Help Cuddles had eggs in sand

[Tpfr8liner]

Help! My largest hermit crab laid eggs in the sand two days after I got three of them. I'm freaking out. So... What do I do? Put them in water salt or fresh of so? leave it be? take out the pthers... I'm lost.

[curlysister]

It is doubtful that the eggs will be able to be hatched. It is quite a complicated set up, involving changing water very frequently, etc. You can see what others have done in a few threads in the 'breeding' section. I would dispose of them, but maybe someone else with more experience with eggs can answer better.

[Motörcrab]

Some eggs may survive if caught on the sand early enough. Idealy for us she should drop them in the salt water. We believe they drop them on the sand thinking the tide will carry them to the ocean.

Tending to the hatchlings is an almost round the clock task. Feedings, water changes, siphoning babies, repeat every four hours for almost a month. You also need to find and sort tiny, tiny shells.

Mary Akers personal website probably has the most detailed information about the breeding process and her success.

http://maryakers.com/about/

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[JoeHermits]

When my eggs were smeared last year, I tried hatching them myself. Out of over a hundred eggs, only three were still alive, and they died within hours.

You can give it a shot, but as soon as they’re dropped outside water their chances to survive plummet to zero real fast (assuming the eggs are any good in the first place).


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[wodesorel]

The eggs my females have smeared have always been premature. Putting them straight in water showed deformed babies without fully developed bodies. Captivity screws them up when it comes to reproducing.

The other crabs (and mom) will normally clean up any left in the tank.