Wounded Crab

[DaisyCrab]

My little Brat has somehow been wounded. He's missing his BP (entire limb) and is also missing half another walking leg.

Quick run down:
He had been buried for a few weeks, I assumed for a molt. He did molt, I can see that he has brand new "nails." He must have came back up during the night. I happened to glance in the tank to find him sitting beside Daisy on the log, NAKED. I nearly had a stroke. Daisy didn't seem to care, she is extremely dosile (sp?). I took him out of the tank, and thats when I noticed the missing limbs. I don't know if someone attacked him or his molt went bad.

The broken walking leg is broken half way down his leg, and where it is broken has healed dark, so I'm thinking something went wrong with his molt, looks to "healed" to be recent.

I put him in ISO, to heal up and relax. Also with him missing his BP I worry about him being able to protect himself, I have one crab who tends to be pushy sometimes and I can't trust her. She however is also down for a molt, I'm hoping she leaves her attitude behind while she's down.

My issue is Brat is having a very hard time walking around wearing a shell. He seems VERY weak. I caught him naked in the ISO tank this morning (I initially found him yesterday morning naked on the log). However now I see him with another shell on.

What should I do with him? I put in some of the lightest shells I could find, weight wise. I don't know how else to help him, in all my time crabbing I've never had a crab in this bad of shape.

Thanks in advance.

[chermo]

If he is still out of his shell rinse it out with salt water and make sure there is no sand in it, he may be taking it off because it is bothering him. If he then goes back in it just keep an eye on him. If not I would take him and put him in a cup with some extra shells in it and put the whole cup in the ISO tank and cover with a towel so it is dark, that is how I got Orangy back in her shell.

[Mommy2Crabs]

If you think it's possible that his molt went bad, post a pic of Brat on here and one of our moderators could take a look.

Keep him in iso where it is dark and quiet. Maybe do what Chermo said and rinse out his old shell with salt water and put it in there with him. If he is weak, put the food and water close to him so he doesnt have to work to get to it. When one of my crabs was dieing, I put some water in a plastic bottle cap from a spring water jug and put that close by him. Same with a little food. Honey might help bring his energy up.

So sorry to hear all of that. Hope everything goes okay for you and your sweetie. Keep us posted. Take care.