Help Crabs Legs Falling Off!

[Aqua Boy]

my red claw crabs legs are falling off I noticed it today he has three legs and a claw on one side and only one leg on the other side somebody help



Aqua boy

 

[mutantbigman2000]

I had a 3 legged, 1 clawed red kneed crab once.

All limbs regenerated.

 

[Aqua Boy]

ok but one just fell off today and when do they regenerate



aqua boy

 

[Colin_T]

if there is only one crab in the tank then there is something wrong with the water quality. Check the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & PH. Do a water change if any of these are a problem.

If you have 2 crabs in the tank then they are probably fighting and the weaker one is getting pulled apart. If this is happening then seperate them before the weak one gets killed.

The crab will grow its legs and claw back the next time it moults (sheds its skin). This happens every few months. Make sure you have some calcium in the water for when the moult occurs. If there isn't enough calcium in the water the crab's shell won't harden properly and it could die. Calcium can be added with a general hardness mineral salt (Rift Lake water conditioner) available from any petshop. Get the GH up to 200ppm or more depending on what other fish are in the tank.
Make sure the crab is fed well so it can build up its strength. They should be fed each day and will eat any sort of fish food.

 

[raptorrex]

if there is only one crab in the tank then there is something wrong with the water quality. Check the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & PH. Do a water change if any of these are a problem.

If you have 2 crabs in the tank then they are probably fighting and the weaker one is getting pulled apart. If this is happening then seperate them before the weak one gets killed.

The crab will grow its legs and claw back the next time it moults (sheds its skin). This happens every few months. Make sure you have some calcium in the water for when the moult occurs. If there isn't enough calcium in the water the crab's shell won't harden properly and it could die. Calcium can be added with a general hardness mineral salt (Rift Lake water conditioner) available from any petshop. Get the GH up to 200ppm or more depending on what other fish are in the tank.
Make sure the crab is fed well so it can build up its strength. They should be fed each day and will eat any sort of fish food.

first off, i have never seen Redcrabs attack each other, nor is it something noted by many keepers. second adding calcium to the water will do nothing, providing the crabs are kept at roughly the right ph. it would appear that crabs/crayfish and other inverts, absorb the calcium at a constant rate from the water table. so any additions will be of no use. and the calcium to harden the shell is held within the body, being released just after the moult. the crab then begins collecting calcium to replenish its carapace after the next moult. adding calcium high food after the moult may well help, but that's about it. however iodine is well worth adding around the time off moulting.

as for the OP's question, my guess, and its only that, would be some form of bacterial infection.