About 6 weeks ago my daughter "convinced" me to get her a hermie during a trip to the beach. Long story short, we ended up with 2 (Sebastian and Sheldon) and a lot to learn!! I am very sad to say that Sheldon passed away about a month after we got him, but we went out and got another one (Sheldon Jr.) to ensure Sebastian was not lonely since we were told when we originally got them that they do better when there's more than 1. Sebastian is getting huge but after the whole Sheldon Sr. Incident, I'm completely paranoid about keeping the other 2 safe and alive.
We have a 5.5 gallon tank, and based on the advice of a teacher my daughter had for a Hermit Crab class she took, we created a mixture of sand and coconut substrate for them to burrow (it's about 5 inches deep). Humidity in the tank right now is about 90% (is that too high?) And temp is about 73 degrees (no heater yet - is that too low?). We have been feeding them the food we purchased at the beach shop, every other day we give them a piece of fruit, and they have a shallow bowl of fresh water (I'll be putting in a salt water bowl tomorrow) and a sponge. What else should we be doing? How wet should the actual substrate be?
Tonight Sebastian (the big one) completely disappeared under ground. This is the first time he's done that so I'm assuming he's getting ready to molt. Could he suffocate? My fear is that the sand might not be wet enough. I thought about trying to dig him out but everything I've read states that could kill him. Should I just let him be?
Thank you in advance for any advice you can provide
