil sucker--but he finally let go when I stopped squirming. LOL

[msdiamonddawg]

Yeah, I've dropped one too and all is fine! That was over a year ago ... as Hermez said, we've all done it!

[Kaelink]

Offer him new shells approximately the same size as his current one.
I'm not sure if you should isolate him or not, I guess depending on how broken his shell is... dunno.

[XregretableloveX]

when i got mine they just threw him in the tank,
is that bad?
is that what is affecting him?

[krackersmom2]

What do you mean by they just threw him in the tank?
A hermit crab should not be dropped or handled roughly....it's traumatizing and possibly dangerous if they are dropped on a hard surface. Sounds like your little guy has been roughed-up. A good pet store will put your hermie in a plastic bowl with a moist towel or some substrate and a lid.....I had one place that went to the back and found a used cardboard box to send my crabby home......
Please tell us what you have in your hermie tank (crabitat)....that way we can assess what you have and what necessary items you still need.....a minimum 10 gallon aquarium, substrate(ground covering) and dechlorinated water (without stress coat), a hidie hut, fresh food (not commercial), temp. and humidity gauges are the bare minimum....you will also need a dish of salt water made from aquarium salt (Instant Ocean, API brands etc.) Do not use products from Zoo Med, HBH, or T Rex. Salt water aids crabs in the molting process. They store it up and it helps them explode their exoskeleton.

[HermitPaws]

Also to get them to let go you can run luke warm water over them.

[Hildegarde]

To reply to Kamicrabs, we had an E drop from about 4 feet onto the hard kitchen tile today. Not a good thing, but it does happen occasionally. The problem is that it may have done internal damage to the crab. But this doesn't mean you'll notice any difference in him tomorrow, the next day or Next Memorial Day.

So keep your fingers crossed and hope he's okay, because most likely he is.

[silver616]

Any update?

[Lightning Yoshi]

the good thing is i dont drop them, and if i do theyll land on carpet, but usally they just just like the whole tank to the bottom, wierd :/ but i recomend just isolating him with the shells and hope for the best...