I wanted 4... I got 6. XD

[BlazeTheWeirdo]

So I had been saving up and prepping my hermit crab home for a few weeks now and today I finally got to bring my babies home! The plan was to get 4 of them... but the pet shop had a buy 2 get 1 free offer. I kinda had no choice at that point. XD

I will say this though, the environment they were in was possibly the worst I had ever seen. The substrate was just pure coconut fiber that was WAY too wet. The tank was drenched. The substrate wasn't even enough to cover the bottom of the tank much less the crabs. Several of them were hiding under a plastic tree under the enclosure. To top it all off, one of the hiding ones was a newly molted one. There was exoskeleton bits everywhere. I couldn't just leave these guys there, so I essentially took all the ones they had in that enclosure.

This is their first day home so far: https://www.dropbox.com/s/eu25m3znm024g ... 0.MOV?dl=0

I managed to find the gender of only one of them. His name is Hawkeye, and he love climbing EVERYTHING!! XD

I'm going to let the others relax and eat and get acquainted with everything before I check them. I hope they love their new home. ^w^

[Update]: So I wasn't sure whether to post this or not, but One of the six crabs never came out of it's shell or moved at all really. So I picked him up to check on him. I tilted him forward.... and a leg fell off... I just about had a heart attack. After reading EVERYTHING I found out that hermit crabs sometimes loose their limbs when they're stressed. In all my time owning crabs I had NEVER experienced this. Needless to say I'm worried as heck. I know they came from a pretty awful environment, and are pretty stressed. Is there anything I can do to ease their stress? Maybe offer them fruit treats for the next couple of nights? It scares me even more because it's not the new molt. I expected all the problems from the new molt, not this one.

[GotButterflies]

Congratulations on your new crabs. I recommend leaving the crabs alone to let them acclimate to their new environment. Provide them with honey, calcium, proteins, dechlorinated freshwater and dechlorinated marine saltwater. Good luck. If further problems arise, please post in emergency for quicker response

[BlazeTheWeirdo]

I'm pretty sure I forgot to post this, but this is my current set up. I got the hemp ladder today. I'm wondering is there's anything I can do to make this enclosure better. Any suggestions? (I set a plastic bag over half of the lid to maintain proper humidity. It seems to be working.)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hlo4m451a4xki ... 3.JPG?dl=0

[The Crab Maid]

I can't tell from the picture, but do you have two water dishes deep enough for them to dunk themselves in? One freshwater and one saltwater (using something like Instant Ocean)? Your substrate looks great. What's the food you're feeding?

[BlazeTheWeirdo]

I can't tell from the picture, but do you have two water dishes deep enough for them to dunk themselves in? One freshwater and one saltwater (using something like Instant Ocean)? Your substrate looks great. What's the food you're feeding?

Yes I have two water dishes for fresh and salt water. They're both deep enough for them to submerge their bodies. I put a few river stones in them so they can safely climb out. At the moment I'm using these three things:

https://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/THCP-Ba ... /ft460.htm

https://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/THCP-Re ... /ft456.htm

https://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Surf-n- ... /ft010.htm

Last night I used the basic mix, tonight I'm using the surf and turf.
I dunno. I just feel so bad that they came from a horrible pet store tank and I want it to feel more like a home to them instead of a tank. >.> Maybe I'm overthinking it.

[The Crab Maid]

Yes I have two water dishes for fresh and salt water. They're both deep enough for them to submerge their bodies. I put a few river stones in them so they can safely climb out. At the moment I'm using these three things:

https://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/THCP-Ba ... /ft460.htm

https://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/THCP-Re ... /ft456.htm

https://www.hermitcrabpatch.com/Surf-n- ... /ft010.htm

Last night I used the basic mix, tonight I'm using the surf and turf.
I dunno. I just feel so bad that they came from a horrible pet store tank and I want it to feel more like a home to them instead of a tank. >.> Maybe I'm overthinking it.

I think it all looks great, sounds like you’re giving them a great life.

[BlazeTheWeirdo]

I 'm probably freaking out over nothing, but I'm getting a bit concerned about my crabs in the main tank. They seemed to be fairly active on night 2 but now they just buried themselves. I heard that sometimes it takes them about two weeks to acclimate to a new environment and I've only had them since the 28th. I don't mind this. I'll leave them alone as long as they want, but my only concern is that they eat. Should I be concerned if there are no signs of them eating for a while. It seems pretty unlikely that they would all start molting at the same time(except for two who aren't buried rn). When does it become a legitimate concern, and is there anything I should do other than just replace their food and water?

[The Crab Maid]

Sometimes crabs eat a lot and sometimes they barely touch their food for days. Sometimes you may not even notice they are eating because it only looks like they haven’t touched it when they have. You can try smelly foods like shrimp to entice them, but they’ll eat when they want.

I’ve heard of stories where a group of new crabs all molt at the same time when they’ve gone from bad conditions to good conditions and have substrate to bury in and good food to eat right before. So you never know.

[curlysister]

They will eat when they need to. If they are under the substrate, don't dig them up, just let them do their thing.

[BlazeTheWeirdo]

Sometimes crabs eat a lot and sometimes they barely touch their food for days. Sometimes you may not even notice they are eating because it only looks like they haven’t touched it when they have. You can try smelly foods like shrimp to entice them, but they’ll eat when they want.

I’ve heard of stories where a group of new crabs all molt at the same time when they’ve gone from bad conditions to good conditions and have substrate to bury in and good food to eat right before. So you never know.

So it seems they're all molting Except for BJ. I pulled out some of the chia sprouts because I feared the roots would suffocate one of the buried crabs (Digger). Good thing I did too. They were a little close next to the hole he was in. I pulled out one of the sprouts and found a tiny portion of exoskeleton in it. I put it back and the crab was not uncovered because again, this was next to the hole not on top of it. But it's a good thing I know though. It just seems weird for them all to do this synchronized molt. I guess I did okay with the enclosure. XD

I'm just glad they're thriving down there (from what I can tell).

[curlysister]

I don't think the chia would suffocate a crab. But I am concerned - maybe I don't understand completely. There is an open hole from the surface to where the crab is? Or you opened the cave he is in?

[BlazeTheWeirdo]

I don't think the chia would suffocate a crab. But I am concerned - maybe I don't understand completely. There is an open hole from the surface to where the crab is? Or you opened the cave he is in?

No I didn't open or uncover anything. He's still completely buried. I just didn't want the roots to go down and suffocate him. I pulled out the root and a tiny portion of exoskeleton was stuck to the root. I put it back in the tank, didn't uncover anything and his little "pocket" is still intact (I know that because he dug really close to the glass and I can see bits of his "pocket". I circled the area.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ryexhfjz5hf9h ... 8.JPG?dl=0

[The Crab Maid]

Roots actually help hold tunnels better. Give it more structure. Your crabs are more likely to destroy the plants though. I'm actually going to try a chia farm in my tank, I heard the lack of success stems from naughty crabs though.

[BlazeTheWeirdo]

Roots actually help hold tunnels better. Give it more structure. Your crabs are more likely to destroy the plants though. I'm actually going to try a chia farm in my tank, I heard the lack of success stems from naughty crabs though.

Yeah usually they eat them. That's cool though, it's healthy for them to eat. when I started, Hawkeye would hoard the seeds into the hermie hut... he carpeted the hermie hut. XD

I'm gonna avoid doing the chia garden for a bit until mine are done molting... It seems I have a group molt going on.

[BlazeTheWeirdo]

Just checked the tank. I have officially confirmed 4 out of the five crabs are in fact molting. They dug little rooms next to the glass so I can see what they're doing. No wonder Hawkeye was the only one coming out.