HCA: Hermit Crab Association

How long had you had the crabs? They are suseptible to PPS (post purchase syndrome) until at least their first molt. Often it is nothing that we do or don't do. The cheapest fresh water, is to use your tap water and treat it with a dechlorinator such as Prime (there are other safe/ appropriate bran...

Hey again. I just had my last two hermit crabs die this week from unknown causes. One went commando and died three days later after refusing to return to his shell. The other died from an unsuccessful molt. I’ve had two crabs die within a year of having them (one of them not being the one this week)...

Hey, so I woke up this morning to Leo out of his shell, and still pale-ish from his molt he was currently going through. I didn’t think too much of it and just grabbed his shell from where he dug himself and put it nearby so he’d get back in on his own accord (the shell was buried in the dirt btw). ...

I’ve got some good news. Leo came up two days ago and he has gone through a successful molt! Limbs have grown back and everything. Though, the only thing that concerns me is his skittishness. It’s gotten to the point if he sees his own reflection he curls away for an hour, but that’s another topic. ...

If he has his little pincher like you mentioned, he should be able to get food to his mouth. You can keep a couple, or even 3 small food dishes in different locations so food is never far away. I'm sorry if I asked already, can't remember, is he actually able to walk? Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus u...

If the temp is constantly falling below 75, crabs will become less active because it isn't warm enough. It may also cause stress. I would handle him as little as possible, because that might only stress him more. Just try to bring the food to wherever he is sitting in the tank if he needs a little ...

UPDATE: I’ve been watching over Leo the past few days. He’s been hiding mostly, and he hasn’t really come out to get either food or water. I’ve started to pick him up and place him over the bowl so he can grab something (which has worked), though he doesn’t take the soft pellets I break down for him...

If you have a mesh lid, you can wrap the entire thing in saran wrap to keep the moisture in. The crabbies will get air exchange when you do your daily tank maintenance. Personally, I use glass tops on my tanks. They really hold in the moisture. An Ultratherm uth (heater) plugged into a thermostat t...

I added a moss pit that I keep moist with dechlorinated water and that helped me finally reach my 80% humidity...plus they seem to love hanging out in it! My temp stayed right around 75 too, so i added a tank heater with adhesive and stuck it on the side, above the substrate, in the back corner awa...

As long as you don't notice the other crabs picking on him, he should be ok in the main tank. He still has his little pincher? He can use that to help get food to his mouth. But like Pumpkin mentioned, you can offer him powdered food or food in bite size pieces to make it easier to grab. He should ...

I agree that if he is moving around okay, he will be fine in the main tank. Was this his first molt with you? When you say 'dirt-sand' mix, do you mean coco fiber and sand? Just wanting to make sure that it isn't something in your sub that could have caused a wonky molt. And yes, their ability to r...

Pumpkincrab wrote:First off how big is your tank? How much substrate? heat and humidity?

20 gal. 6-7 inches of dirt-sand mix. Temp is usually between 70 - 80. And humidity doesn’t drop lower than 70%.

Yo. So my crab Leo just came up from his 2 month molt missing a leg and his big claw. No clue how this happened. My other crab wasn’t near him as far as I know. I did notice small white bugs crawling on his shell. Not in big numbers but like maybe 2 - 4. What I’m more concerned about is, am I going ...

When you says your crab is 5 to 10 years old, who had her before you had her? Do you know what the conditions were where she was kept? I had bought her from my local Petco. Conditions of the tank were not decent. Lots of overcrowding, not enough substrate, I think there was even a dead crab or two ...

Hello. Recently my smallest crab Sammie has come up from her first tank molt.She's about 5 - 10 years old, I believe. I've had her for almost two months and I'm a bit concerned for her and her health. She's been up for about three to four days and she seems to get more lethargic each day that passes...