HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I posted earlier and anxiously waiting for a reply but in the meantime, I should also mention that petsmart did not tell me to wet down the sulfate.
They said do not use sand and when we asked about the brick of coconut substrate they led us to the bag of loose fiber. Not a word about getting it wet. So, yeah... my hermits immediately buried themselves and haven’t been seen and I don’t know if this is ok since there’s no sand the fiber is not wet. Should I just dig them out and mix the sulfate properly then replace them and see how it goes or should I just leave them be??

You can still start adding humidity and moisture to help them out I would think- and the crabs have, unfortunately, also been in similar conditions at PetSmart- unfortunately they don’t do their own homework as well as they should either.

You came to the right place- for now I wouldn’t worry terribly. They’re probably just so happy to be able to bury and burrow- the danger is that the loose substrate may not hold enough shape for them. However, unless they are already molting (and there’s no good way to know for sure) they shouldn’t have too much trouble digging back out in loose substrate.

I’m sure someone else will have better advice with how to move forward, but you can def use a missing bottle to dampen the top with dechlorinated water a bit now, or if you have ocean type salt water to mix for it that helps prevent future mold growth as I understand it.

Definitely check out all the care and food guides they have provided on here- these people are awesome and they’ll walk you through what all you need to to do moving forward.

Lastly- what do you mean by sulfate?


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Thank you for your reply!
I’m sorry, I meant *substrate not sulfate.
Ok.... I’ll just keep watching and adding new food and water daily and continue misting.

When did they bury? If it's only been a day or so they probably haven't started molting. I would carefully dig them up. But have all ready to go wet playsand, sandcastle consistancy, mixed with eco earth. The bricks are less expensive. They take awhile to soak up the water. Make sure you wet this all with dechlorinated fresh water or dechl salt water. Someone with more experience may say not to dig them up. But I have read before that it takes them maybe weeks to find the right spot to molt.

Most likely they not moulting, rather destressing.

I personally would dig them up and make the appropriate amendments- like wetting the substrate, or adding sand if you wish - which will help humidity - if you're having trouble - and ensuring that they had a good tank to settle down in and eventually moult. Dry substrate doesn't really help them, since it doesn't really retain tunnels that well.

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Thank you! I did. I only had to find the 2 new ones because the other one was eating and sleeping by the food dish this morning!
I fixed their home up correctly and they seem very happy now! One took a bath and then they have been climbing all around and exploring!
Thank you so much for the replies and advice!!

Nena wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 15, 2019 8:49 am

Thank you! I did. I only had to find the 2 new ones because the other one was eating and sleeping by the food dish this morning!
I fixed their home up correctly and they seem very happy now! One took a bath and then they have been climbing all around and exploring!
Thank you so much for the replies and advice!!

I'm so glad.