HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi, I'm a so confused! I'm new to the forum but not to crabbing. I've been using straight EE for about 5 years now....I've never had any problems with this but I read somewhere that straight EE was bad for the crabs. I have noticed that shells do loose there beautiful coloring (gloss, shine, top coat...dull looking I guess) after so many years. I've never had a bad molt where their limbs come out crooked or missing all together. When they're not molting, they tend to dig a lot. This varies from crab to crab though. Am I supposed to be using a 5:1 mixture with sand?? I do know that this is a cheaper way but money is not a problem. I'm getting ready to upgrade to a 90 gal so they'll have more room to roam and dig. I don't want to have any problems in the future....

There are many veteran crabbers that use just ee with no problems. People claim it does speed up molt times, but I have no evidence either way as I've always used the 5 to 1 ratio. It is also supposed to be easier to keep at the right consistency for molting caves. Congrats on the upgrade btw!


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Just as you've successfully used only EE, many crabbers use only playsand. I use about a 50/50 blend of playsand and EE: mixed it almost 2 years ago and it's as sandcastle-ly as the day it was made so the 5:1 ratio is not etched in stone. One of the advantages of a playsand/EE mix is that you don't have to mist daily to keep up the humidity (I only mist the moss pit and that's only every second or third day).

Crabinski wrote:Just as you've successfully used only EE, many crabbers use only playsand. I use about a 50/50 blend of playsand and EE: mixed it almost 2 years ago and it's as sandcastle-ly as the day it was made so the 5:1 ratio is not etched in stone. One of the advantages of a playsand/EE mix is that you don't have to mist daily to keep up the humidity (I only mist the moss pit and that's only every second or third day).

Then I guess my idea of sand castle consistency is wrong. I put five cups of sand, one cup ee, so on, and added water(treated of course) and packed a mound once I thought it was wet enough. Every one's pictures look actually wet, mine is dry as a bone on top.

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You want it moldable enough when you squeeze it in your hand it holds it shape, without being drippy.

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Rawrgeous wrote:You want it moldable enough when you squeeze it in your hand it holds it shape, without being drippy.

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Yeah, mine was moldable, but maybe just so. Every picture I look at, their sub has a wet look while mine really looks dry still. I'm thinking I just have a different ideas of what is sand castle consistency lol. When I stick a pencil down the glass is falls in on itself on the top inch but under that is a tunnel, and when I stick a pencil in the sub in the middle of the tank it's a perfect tunnel. Maybe it's just around the glass that's drying. I wish I knew the kind of humidifier to get

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A little bit of dry sub on the very top layer is ok. As long as the tunnel under it stays intact, u should be good! My sub on the side without the bubblers, the top layer stays a bit dry but just underneath it is good and the hermies are still able to dig down.


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Thanks for the input.

daws409 wrote:Thanks for the input.

Sure!!^_^


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I have had my hermies for over 6 years, and have always used the 5:1 sand: EE mix. The top maybe 1/4" dries out, especially near the UTHs (mounted on the sides). I mist daily or every other day to keep it moist, and occasionally run a little water down the side of the glass where it soaks in. I would think that the top inch being dry might be a little too much, depending on how deep your substrate is in total. Maybe just more misting to help keep it moist?