Just got some crabs from my friend. Is my set up okay?

[Gummybearr]

Hello! I just took a few hermit crabs off of my friend who recently won them and took them home before realizing how much work they’d be. I’ve been playing around with the idea of getting a few for a while so I took them off his hands. I wanted to make sure that everything I’m doing is okay and that my set up is good. I just ordered a bunch of things but will post pictures once they arrive. Right now they are in a tiny plastic box with gravel and nothing to climb! I quickly realized that was awful after doing a bit of research. The current set up I have purchased/already have is as follows
A 15 gallon tank
A climbing net
A hood heating lamp
A couple hideaways and a bit of fake plastic foliage to hide in
Temp/humidity gauges
Bottles of dechlorinated salt and fresh water
eco earth/non toxic play sand to mix together for substrate
And I’m using a few tubber wares for water bowls and a large flat shell for food
For food I bought some of the flunkers buffet mix
I don’t have any shells for them yet though, but will get my hands on them as soon as possible! The crabs are very small, so if anyone is giving any old ones away I’d gladly take those haha.
Anyways, I’m new to keeping hermit crabs and wanted to make sure that all of this was good and that there was nothing I was missing. Thank you!

[22pony22]

Don’t know if the food is safe. Read all the topics in the food guides


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[Hermiesguardian]

Read through the care guides. Your substrate needs to be a minimum of 6 inches deep. You can get a 50lb bag at Home Depot or Lowes, for under $5.

[curlysister]

You will definitely want to read through the care sheets. All the info you need is there in one place.
If you are using pre-mixed bottled dechlor and salt water, they are probably not the correct ones - most things marketed for hermit crabs aren't actually suitable for them. You will want a dechlorinator like Prime to treat your tap water, and then mix Instant Ocean to make the salt water.
Many of us find that a heat lamp zaps the humidity (unless you live in a really humid climate), so you may want to investigate Under Tank Heaters (which go on the back or side, not under the tank).

[Gummybearr]

Okay cool thank you all for the help! I’ll read through the care sheets and I’ll also ditch the bottled stuff I got.

[Crabby7Crabber]

I actually have the Fluker's Buffet Mix. You could use it occasionally, but it shouldn't be a main part of their diet. For the most part I just give mine the shrimp out of it and them seem to enjoy it! Not sure about the other parts of it though (when I add it they just seem to ignore it). Fresh food is always better, though! Make sure to supply calcium as well. Cuttlebone works great! You seem to be doing pretty well Welcome to HCA!

[LuciRosales]

que genial, me encanta todo esto

[GotButterflies]

Looks like everyone is covering the bases. I just wanted to say Welcome to the wonderful world of crabbing and Welcome to the HCA! You can pick up used tanks off of Craigslist, or apps like OfferUp, LetGo, VarageSale, 5miles or Facebook Marketplace. Search reptile, aquarium, tank, fishtank. Good luck! We are here for you if you have questions!

[ROSIEonFIRE]

Hi there and welcome to the a HCA!

Regarding food, most of us here either make our own or buy from hermit crab suppliers on etsy but you probably could use the pellets if you really want to. However, I think we would all strongly reccomend looking for higher quality food or making your own. I make my own food mixes out of a variety of freeze dried meat/insects, freeze dried fruits/veggies, seaweeds, grasses, seeds and other misc plant stuff and occasionally supplement with fresh food. Hermies also love fresh or dried leaves (no pine) and should always have access to a calcium source such as a cuttle bone or eggs shells.

Wed love to see a pic of your setup

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